They sent over their best CBD gummies and I was SUPER curious to try them out. I hadn’t tried any CBD edibles before so, to be honest I was just slightly hesitant at first. The dosage amount recommends taking between one to two gummies within a 6 hour time period. Not knowing how it would affect me, I figured I would try it before bed to see if it helped me get good nights sleep. I took just one before bed. I was expecting the gummies to taste a little off, maybe slightly bitter, or have some sort of cannabis smell to them, but to my surprise, it tasted like a totally normal gummy bear. I really don’t know how they do it.


I was hoping for a good night's sleep and let me tell you, I was out like a light. I slept all through the night, not waking up once. It was the deep sleep I was looking for. The best part is that, unlike Nyquil or other sleeping pills, there was no grogginess when I woke up. I felt just as fresh and awake as any other morning. If you have ever taken melatonin, I would compare it to that, but better. Since trying it, I have taken it multiple times before bed to help me a get a good sleep.

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I’m really looking forward to using the gummies for my next flight somewhere. In the last 6 months or so, I have developed some major flight anxiety after experiencing pretty brutal turbulence on a previous flight. It was so bad that it traumatized me a bit. Every flight since has been a struggle to keep my cool and not have a panic attack when going through turbulence.


This is a new experience for me, as I haven’t ever dealt with anxiety in the past. I plan on taking the gummies before my next flight, and I am really looking forward to the relief I think they will bring me. The best part of it is that the CBD gummies are a natural anti-anxiety alternative, compared to a synthetic drug made in a lab like Xanax or Valium. I was never into prescription medication to start, even drugs as simple as antibiotics. I will always try natural remedies before pharmaceuticals so the gummies are a perfect alternative for me. The 400mg gummy bears that I received are $59.99 on the Medsbiotech website. When compared to the vitamins and supplements you can find at any natural supplement store, these are an equal comparison.

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A little over a year ago, I was lying on the beach with a friend of mine, Erika, and I was complaining about how I feel too attached to my phone. For the months before that and really since I started using Instagram as a platform for work, I couldn’t help but noticed the unhealthy relationship that I had started to develop with my little technology box. I felt the constant need to have it on me or in close proximity, but not only that- I found myself spending hours on end staring into the depths of Instagram. We’ve all been there, you say you’re going to get up in 10 minutes to do that daunting task on your to-do list that has been there for weeks and before you know it, you’re watching people cut bars of soap for 2 hours. Same. If you know, you know.

​I hated the fact that I was wasting so much time in my day, for what? I was not any happier, or more productive; I didn’t gain anything from those hours of aimless scrolling. It was just time completely wasted, when I knew I had better things to do, as we all do.  I would ask myself “What did I just gain from the last hour or two?” and all I could ever answer was “nothing.”
 
 As much as I will take full accountability for choosing how I spend my time, let’s not forget that platforms like Facebook and Instagram have spent a fortune studying how to keep us on our devices for as long as possible. They’ve even gone as far as copying gambling methods to “ create physiological cravings”. If you want to read up more on this, you can check out these articles.

• “Social media copies gambling methods 'to create psychological cravings'”
• These are the sneaky ways apps like Instagram, Facebook, Tinder lure you in and get you 'addicted'

 
So one day, I finally decided I was done with the bad habit/pattern that I let myself fall into. I was going to reclaim my time and cut this toxic/dependent relationship I had with my phone. About a week later, Erika sent me an IG post from a health company called Vega, in which they were encouraging something called “#NoSocialSunday”. They showed graphics of people running, hiking, and other miscellaneous activities with the text “gone _____”, with the blank to be filled in with whatever activity they were doing instead of being on their phone. Needless to say, I found my solution.
 
So that was it. I shared with my followers that I was going to be trying it that week and the rest was history. I was hooked in the very best way possible.
 
I won’t sit here and say that it was a breeze, because the first few times it definitely was not. You quickly become aware of how often you check your phone, and let me tell ya, it’s way more than you think! It really is like second nature, where we don’t even realize what we’re doing, until we're literally doing it. At first, it is uncomfortable. I would even describe it as a little unsettling. Like any addiction, you feel withdrawal. Some might say it’s a stretch to refer to the relationships with our phones as an addiction, and some may agree or even say that it is the best way to describe it. 
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So yes, the first few times are uncomfortable, but like I always say (literally always, ask my friends), “What makes you uncomfortable is your biggest opportunity for growth.” And growth it is!
 
By my 3rd or 4th #NoSocialSunday I was already getting better at resisting the urge to check my phone and every single Sunday after that got easier and easier. As crazy as it might sound, I could feel myself slowly but surely breaking away from this attachment, as if I was cutting pieces of thread on a rope. Each Sunday, a few more strands were snipped.
 
