I like food.
I spent a decade cooking in a slew of different environments. From hole in the wall pizza shops, to chain restaurants, golf courses, bars, and finally to fine dining. I even got educated doing it. I thought I was pretty great at cooking, so I went to get my red seal and prove to the world just how good I was.
I got there, and found out how good I wasn't.
But my chef at school really drove home the necessity to respect our food. An attitude that has proven it's own reward, time and again.
So now I have all this knowledge how to make food delicious.. what about how to not eat every tasty morsel that comes my way?
Well, I got very sick years ago, and ended up going gluten-free. I'm not a celiac, but at the inception of my gluten-free-ness I was hyper-sensitive to many different foods (potatoes and milk still treat me like an enemy). I can still feel the effects of eating wheat when i do, but they're much less severe.
But even so, eliminating that from my diet had it's own unpredictable benefits.
Such as:
I can't drink cheap beer (imagine how this affects who's in my circle of friends)
I can't eat fast food (aw, no cheap garbage that makes me despise myself?)
I'm annoying to host for people who aren't food conscious (okay, that one's been tough)
My self discipline is strengthened
I am in the habit of constant preparation, days in advance
and as a result I've been forced to treat myself with better care in regards to what I consume.
So now that it's feast time (as we're in the sun worship season of the winter solstice) the thing to do is enjoy and consume. I'm sure you'll see lots of memes and advice about how to keep slim and trim the holiday pounds, but for us skinny kids, it' really just time to let go. Resistance is futile, be easy, drink, eat, be merry!
But I am not a Taoist.
I believe in the path of resistance. That is how you tone your will. That is how you get in the habit of standing up and saying no.
Do your friends like it? Probably not. Do your co-workers like it? If they care at all, they probably just think you're being fussy.
Well fuck them.
Resistance starts at home. It starts with what you allow into your body, your mind, and your house.
Does this make me a hypocrite because I like to consume poison and have a weakness for narcotics? Yes.
Because it IS NOT EASY to resist! Will power is tough to exercise, and it works like any other muscle. It gets tired. The more you exercise it during the day, the more tired it becomes by nightfall. It's part of the reason why extra-marital affairs tend to take place more in the evening. Exercising your willpower all day drains it - there's only so much there.
But the rewards are far-reaching. There's a guy out there who did a study called the 'marshmallow effect', in which kids were put in a room with marshmallow's on the table and told not to eat them. The kids who were able to resist the temptation were found to function better in their lives (the test was monitored for years after the fact). They say this is due to what's called 'delayed gratification'. The concept isn't hard. Resist the quick fixation and you'll have more reward in the end.
(So don't get stoned yet, do your chores first.)
Otherwise, you could settle for being the easy going version of yourself. Be comfortable, follow the path of least resistance, and enjoy it while you can, softy.
Cause the next batch of 'powers that be' will be coming to consume you before long.
I spent a decade cooking in a slew of different environments. From hole in the wall pizza shops, to chain restaurants, golf courses, bars, and finally to fine dining. I even got educated doing it. I thought I was pretty great at cooking, so I went to get my red seal and prove to the world just how good I was.
I got there, and found out how good I wasn't.
But my chef at school really drove home the necessity to respect our food. An attitude that has proven it's own reward, time and again.
So now I have all this knowledge how to make food delicious.. what about how to not eat every tasty morsel that comes my way?
Well, I got very sick years ago, and ended up going gluten-free. I'm not a celiac, but at the inception of my gluten-free-ness I was hyper-sensitive to many different foods (potatoes and milk still treat me like an enemy). I can still feel the effects of eating wheat when i do, but they're much less severe.
But even so, eliminating that from my diet had it's own unpredictable benefits.
Such as:
I can't drink cheap beer (imagine how this affects who's in my circle of friends)
I can't eat fast food (aw, no cheap garbage that makes me despise myself?)
I'm annoying to host for people who aren't food conscious (okay, that one's been tough)
My self discipline is strengthened
I am in the habit of constant preparation, days in advance
and as a result I've been forced to treat myself with better care in regards to what I consume.
So now that it's feast time (as we're in the sun worship season of the winter solstice) the thing to do is enjoy and consume. I'm sure you'll see lots of memes and advice about how to keep slim and trim the holiday pounds, but for us skinny kids, it' really just time to let go. Resistance is futile, be easy, drink, eat, be merry!
But I am not a Taoist.
I believe in the path of resistance. That is how you tone your will. That is how you get in the habit of standing up and saying no.
Do your friends like it? Probably not. Do your co-workers like it? If they care at all, they probably just think you're being fussy.
Well fuck them.
Resistance starts at home. It starts with what you allow into your body, your mind, and your house.
Does this make me a hypocrite because I like to consume poison and have a weakness for narcotics? Yes.
Because it IS NOT EASY to resist! Will power is tough to exercise, and it works like any other muscle. It gets tired. The more you exercise it during the day, the more tired it becomes by nightfall. It's part of the reason why extra-marital affairs tend to take place more in the evening. Exercising your willpower all day drains it - there's only so much there.
But the rewards are far-reaching. There's a guy out there who did a study called the 'marshmallow effect', in which kids were put in a room with marshmallow's on the table and told not to eat them. The kids who were able to resist the temptation were found to function better in their lives (the test was monitored for years after the fact). They say this is due to what's called 'delayed gratification'. The concept isn't hard. Resist the quick fixation and you'll have more reward in the end.
(So don't get stoned yet, do your chores first.)
Otherwise, you could settle for being the easy going version of yourself. Be comfortable, follow the path of least resistance, and enjoy it while you can, softy.
Cause the next batch of 'powers that be' will be coming to consume you before long.
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