Instruction to be unhappy

Hi everyone!

Do you know this feeling? You walk down the street on a sunny day, everything seems perfect and still you meet a person who has always something to fuss about. Often I think that grumpiness actually is what makes many people happy. So, the last time I was lying in the sun, enjoying the good weather, I thought I should come up with a few tips that help people to be unhappy more efficiently - or the sunshine might actually kill their grumpiness.

To be most efficient, it is always the best thing to grip a problem at its roots. In our case at the neurotransmitter Serotonin that lets us to experiences the feeling of happiness. In order to sabotage Serotonin most efficiently, we have to attack it a different levels:

One hero of our childhood – Astrid Lindgren

© Jacob Forsell

Hi everyone!

Recently I stumbled across an article about Astrid Lindgren. In the beginning I didn’t even bother to read it. But then I thought that Astrid Lindgren has shaped a huge part of my childhood, so it might be interesting to know who this person is. It took me a while to recognize the genius of this woman but then I was fascinated. Now, I see her as a great role model for respect, humanity and woman’s right.

Have and attitude of gratitude #3

Hi everyone!

When I was in Bali I spent a lot of time in Ubud. On the picture above you can see the rice fields and it was overwhelming how green everything was. This place has its very own vibe and you can feel their religion and spiritualism on every corner. Everywhere are banana leafs with incense sticks to cherish the ghosts and spirits at this places. In Ubud I did a lot of yoga and meditation and there was one meditation practice that appealed to me a lot. Usually in meditation you try to relax your mind and let the toughts pass without trying to stick to them. But this meditation you involve your thoughts as a tool.

How to quickly chill your wine

Hi everyone!

Today I have a quick tip for you. Do you know this, when friends come over spontaneously and you quickly go and buy a bottle of wine but you don’t have time to chill it? All wine lovers will agree with me that it is a terrible idea to put ice cubes into the wine. The much better option is to add

Have an attitude of gratitude # 2

Hi everyone!

Just recently I have read an article about the 365 gratitude project. In this project the photographer Hailey Bartholomew took one photo per day of things that she is grateful for. It all started with a conversation she had with a nun in 2008. Hailey had a very good life but somehow she wasn’t happy with it and had no idea why. The nun told her that the key to happiness is reflection and gratitude, so Hailey started to write down everything that she was grateful on a daily basis. She noticed quick changes in her level of happiness, so she wanted to take this project to the next level. Packed with Polaroid films for one year she started to take one photo per day of things she was grateful for. The result is a wonderful, friendly and happy collection of photos that I really enjoyed looking at. Hailey says that seeing and celebrating the good things in life really reprogrammed her brain. If you are interested, you can find her project here. I found this project really inspiring, so here is my week of gratitude:

How I gained 20 pounds and lost them again

Hi everyone!

Today I would like to talk about a sensitive topic that might interest many people: Weight gain and weight loss. I want to say at first that this is not a typical diet post, where I will tell you to reduce carbs or follow any other diet trend. It is about the main mistakes that we make that let us gain weight or will keep us from losing weight. Beware, the post is long but you can always skip to the section that interests you ;)

As I already described in the post "How a break-up can change your life" I was in a relationship where I gained a lot of weight because I was very unhappy without realising it. I won’t start to gossip and say anything bad about a person that has been very close to me for a very long time. But we both were not happy in the relationship and it took us a while to realize that. I gained and gained and gained weight steadily. It was so frustrating because I did everything that I could, was on every diet and really starved myself every now and then. Still, the weight was not dropping. I now believe that the most important factor was that I was very unhappy. After the break-up it was quite easy for me to lose the weight again. But there are lots of other weight loss mistakes that I will discuss in this post. Just feel free to read the sections that interest you :)

A taste of my childhood – grandma’s green bean soup

Hi everyone!

Today I would like to introduce you to a childhood recipe. Green beans are in season right now and they are very nutritious, rich in proteins, fiber and all kinds of minerals - and they are green! Let’s face it, lately we are all into “something green”. Also this recipe is very low in calories and not very expensive. So, you have a tasty and nutritious low budget meal that is even regional and seasonal. Enjoy!