What are we so afraid of anyway? I thought about this question for a while. Why am I so scared to be off social media-even just for a day? I suppose there is this universal sense of missing out on something, FOMO if you will. After doing NSS for over a year I’ve realized a few very important things.
 
1. There is simply nothing important or urgent enough that we NEED to know, especially not on Instagram or Facebook. There’s just not. If it’s important enough, we will get a call or a text. If not, it can go unseen and the earth will continue to spin on its axis. 
 
2. I think another reason we are fearful to give it up is because we don’t want to imagine the not being able to instantly share/show off what they are doing. As someone with a photojournalist mindset, I get that. I’ve always wanted to capture moments and share them, since the MySpace days when I carried my little pink digital camera everywhere with me and made separate photo albums for every bar/bat-mitzvah I went to. I think that’s a natural tendency for most of us (wanting to share moments-not carrying a little pink camera). However, worrying about getting the “right” shot, or re-doing the video for a better one, or worrying about which filter to use, just doesn’t do your real-life experience justice. By distracting ourselves in these ways, we’re not giving ourselves the opportunity to be fully present to enjoy the moment for what it is. Think of all the times you’ve gone to sing happy birthday to a friend in a public place and before you know it they have a spotlight on them from the light of everyone’s phone. We’re all so worried about looking cool, social, & happy on social media that we don’t care about looking like idiots lost in our phones in real life. 
 

Being able to fully enjoy and be present to any given moment, without feeling the urgency to capture it and share it with anyone…THAT is an empowering moment. You are reclaiming the moment for yourself or for you and the people you’re sharing it with. Isn’t that more special anyways?
 
When you work n social media, it is especially hard to not capture these moments. Our goal (& how we make money) is by creating exciting and engaging content; things that will make people want to watch. There are times when I want to enjoy something with out perfectly capturing it, but if I know it would make for good content, I feel guilty, or like I’m not doing my “job”.
 
With all of this being said, the beauty in no social Sunday, is that it is my free pass. My free pass 1 day a week to say, I’m out of the office. No matter what cool shit happens on that day, no matter who I’m singing happy birthday to, no matter how cute my outfit is, or how beautiful the sunset is, it’s for me and only me to enjoy. And that, my friend, is the true beauty of disconnecting from our phones, and reconnecting to life.
 
I hope this brings you some new insight, or gives you hope to see that you can be independent from your phone and it won’t be the worst thing in the world. In fact, it might be the best thing you’ve done for yourself in a while.
 
If you feel intrigued to give #NoSocialSunday a shot here are some tips that have helped me massively.

1. Set a reminder for Saturday night. If you try to remember Sunday, odds are you will do your “morning scroll” Sunday morning and then you already screwed up.
2. Saturday night- Hide your social media app of choice (mine is Instagram, choose whichever or all that you are on most). Hide it deep into one of your app folders, 2nd page of any folder is best, so you can’t see the app by looking at your home screen. If you see the app, you WILL click on it out of habit and not realize until you are a few minutes deep into scrolling. Trust me!
3. Carry a book around with you through out the day. It can be small, or a magazine, or a journal. Anything that you can use as a clutch for when you want to reach for your phone. There’s an app called Blinkist which has text and audio book summaries, which I have found helpful at times.
4. Be present. Use the time that you would normally spend on your phone just being instead. You’ll be amazed at what you notice. At the red light, watch the tress blow in the wind. At the store, people watch. Spend quality undistracted time with friends and family and appreciate the beauty of those relationships. Entertain yourself by observing the world surrounding you.

 
I hope you enjoyed this read, I’ve wanted to write this for forever now, and with some motivational help from recent podcasts, here I am getting it done.  Feel free to leave any questions or comments below, and please share with your friends if you feel enticed to do so. I’ll leave you with a favorite quote, and something to keep in mind for all of your daily adventures and endeavors.
 
“What makes you uncomfortable is your biggest opportunity for growth.”
 
As always, Love, Livv.

Amid the strobe lights and pounding bass, you’re sure to find me as the first person on the dance floor and the last person off.  But you might be surprised to find out that in the midst of my movin'-n-groovin', there’s not a single sip of alcohol in my body…that’s right, Not. A. Single. Sip.  Hard to believe?  Well, it's totally true and totally normal for me—and has been for the past 3 years.
 
No, I don’t have a sponsor or go to an AA meeting every day. In high-school, I drank with everybody else (sorry mom) but I knew something wasn't right.  I never really got "tipsy".  I would just feel really hot—not the type of hot you feel on the outside— it was a heat that would burn from inside my body.
 
