perfect. I think hot yoga is the perfect metaphor. It’s always a struggle. But it is a rewarding one that often feels good, while you push yourself to the day’s limits. Breathe, stretch, and release simultaneously. It’s yoga practice; not yoga perfect. We start from where we are. It also helps that many of the places I work in Southern California are beautiful. I feel like I’m on vacation if I let the day’s stress go…….I sneak in a bike ride, a kayak, a hike, a sunset, a beautiful meal, a glass of wine, or just great music while working at the computer and a fluffy bed. It turns a grueling travel schedule into a mini-vacation almost every day. Most of the time, it creates a work/life rhythm that flows into something which feels like joyful productivity. Its practice not perfect! Juli: You have not only built an empire but your body rocks! What is your workout and food routine? Charissa: Ha! It’s a struggle. I have trained for certain goals over the years, but now, I’m a little older and my obsession is more about getting Farley Pavers from a successful entrepreneurial entity to a professionally managed firm that will be able to sustain economic change and provide for the the next generation. The challenge is to figure out what you don’t know and do what you aren’t good at. Having said that, it’s all in vain if you fall apart in the process. I’ve lost some dear friends along the way. And the thought, “do not waste this life”, is always in my psyche. But what does that mean? Have fun? Achieve something? Drink the wine? Fast? Climb a mountain? Draft the strategic plan? In the words of my exhusband….”You just want everything”. And yes, I do. What’s wrong with that? But sometimes you also need to just sleep. You’re going to regret asking about food. If the strategic plan is an obsession….. Food is the other one. But it’s more than what it seems. I love to cook, I love the farmer’s market (Saks, the Palm Springs Airport, and the farmer’s market are my favorite places in the desert). I love wild foods. And I love to forage wild foods…...but all plants. I went “plant based” at midnight on my birthday almost a year ago, and it is something I am extremely proud of. Throughout the last 20 years I have randomly trained for different goals but now my goal is to elevate the business from a successful entrepreneurial activity of a professionally managed firm that can sustain economic instability. Just when you think you’ve figured out the maze they move the cheese. And I’m getting older. So with working out it’s not a routine with my crazy schedule but how do I try to get something physical into my day as many days as possible. I swim, bike, jog, walk, train at the gym, kayak. Just anything I can. My ex asked me about using a trainer and said, “when will you be trained?”. I guess I am now. Anyone who knows me read the food part of your question and groaned out loud. Food is my other obsession, but in a deeply personal way. As I said earlier, I’ve lost more than a few people I was very close to; and it has impacted me deeply. I sat on the board of Desert Cancer Foundation for many years as well. I had an epiphany in the middle of the night on my birthday almost a year ago. There is so much data coming at us that you hear random information and you see documentaries like “Food, Inc.”, “What the Health”, “Plant Pure Nation”, but you don’t really hear it, or you don’t really understand what to do. It such a big thing to change your eating. And there are so many voices in your head. And even when you realize that your way of eating doesn’t line up with your values or your compassion, you still don’t connect the dots. And then another friend gets sick. And I was worried he might die. And on that night it hit me, and what hit me has been confirmed ever since. We work so hard raising money to help people with cancer and wishing there was a cure. Well there kind of is. The estimated new cases of cancer in <strong>2018</strong> is 1.7 million. (https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html) More than 4 out of 10 cancer cases among adults in the United States and almost half of all cancer-related deaths are associated with potentially modifiable risk factors. Farhad Islami, MD, PhD, strategic director, cancer surveillance research, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues saidin an American Cancer Society study, “An estimated 42% of all cancer cases and nearly one-half of all cancer deaths in the United States in 2014 were attributable to evaluated risk factors, many of which could have been mitigated by effective preventive strategies.” One of those factors is diet. There is a growing group of physicians, like Michael Greger, Neal Bernard, Michael Klaper, Joel Fuhrman, just to name a few, who believe that the dairy, meat and egg industries have not been honest with us about the dangers eating these things. And eating a plant based diet can prevent and even reverse some incidents of chronic disease including cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Www.Nutrition- Facts.org is a treasure of medical research showing that diet may, in many cases, perform better than pharmacology. Don’t get me started on that... or politics….. or the American monetary system. In short, the epiphany in the middle of the night was the voice saying, “Don’t act like you dont know.” At least going vegan is the good way to know who your friends are. Anyone who will still tolerate you is a real friend indeed! And I can cook. And I love wild foods and foraging. For me, cooking is like painting. I feel like I have hundreds of new colors to paint with. I really haven’t missed much. When people tell me they could never live without (fill in the blank), I tell them, then don’t! It’s not going off the planet. I’m actually only vegan-ish. If you are slinging caviar, I’ll probably eat it. My favorite pair of shoes is leather. As is my hand bag. And my car interior. They are already dead. You can always start with meatless Monday. It’s hard to change a lifetime of brainwashing, bad data, and customs. You just start where you are. If you want to. Or not. Juli: What is it like being single with all this going on? Charissa: It’s just like the balance thing. You think you really want something. But you have to lean in while you are pushing hard, and breath. Otherwise you might not be aware. You might miss things. You might not hear your own inner voice. Life is a thinking-man’s game. And you learn as you go. What I’ve learned is, it’s ok. I think you need to be kind of brave to be single, so you don’t live in some kind of limbo….You
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