Healthy Eating in the Yellow

In today's world, it seems that everybody is concerned about living well and eating right. The diet and weight loss industry is certainly booming and media and entertainment outlets are certainly rolling in the dough with new and continuing reality weight loss programs that show the human side of what the American diet has done to many Americans.

For me, eating healthy has been a struggle not only because of old habits, but also because of a very hectic lifestyle and the choices I make as a result.

Choosing healthy nutritional options can be difficult in the world we live in but is definitely worth the time it takes to do so.

Currently, I am experimenting with vegetarianism. It just so happens that my current diet (not as in diet for weight loss, but the simple definition of diet being what is eaten) contains mostly poultry anyway so I thought it wouldn't be a big deal to eliminate meat completely. Since I don't eat pork, beef, and fish all that often anyway, I thought this could be doable. Also, in reflecting about the way I think about eating, I have always thought of the meat as the central part of the meal, with everything else complimenting the meat choice. So, I'd look in the frig, discover I had chicken and try to make a meal based on that. I want to see what will happen if I intentionally focus on vegetables/fruits/grains and make that the focus of my meals.

We'll see what happens.

More Soulful Melodies in the Yellow

Ever since her first album, "Lost and Found," I have loved Ledisi. I simply adore her new album, "Turn Me Loose." It has a broad range of musical styles/genres (which might be a turn off for some), but its this eclectic mix that I love about Ledisi. I actually love her actual voice. What I like most is that for the most part she sings contralto, but she ad-libs with higher notes. She has a very soulful voice. Some of the tracks I love are: "Higher Than This," 'Everything Changes," "Alone,"and "The Answer to Why." I love, love, love Ledisi! Check her out if you haven't already! :)

Economics in the Yellow

Cafe Rose Nicaud is an African American owned coffee shop in New Orleans that has been affected by Hurricane Katrina and now, the recession. Owner Melba LeBrane Ferdinand named the cafe after Rose Nicaud, an enslaved French Creole woman who bought her freedom in New Orleans. After she purchased her freedom she became an entreprenuer and opened up the first coffee shop at the French Market. Ferdinand discusses her struggles in the article by CNN and states that Nicaud's story inspires her--"Sometimes when I get really down about it, I think about Rose Nicaud and wonder what kind of obstacles she had to go through to do," Ferdinand said. "It inspires me."

Black Owned Businesses Hit Hard in New Orleans--August 19, 2009

Spicing Up the Yellow!

I have been playing around with different ways to spice the blog up--add a layout and music!

Yippee. Got the layout from: Deluxe Templates. The Radio is from: Last FM

Soulful Melodies in the Yellow

I love music! I love to sing! And, I love soulful singers.

Recently, I just purchased Crystal Aikin's CD and it is WONDERFUL!!!!

You should check it out. I really love the songs Even Me, I Desire More, What If He Said No, A Song About Jesus, and The Clouds!

Aikin has a powerful voice and you feel the intensity and passion she has for Jesus in each song!

Beauty in the Yellow

Check out the new bracelet collection that HIV/AIDS activist Rae Lewis Thornton has just unveiled.

I am about to get mine! You should get yours! :)

Meet Me in the Yellow!

Trying to live life in the Yellow day by day! This blog will be an outpouring of my thoughts on a myriad of topics from life to love to politics to religion to Black History to Women's History to Growing Pains to things that make me feel happy and bright! Yellow brings clarity and awareness and the blog will be the repository of my thoughts and observations.

“Put some yellow in your life when you want:

• clarity for decision-making
• relief from 'burnout', panic, nervousness, exhaustion
• sharper memory and concentration skills,
• protection from lethargy and depression during dull weather.”

Inspired by what at first was a simple fashion decision to make yellow my color of the summer, I did a little research and decided that "yellow" is a place and state of being. So, an excerpt from a note I wrote on FB:

On Living Life in the Yellow: India.Arie’s “Yellow” is a song about the effect love has on a person. For me, living life in the Yellow, is about much more than romantic love. For me, life in the yellow is about brightness, happiness, intellectual fervor, wisdom, spirituality, and yes, love.

Living life in the yellow is about being open because when you live in this way, people are naturally attracted to your brightness. Feel free to bask in my yellowness but please know:

• God resides in my Yellow space and the Trinity is the source of its brightness.
• Me getting to the yellow has been a process. Me staying in the yellow is one too.
• If you visit my yellow place, only bring beautiful and bright things: Flowers, words, lyrics, melodies, love, care, concern,music, laughter, good food, openness, genuine respect, friendship, esteem.
• Don’t bring your negativity. I’m trying hard enough to rid my space of my own negativity, I refuse to combat yours too.
• Your views are your views, but please know that I do not tolerate any form of oppression: racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, classism, elitism, etc. My spirit just can’t handle it.
• In that same vein, in my yellow place, we have conversations, we do not debate. Debating makes us take sides and try to persuade others of the rightness of our own cause. There is little room for compromise because there is only one winner in a debate. In a conversation, we both have the ability to work toward common solutions to the issues that matter most to us.
• If you cross my yellow space and I think you are beautiful, I am going to let you know. So many in people in the world yearn to be told that they are beautiful, but nobody ever does. I want to start a revolution.
• To the contrary, if you actions are not beautiful, I will let you know. You should let me know if mine aren’t either. In a loving, yellow sort-of-way, of course.
• As I have lived my life, I have come to realize that my spirit recognizes kindred spirits and connections. I can discern, early on, a person’s nature and my spirit always clues me into who I should enter relationships with. So far, this discernment has never been wrong. If you enter my yellow space and I discern a connection, I will try my hardest to cultivate a relationship. Time is too short and we are put into each other’s lives for a reason and a season.
• In a FB note that I wrote on my 25th birthday, I wrote that I had yet to take a huge risk. Well, that is partly still true. Risk-taking is hard for me because I am so afraid of failure and rejection. Well, in this new yellow-space, I am going to work on taking risks. If I fail or am rejected, I believe that the beauty and brightness of life in the Yellow will heal me.