It seems like every time I create a vision board, some how a yacht ends up there some where. I'm from Florida and I'm all about that coastal life, but I've never owned a boat. But its like nautical life is calling me. I've been on yachts around the Statute of Liberty, party cruises, and self operated water bikes in the Tampa Channel. But since this keeps popping up on my vision board, I wanted to take some time to finally look into what it would take to be apart of that lifestyle. So when I was watching tv last week I kept seeing a commercial for the Atlanta Boat Show that was starting within a few days. And that was my queue. The universe is bringing my vision to reality!

So am glad to report, I parked took MARTA into the GWCC. I was able to achieve 2 objectives towards my 6 month goals. First I saved money (wealth retention) by paying only $5 verses the $16.95 to park my car at the location. I also took advantage of the $5 admission fee after 5pm verses the $16 general admission. Second, I walked a total of 7,623 steps during the entire day. And I did so in a way that I did not realize I was making so many steps. My enjoyment of the activity today made me totally forget that I was actually making steps towards my daily fitness goals. Also what I noticed when I got home, my Fitbit actually recorded 69 minutes of cardio. My daily goal is 30. So I am super amped to know that when I made "Living" a priority, all the other fitness goals were met. Enjoyment of life is a must. Now had I stayed home, I would not have had the cardio or those steps. 

It was one of those days on the weekend when I was doing work on the couch and I took a little mental break and turned on Netflix. There was a trailer running about this new series, "Rotten", that exposed different food corruption issues regarding the international food industry. I had always wanted to know more about the food that ended up in my fridge, but this series gives you a lot of great information, a little weird at times, that will inform and intrigue your mind. The biggest takeaway for me? DONT EAT ANYTHING FROM CHINA! 

I watched all the episodes available in one sitting. So I learned that China is one of the biggest importers. We import their honey, seafood, and garlic. But based on international trade agreements, there's no way we can monitor how they handle the food they send to us. So these people are sending us artificial honey made from rice syrup. Once our customs agents discovered this we stopped receiving chinese honey. So then chinese relabels their fictitious honey, sends it to surrounding countries only to sell it to the United States again. WTH??!?!! Really China? That's some dirty business.

Then they were exposed when a man went to china to find out how they can cheaply manufacture peeled garlic. These people are sending their whole garlic to the prisons and these prisoners are forced into peeling this garlic with their bare hands. The brave guy that observed this was able to see one of the prisoners biting off pieces on the end of the garlic because his nails were damaged from unpeeling so much garlic. Now this is enough to make me say, I give up. But I watched on.

So it appears that because the handling practices of imports are not regulated, other countries are able to add chemicals to our imports. Fish is not supposed to be frozen and thawed and frozen again before it gets to the consumer. But that does not stop the chinese and other countries from doing it. And because we have no way to regulate their practices, we don't, but we still import them anyways. I swear, if another country wanted to take out America, all they would need to do is lace our imports with the wrong thing.

I'm so over chinese food. I will not eat anything unless I make it myself. Its not even about watching someone else make it, it's about understanding the source that produced it. We cannot see what is in it. But our bodies over time will know the difference. So I've decided #TEAMUSA #HOMEGROWN is a little better than imports. Because we do have standards to protect our American people from corrupt food handling practices. But even then, you still have to be careful.

We will be celebrating the launch of Aunyx Marie's new cook book "The Cheater's Diet". This book is about her personal journey to a 70 lb weight loss success where she overcame her food addiction to rediscovered her passion for culinary arts. She shares recipes that freed her from being a victim of physical, sexual, mental, and verbal abuse while learning to prepare delectable mouthwatering dishes that taste like you are cheating on your diet. 

Update... here’s a few pictures from the event. It was a huge success! It was catered by Ms Aunyx herself. Our favorite dish was the cauliflower macaroni. Big thanks to Michelle Morris who walked away with a free cordless jump rope just by stopping through our both and subscribing to our email list!

Over the holiday I had to reevaluate my life. I feel like I have become a slave to working and being busy. And when I look at my life, the weight is still here. That's the biggest issue I have. It's like I put fitness into a separate compartment of my life. I reach out to it, but lately I've found myself working daily to get out this stupid debt. And working constantly is sucking out the vitality of my life. I love to have fun but I don't go anywhere to have fun because after the full time job because I'm working my side hustles like Uber, Lyft, Shipt Shopping, and Postmates. I stay busy, which is why I haven't found the time to really push my brand like I really would like. I don't have the energy because I've running on E! Seeing that I am fast approaching 40 (thanks I have great genes) with no significant other and no children, I realized I needed to find a way to start enjoying life. I work so hard that life is slipping by me... quickly.

So I had to rethink the way I look at life. I have to make "Living" a priority. We have one life to live. Once you are gone, only your legacy will live on. So what are you going to do. I decided I will start living in the now instead of the future. Enjoy today. Slow down. Even the bible says take no thought for tomorrow, but to live in the now (something like that). So I've decided I will find a way to relax and enjoy me, my family and friends. I want to travel more. And I haven't done that because I'm always working to pay bills. I'm always concerned I won't have enough to pay that off. I'm done with the scarcity mindset. It's time to live in abundance! So every week I've decided to do something that contributes to my new "Living" standard. It can be a movie night with the boo or with the homegirls, going to a paint and sip, or volunteering at a local food bank. Whatever it is, enjoy it and make it big. Have fun. Life is much better that way.

The other 2 goals are simple. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day and then exercise at least 150 minutes a week. I've adopted this lifestyle and I use my personal calendar to make sure I schedule my "Living" events. My Fitbit does a great job of tracking my exercise habits and creating a weekly food planner helps me to make time for those fruits and veggies. I can usually get about 3 servings in one smoothie when I add spinach or kale. Then a salad with plenty of greens will easily get you in there. I'm not telling anyone to stay away from bread, but we all know that bread is the devil!!