Growing up, I struggled to love myself. From social pressures, the media to overly critical family members who constantly compared me to my skinnier peers, I never felt like my body was good enough. I went on my first diet when I was 8 years old. My plan was to skip breakfast, eat half my lunch and only vegetables for dinner. I failed miserably. Then as I entered my teen years, I developed an eating disorder that consisted of dangerously restrictive diets, bingeing and purging and extreme workouts. In my young adult years, it became chasing the latest fad diet and buying anything to lose weight. I hated my body and I didn’t know how to love myself from the inside out. It wasn’t until my late 20’s when I started my recovery journey, completely shifting my mindset and changing how I viewed myself. I stopped yo-yo dieting, emotionally eating, using exercise as punishment whenever I ate a donut and no longer cared about other peoples’ opinions. Looking back, the part that was driving my desperate desire to lose weight was based on a lack of understanding and awareness about body positivity. This concept didn’t exist during my vulnerable years of adolescence. Without being properly informed, I filled in the gaps with toxic beliefs to feel good in my skin. Here are 3 myths about body positivity that I used to believe in. Full Transcript here

I never thought I would be a freelance writer When I first started blogging in 2017, I had no idea where it was going to lead me. I was a new mom who was working her 9–5 and trying to find some balance at home. Writing became my source of reason and means of therapy. Jump forward 3 years later and I’m at home on my second maternity leave, changing my son’s poopy diapers. I knew I was going back to my 9–5 but I also knew I didn’t want to do that forever. I wanted to figure out how to turn this hobby into a dream career. Full Transcript here

After having a fight with my husband in front of our kids, I wasn’t able to do what my daughter wanted me to. I felt like I was repeating my parents’ behaviour but this incident inspires me to keep trying to be a better person. Full Transcript Here

Experiencing new cultures and immersing myself in the day-to-day life of people who grew up in a different environment than me is one of my favourite ways to learn and grow. Travelling helps boost my creativity, practice empathy and broadens my horizons. And when I return home, finishing the adventure allows me to truly appreciate where I live and practice gratitude for the simplest things I have. But would I do it as a way of life? Like the growing number of digital nomads who work and live remotely in faraway lands? Nope. Why? https://sumonsleeve.com/2021/06/why-i-wouldnt-want-to-live-the-digital-nomad-lifestyle-5-minute-read.html

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security or investment product. I’m only sharing what worked for me and my opinions. I highly recommended you seek professional advice from someone who is authorized to provide investment advice. I started with $5000 as an experiment to make $100. How I made $3500 trading stocks with no finance background. https://sumonsleeve.com/2021/04/how-i-made-3-590-11-by-trading-stocks-in-2-years-with-no-investing-experience-8-minute-read.html

When I first started blogging, I had no idea who was going to read my stuff. It was a space for me to express myself, put feelings into words and make sense of what was going on for me as a mom. 4 years later, I’ve had distant family members, anonymous strangers, friends of friends, folks I used to go to school with, and old coworkers reach out to me, praising me for what I’ve written. It’s amazing how the power of the Internet and my affinity for words can connect folks across the world from all walks of life. As part of this writing journey, I’ve noticed that most of the folks who have reached out are higher up on the six degrees of separation. Those who are close to me don’t say much and I actually prefer to keep it that way. https://sumonsleeve.com/2021/04/why-i-dont-expect-my-friends-and-family-to-read-what-i-write-4-minute-read.html

Why not both? I wish this meant I could have both soft and hard tacos but instead it’s experiencing both sexism and racism as an Asian woman. It’s like if I’m not being discriminated against for being a woman, then I’m being discriminated against for being an Asian. And if it’s not that, there’s a third category where race and gender come together into a mixed bag of shit, from subtle to blatant, the worst of both worlds. And that needs to die. So here are 9 Asian female stereotypes that need to die:

I used to believe I needed to scrub clean of my past and start fresh every time I stepped into a new relationship. So when I first started dating my husband, I told him I didn’t want to talk about my past relationships. The past is the past right? However, I’ve realized the experience and wisdom I gained from being with my exes have not only helped my marriage but taught me so much about myself. Here are 5 valuable life lessons I learned from my exes.

I knew I had experienced racism, from being made fun of how I look and what I ate to having someone shout ‘ching chong’ at me while they drove by. Those acts were blatant and obvious. However, microaggressions are, to say the least, micro. They happen so subtly that after each incident, I would feel confused, unable to pinpoint what I had experienced and what I felt about it. I didn’t know I was being discriminated against for being Asian because it was unintentional and/or indirect. In addition, the person discriminating against me didn’t know that’s what they were doing. We don’t know what we don’t know. That is until now. So here are 9 examples of microaggression I’ve experienced as an Asian.

I was really against using screens at mealtime because of everything I know about distracted eating. It prevents them from listening to their bodies, enables unnecessary snacking between meals, and increases their risk of obesity later in life; using screens at mealtimes seems to do more harm than good. In addition, I’ve personally struggled with emotional eating most of my life and battled an eating disorder when I was a teenager. It wasn’t until my late 20’s when I started treating my body right. Learning to eat mindfully, listening to my body’s hunger and full cues and appreciating food instead of viewing it as an enemy was a significant part of my recovery. And I want my kids to learn to self-regulate how much they need to eat early on so that they don’t go through what I went through. But then, one day, in a fit of frustration while struggling to feed my son scrambled eggs, my husband turned the TV on, flipped it to a Cantonese episode of Peppa Pig and within seconds, there were silence and stillness.