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?

Opportunity for a fresh start

What can you do to make your life better this year?

Don’t carry negatives (people, thoughts, actions) into the new year. 

They will only weigh you down and deter your positive thoughts and actions. 

Stop criticizing others and shooting down their input, comments and suggestions, whether that is at work, home or among those in your social circles.

While ridding your life of negativity, find time to do the things that truly make you happy.

If there are other areas of your life that you would like to change the new year provides an opportunity for a fresh start.

Who can you trust for diet advice?

The Internet serves as an accessible and confidential resource for individuals seeking nutritional and weight loss related information. 

However, the quality of information retrieved online is mixed and could have serious implications for users.

Each day, millions of teens and young adults are being fed contents on TikTok and other social media platforms that paints a very unrealistic and inaccurate picture of food, nutrition and weight loss.

I read that most diet advise on Tik-Tok platform came from young, white, female influencers. These influencers went viral for being attractive or charismatic. 

This topic, “who to trust” on weight loss and nutrition issues is especially important. When looking for credible weight loss information, one of the most important aspects to consider is the individual providing the information.

I am inclined to trust more the opinions of individuals who themselves struggled with weight loss, than those who never experienced it. 

I may be biased. 

Importance of learning from our mistakes

If something is your fault, admit it and learn a valuable lesson. 

Simple? Yes.

Easy? No, because of our ego, an unhealthy belief in our own importance.

The next time you make a mistake, try hard to take the “low ego” path. 

When you make a mistake, try to admit it as soon as you can, and apologize if necessary. Making an effort to apologize for a mistake can show that you respect the people who have been affected by the mistake. 

Apologizing can also show that you regret your mistake, that you are willing to take responsibility for it and that you're using it as an opportunity to improve yourself.

You can also consider telling other people in similar roles the lessons you've learned so that they can learn from your mistake.

Making mistakes can be a valuable learning opportunity. You can find lessons from your mistakes that can help you improve your skills and expand your knowledge. 

Making the same mistakes over and over can be costly in more ways than one.