Leslie in Hawaii Hospitality Magazine Nov 2010

This says:

"Who are Hawaii's most promising culinary talents? Here's a sampling of the current crop of standouts. Each person is uniquely brilliant, believes in the farm-to-table approach to cuisine, and has a bit of wisdom to share about the industry. These are 12 stars you need to watch!" by Jason Soeda

Leslie in Aloha Express * Japanese Travel Guide

Leslie in Glamorous * Japanese Travel Guide

Put Yourself First

In my last posts, I made a commitment to step out of my comfort zone and share more of myself with everyone. 2010 got off to a pretty rocky start for me, so I am in the energy of great celebration for the close of that yearly cycle and for the possibility of rebirth and renewal in 2011. I am in such deep and beautiful gratitude for the lessons I learned and all the frankly magical opportunities that came my way in the past year. It rocks! Possibly one of the greatest lessons of my life came in the first few days of 2010. I'm sharing this so that no one else needs to get "run over by a Mack truck" by the universe.

Here's what it was:

YOU. COME. FIRST.

If I am not taking care of myself in the way I need to, then I cannot show up for anyone else to share from a place of wealth and abundance. Anything less than this comes from the energy of depletion and lack.

How does this relate to you?

Over and over again, I hear SO many people in my classes say, "My husband/boyfriend/wife/girlfriend/kids need(s) this healthy food the most (more than me), but they won't eat it."

What does this mean?

It means that whomever is saying this is actually projecting a part of their own self-conscious onto another person. When you say "I am worried about my husband's blood pressure, weight, diabetes (etc., etc.)", take a moment to pause and look inward. Do you have these issues resolved for yourself?

Everything we do has to begin first with ourselves. I took 2 years of my life and spent a lot of my hard earned money to learn about macrobiotics in depth, engrossing myself and practicing cooking every single opportunity I had. I made big elaborate meals on the weekends or other days off, and then invited my dear friend Clair over to try everything. She and I traded, so that when I fed her, she gave me reiki treatments and NLP (these are what she was learning at the time). When I was home with my family over the holidays, I cooked my own dishes with enough for everyone to enjoy, and added these to our table as options. Often (but not always!), these were favorites and are now requested dishes each time I come home. And I can guarantee you that we did NOT grow up eating kale or miso soup!!

When you live and breathe health, and when you immerse yourself in caring for yourself, you will naturally attract interest. As I became a better cook and as my own health soared, it didn't matter what I put on the table. It was enjoyed as a gift of love from my heart because it was filled with the qualities I was vibrating.

When you reach this point, you won't need to say a single thing to anyone! Begging, forcing, controlling and cajoling will have quite the opposite effect you desire. When you are grounded in your own health and wellness, people will naturally gravitate towards your bright and shining light.

And just a reminder if you have forgotten: YOU'RE WORTH IT!!!

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6 Steps To Changing Your Life

So, now that I've told you about me, how can you change your life?

Here are the steps that I took.

1) Most important is to commit to yourself and commit to your health and happiness as your number 1 values.

2) Identify the limiting beliefs you have (and we ALL have them running subconsciously).

3) Get a teacher, coach, or mentor to help you learn how to cook and someone who can help you identify and shift these limiting beliefs

4) Quit anything that drains your precious life force. (My income doubled and then tripled when the extreme toxicity of a relationship was removed and opportunities have started flying my way left and right.)

5) Build community that will support and encourage you.

6) Experiment, try new things, and don't be afraid to fail!

Leave comments and tell me about your experiences!

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Change Your Food * Change Your Life

I set an important and life-changing goal for myself.

Want to know what it is?

This goal is to positively and radically change my life in 2011, to embrace my gifts and to show up fully in the world.

You see, I think that for that majority of my entire life, I have been hiding out. I've been too afraid to really just "go for it". I've been hiding behind fears, limiting beliefs, and other people. In fact, just writing this blog post has me totally nervous to share who I am with you! In the past, at times, just "being myself" and having my dreams was met with criticism and discouragement.

Well guess what? I'm doing some extreme make-overs that I intend will bring more ease, effortlessness, grace, love, and joy into my life!! And when I accomplish this, it means that I will have so much more of my own gifts to share with the world.

If you look at my life right now, you might never know that I used to:

• be overweight
• have acne
  
• to smoke (a lot of) cigarettes
• eat at McDonald's fairly regularly (in fact, I loved the french fries and chocolate shake as an afternoon snack)

But then I experienced a couple of really life-shattering experiences that set my life on a brand new course. As life brought these challenges, I have shifted into more of who I am. How did I do this?

I got to where I am now by QUITTING......

HUH?

Here's what I quit:

1) Chicken, pork, and red meat first, then several years later finally dropped cheese and milk, and after that, fish, so that now I live a plant-based diet and lifestyle.

2) Processed foods. This was a revelation and a huge step toward completely renovating my whole life and my entire career. I felt so much better physically and emotionally that I was able to start my own business and embrace public speaking.

3) Negativity in my environment. "Food" comes in the form of what we are used to thinking of (e.g., what we put into our mouths), but did you ever stop to think about the "food" that is in your environment in general, such as the fear perpetuated by the media, the violence in the movies you watch, and people who drain your life force energy with their negativity? Have you had that same stack of clutter in your house for months? All of this is "food" because it's energy that you're taking in every single day.

