All or nothing...?

"I could never do that" is a frequently used response when people see a habit or lifestyle etc that they admire but don't think they have the will power, discipline or dedication for it.. or simply don't desire to or think they can do that all of the time, they say, "I could never do that."

It comes up a lot when talking about healthy living... exercising regularly or eating unprocessed natural foods, quitting smoking, and sometimes with vegetarianism.  I realize that not everyone wants to be vegetarian, but there are a lot of people can acknowledge the benefits of a plant-based diet, and just don't think they can give up [insert meat item here].

Or, recently a conversation came up about the high price of gas... I mentioned someone I know who doesn't own a car and rides their bike everywhere they need to go and the general response was "well that's great for her, but I could never do that."   I also got that response a lot of times when people would find out I used cloth diapers for my son. 

What people tend to forget though, is even if you may not have the resources, desire, will power, time, money etc to commit to the improvement 100% of the time.... it still helps to do it at least some of the time, doesn't it? 

I know a lot of people are intimidated by the thought of working out 5-6 days per week.  But what about 3 days?  Obviously 3 days a week is still better for your body than zero days.  Or if working out for an hour sounds impossible, what about 30 minutes?  Everyone has 30 minutes they can spare, especially when it comes to something as important as your health!!  This is one of the most important things and so many of us neglect it!!

What about the instance of riding a bike?  I know that having no car is not practical for everyone, definitely not for me either, but riding your bike on a trip to a friend's house, the gas station or grocery store for a few items or to the beach... obviously each time you do it you would save some money on gas, would be more healthy/efficient for your body and would have contributed that much less pollution than if you had driven.  

Also, there are many reasons that a meatless meal can have a positive impact on your body, the environment and the animals talked about here, but if you could just never give up steak or don't have the desire to be a vegetarian, that doesn't mean that the benefits of a single vegetarian meal don't still exist. Many people assume that if they eat meat at all, they must eat it at every meal, which is simply not true.  Try having your spaghetti without ground beef... would you really miss it?  The most important things in spaghetti are the pasta and the sauce!  Or how about a pizza with veggies instead of meat.  What about a bean burrito (without lard - gross) or PB&J sandwiches?  Macaroni & Cheese?  There are plenty of vegetarian foods that you probably already enjoy on occasion, but don't really ever think about or realize the fact that it's technically vegetarian.  All you have to do is put them in the rotation more often or make a conscious effort to eat meatless "x number of times per week" or what not.

So if there is an area of your life where you know you can improve on but can't see yourself committing to the change 100% of the time, why not try to implement it wherever/as much as you can?   I think that's the best way to start a good habit anyway... slowly, rather than diving in head first and risking becoming overwhelmed quickly.  Plus, you may find that whatever change you have implemented is a lot more sustainable than you'd originally thought, and end up reaping it's benefits much more often than you'd intended.