I grew up knowing that my dad had an "allergy" to alcohol and couldn't drink.  My older sister found out in high school that she too had an allergic reaction to drinking. But in my stubborn youth, I refused to believe it was passed down to me too. 
 
I tried different types of alcohol for years, thinking "maybe this kind of wine", "maybe this type of beer", "maybe tequila!" (bad idea) hoping that one of them wouldn't give me a reaction.  It wasn't until a friend of mine sent me a video of something called "Asian Flush" that I  finally understood it.  Once I learned what was actually happening to my body when I drank alcohol, I was able to finally accept it. I included the video at the bottom of this post. 
 
Usually I explain it to people by saying I'm allergic to alcohol. In truth, by nature we're all kind of allergic to alcohol.  That’s why too much of it can cause severe reactions, like vomiting, or passing out. Our bodies are rejecting the substance.
 
My case is a little different. "Asian Flush" is pretty common in—you guessed it—Asians.  And it is especially common in Asian-Americans.  If you have any Asian friends who party with you, chances are they turn red when they're drinking.
 
Basically, somewhere along the timeline of the evolution of Asian genetics, our bodies mutated the enzyme that breaks down alcohol, causing that enzyme to either not work properly or not exist at all.
 
The deficiency causes accumulations of acetaldehyde to collect in our bodies, which, when not broken down by the enzymes, remains literally poison.  
 
People who are affected by this condition are at higher risk of getting stomach or esophageal cancer due to the inability of our bodies to efficiently process acetaldehyde. The build up of this toxin is what causes our blood vessels to dilate and our bodies to turn red, hence, the term “flush”. 
 
So there you have it!  Being a 22-year-old young lady who doesn't drink is more taxing than you'd think!  I wish I could print this blog post out and tape it to my forehead when I go out to a bar or club.  It would spare me answering the same questions that I inevitably get asked. Hopefully I covered them all here! 
 
Luckily, I'm a dancer (and goofball) by nature, so I fit in with the party crowd pretty easily.  That's why it comes as such a surprise to people when I'm offered a drink and turn it down.  Would I like to have a glass of wine every once in a while? Sure would.  Do I thank my lucky stars that I'll never be black out wasted stumbling out of the club with one lost shoe and a night of regrets?  You bet. 
 

Disclaimer- these are all of my personal opinions and I am not by any means forcing them onto my readers! I am also not a professional in the dietary field.

Some of you may already know via my Instagram, but about 5-6 months ago I stopped eating meat and cut out most dairy. My main reasons had to do with my health, animal cruelty, and the environment. I watched the documentary "What The Health" on Netflix and let's just say the rest is history! In hindsight, I can agree with some by saying the film was bias. They are definitely trying to push a vegan movement by persuading viewers that eating meat is the worst thing you'll ever do and that it will eventually kill you. I won't disagree with that. Even with that being said, the information about the meat industry is true as are the studies of disease & cancer correlation. I suggest doing your due diligence and researching anything you're skeptical about.

​This topic seems to come with a lot of debate, which is fair. We have been raised in a society that enforces meat as a necessary part of our every day diet. For some, saying that we don't need meat or even claiming that it is bad for your health is absurd. Change is scary- I get it. If you're one of those people, hopefully you can be open minded enough to hear it out. After all, it's YOUR health. All I can hope to do is bring awareness to you!

If you're turning your head away from it, let me share a quote Tony Robbins once said in a podcast that struck me. "Ignorance in finance is poverty, ignorance in diet is disease and death.". 

Another great documentary that is just as persuasive but a little less forceful is "Forks Over Knives". Available on Netflix. 

Like any major lifestyle change, this came with stress. It seemed very inconvenient but I knew it was necessary. Here's the amazing thing about switching to a meat-free diet in todays day in age- your access to information is ENDLESS thanks to this awesome little tool called the internet( sounds familiar yeah?). In the weeks following up my decision to cut out meat and most dairy, I started to follow dozens of vegan & vegetarian dedicated Instagram pages (Buzzfeedtastyveg, Veganfoodspot), saved tons of recipes on my Pintrest, and watched videos on YouTube about how other people "transitioned" to a vegan/vegetarian diet. Seeing that there were SO many resources available to me restored my faith & made my transition much easier.

I'll be honest, at first I made the choice mainly for my health, but I've realized that it is just as important for the environment & for the animals that experience such cruel and inhumane torture. According to a report published by the Worldwatch Institute,
51 percent  of global greenhouse-gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture. I sleep better at night knowing I'm not supporting an industry that is so destructive to our planet. As for animal cruelty, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says it best.