4) Limiting beliefs. Because of my own life experiences, I've had significant limiting beliefs that have caused me to avoid living fully into my fullest potential. These old scripts play in our minds subconsciously, and you know what? They drain your energy. In committing to my life, to myself, and to happiness, prosperity, and abundance, I have been able to identify, cleanse, heal, and love myself more fully and sink more into my authenticity.

In addition to "quitting" I have also added in more positive influences -- let's call them "COMMITTING"! These have been:

1) Establishing a habit of eating whole foods, plant-based, organic home cooked meals. I didn't know how to do it when I first started my journey, so I got a bunch of books and read voraciously, AND I spent the money (in the thousands of dollars) to work with my teachers and educate myself. This became my passion and my full purpose for living.

2) Finding a community that would support me, and when I couldn't find community I started my own. I have an entire TEAM consisting of a coach, a mastermind group of fellow people with similar goals to my own who celebrate me and cheer me on and nurture me when I hit any obstacles (this happens to all of us no matter what stage we're experiencing), experts at shifting energy who I see here in Honolulu regularly, and friends and family who show up for me unconditionally.

3) Committing even more fully healthier living including spending time with awesome girl friends, meditating (doing this twice daily); nurturing and loving myself by keeping up a regular yoga practice, getting massages, resting, or going to the beach; as well as taking courses that will help me succeed.

What have been the results since I set and committed to my recent goal?

In the past month or two, I have radically shifted and received numerous blessings including:

• being named one of the top young chefs in Hawaii by the trade magazine Hawaii Hospitality (and the majority of those mentioned in addition to me were men)
• being named one of Hawaii's "most respected private chefs" by the Grow Hawaii team
  
• landing a celebrity client
• being featured in local and international food, fashion, and travel magazines
• getting elected the chair for the newly formed Health and Nutrition Working Group in the Hawaii Food Policy Council
• a spot on our local cable TV channel in November and December
  

You know it feels really good because my mission and purpose for improving my own life is so that people not just here in Hawaii, but the world, can experience healthier living! There are so many reasons for us to do this (and I'll cover them in another post.)

I'm going to be stepping even further out of my comfort zone, and I have to admit, this totally freaks me out. But I'm committed. I'm going for it!

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Women, Food, God

Do you feel like you don't have time to eat well?

Worry about the cost of buying organic?

Think it's way too difficult and you could never master it?

Fear your family and friends will reject you, your food, or your efforts?

Think badly of yourself if you make a mistake in the kitchen?

These are the top beliefs that most people I work with seem to have when they come to me. They may really desire losing weight, getting off of their diabetes medication, or making their lifestyle more green (among other outcomes).

Why is that when so many people deeply desire positive outcomes that they avoid changing their diets?

My observation has been that what "getting healthy" represents taps people's deepest feelings about themselves. Geneen Roth wrote a book about this called "Women, Food, God". She says,

"The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning, transformation and, yes, even God."

So even though you may really want to lose weight, it means truly facing the emotions that are attached to this issue for you. That's the scary and uncomfortable part for people! All the defense mechanisms pop up when we say we don't "have enough time" or "it's too expensive." Deep down, what it actually could mean is "this is too painful/fearful for me to experience at this moment." It could also mean, "I don't feel worthy enough" or "health isn't one of my core values yet." To know what you true values are, look on your plate.

However, "going beyond both the food and feelings takes you deeper into realms of spirit and soul to the bright center of your own life."

When people finally feel ready to transform their approach to diet and lifestyle, the result can be simply magnificent! These positive benefits might be a stabilized and healthy weight, clearer skin, more energy, sounder sleep, and an overall improved outlook on life. Those fears we had that someone "won't want to eat this healthy dish" get transformed when the a dish that you place on the table is the first to be devoured by all the guests simply because your most authentic loving expression of yourself is one of the ingredients in the food.

Love yourself enough to eat well. To me this means, "eat in a way that nourishes your spirit on a deep level". You deserve it.

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Sipping Tea with the Emperor and Queen Victoria

Vegan High Tea the other day at Baby aWEARness was a HUGE hit. We had a great time.

In preparation for the tea festivities, I watched a DVD called All In This Tea. One section included a quote (I'll have to paraphrase) that really moved me and that I would like to share with you:

“In this moment [of drinking tea], we have the same experience that Queen Victoria had 150 years ago, the same taste a Chinese Emperor would have loved. Tea is living archeology. We are resurrecting flavors and experiences that bind us to the past shared by generations before us.”









Comments from participants:

"I don't usually like scones, but yours were so buttery and delicious."

"You are a wonderful hostess! Thank you for a great time of tea and new friends! I look forward to another event in the future."

"You have a talent for making food and the sharing of it so meaningful."

"The high tea on Sunday was so lovely. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. We've been trying to catch up with one another so we appreciated you creating the time, the space, and all the wonderful goodies to indulge ourselves. I've been raving about it to everyone and hope you will do another one in the future (especially since you've got all those wonderful teapots to put into good use)."

"Thank you, Leslie, for the splendid time at High Tea and the onolicious food! I am grateful for you, your skill, your palate and your vision for the community and the world!"

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