The friends effect

Feeling healthy and happy is something we all aspire to, and no matter what stage of life we are at now, there is always room for a little improvement.

It is all too easy to carry on regardless, often unaware of what is really going on with our bodies or how certain situations might be affecting our health and our happiness.  

When you spend time with friends who make you happy, many of our body’s systems undergo positive changes. 

Having friends to turn to during difficult times could buffer the damaging effects of stress on your body. That chat on the phone, or a quick coffee with a friend offer different experiences than online connections. 

Chatting on the phone can be good to maintain friendships. It allows you to hear the tone, intonations and volume of a friend’s voice – all of which give us important cues to how someone is truly feeling and thinking, so we feel supported and loved. 

It is important to invest in our friendships and prioritize them. Here is what I think can help.

Don’t rely on social media.  Try to make one-on-one time for the other person.

Connect in ways that suit you both. Don’t forget to consider the changes happening in the other person’s life.

Don’t assume negative motives. You may be surprised by the response if you initiate contact, but you don’t get the reaction you hoped for. Your effort may be rewarded later.

Accept that friendships change. The big friendship of your 20s might not be the ones that feature highly in your 40s or later.

Life is better without spam

Who would think that my unimportant blog could become an object of interest for spammers.

It appears, judging by the fonts used, that somebody in China or Korea used undetected intrusion and placed several hounded of spam comments with links to that language porn sites.

It was brought to my attention and I removed all of them, I hope.

Unfortunately, I have to change settings for comments and starting today they will be moderated. 

Thank you for your trust

As we begin another exiting year, I wanted to thank you for your trust and reading my blog. I am honored to share my experience and lessons learned with you.

We, who struggle with weight loss should not focus on one subject only – weight loss. 

No matter where we are on our weight loss journey, each of us has a life, and other aspects of life are equally or even more important than weight loss.

Life is a true miracle that consists of multiple layers and aspects. Some aspects of life are more important than others, but one thing is certain; balancing each of them is a recipe for true happiness!

In 2022, I experimented with posts on other subjects, besides weight loss and received positive feedback from you.

I encourage you to share what I write about with the important folks of your life and start conversations.

Thank you for being with me on this journey, and I am looking forward to sharing more with you this new year

You can always improve and grow

Are you someone who believes that you can always improve and grow, or do you think that your abilities are fixed and unchangeable?

If you fall int the latter category, don’t worry – it is never too late to adopt a growth mindset and start reaping the benefits.

A growth mindset is about being positive or optimistic. It is about believing that you have the power to change and improve, and that effort and learning can lead to growth and success. 

People with a growth mindset are always striving to learn and grow. They approach challenges and setback as opportunities to learn and improve rather than as failures.

They welcome feedback and are open to hearing different perspectives, even if it is difficult to hear. 

They use feedback as an opportunity to learn and grow, rather than taking it personally or becoming defensive. 

Are you one of them?