 Picture by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels. Makeup is meant to enhance features, not hide them. Wearing too much makeup will make you look cakey and completely different. Unless that’s your goal, here are some things to keep in mind when applying makeup. This is also how most French women do it, so if you want to look chic like a French woman, these tips will definitly be valuable to you. Tip # 1: Eyeliner  Photo by Eugene Liashchevskyi from Pexels Dark, thick eyeliner will make you look overdone. Though it may be perfect for Saturday night, it definitely doesn’t look natural. Instead, make sure you sharpen your eyeliner pencil so it makes a thin line. Also, avoid using a dark eyeliner on your waterline, especially if you're a woman in your 50+ years, because this might make you look dragged. Tip # 2: Mascara  Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels. Most mascaras have a tendency to clump, which forces your lashes to come together and leave large gaps. Applying mascara lightly will avoid this issue and enhance your lashes in the most natural way. If you're not so young anymore, I suggest you only put mascara on your upper eyelashes. Again, putting mascara underneath your eye might make you look dragged, so keep in mind that you should try to lift your look instead of drawing the attention downward. Tip # 3: Foundation First, choose a foundation that matches your skin tone. A little goes a long way, so start applying lightly and add more as desired. The goal of foundation is to create a smooth, even tone. Also, select a brush that is appropriate for your foundation; some brushes work best with a liquid foundation, as opposed to pressed powder. Tip # 4: Powder The same holds true for powder - not too much. Powder has a tendency to sit on top rather than blend into your face, so be sure to blend your makeup to avoid obvious lines.  Tip # 5: Lips For a natural look, it is best to stick with neutral colors. Sometimes a clear gloss is perfect to keep it natural but add that little bit of spunk. You can even just throw on some tinted chapstick! Tip # 6: Appropriate makeup This last tip is perhaps the most important one: Wear makeup that is appropriate for the occasion! If you are going to the beach, you shouldn't wear the same or as much makeup as you would if you were going dancing. Same thing applies if you're going to a job interview or some other formal setting: You shouldn't wear the same makeup as you would going to a party. Also, when you are in daylight, your makeup should be lighter than when you are out for the evening. ----------------------------- I hope you found this article useful to you. If so, feel free to share it with someone else, and I would love it if you would follow my blog! À bientôt!
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 I've loved music all my life. It was a vital part of my childhood. Classical music in particular. Both my parents loved it, but especially my Mom. She grew up with a lot of violin music around her, since her eldest brother had a large collection of records and she listened to them a lot in. Especially in a period of illness when she had to stay home from school. She told me that listening to all that wonderful music gave her great comfort and joy. And when I was a little girl, she was always accompagnied by recordings of classical music while she was doing her household chores. Especially violin music. And she sang along, too, - or rather hummed the melodies, since they were mostly without lyrics: Johannes Brahms' Hungarian dances ... Claude Debussy's "Clair de lune"... Dmitri Shostakovich's romance "The Gadfly"... Gabriel Fauré's "Après un rêve".... Antonin Dvorak's "Songs my mother taught me"... Pjotr Tchaikovsky's "Sérenade mélancholique" .... Ole Bull's "Sæterjentens søndag" .... Fritz Kreisler's "La Gitana" ... and so many, many more. I learned to love them all, just like she did. And then there was Grieg ... Beethoven ... Mozart ... Haydn .... Chopin .... Schumann ... I can't even begin to describe the joy that filled me when I listened to all that wonderful music! And that's exactly what's so beautiful about it: You don't have to describe it. You don't have to describe anything at all. The music speaks for itself. It can express all feelings in a way that words never can. My mother's love for classical music opened up the whole world of music to me. In my early childhood it was available to me through my parents' tape recorder and through the radio. Not only classical music, but also other genres, like pop, jazz and rock music. Then, a few years into the 1960s, we got a television set in our home, and a new era began. It was all in black-and-white back then, but that didn't matter. It all came very much alive to me. I watched operettas, ballets and classical concerts, but also quite a few American TV-shows and musicals, which of course had a lot of both singing and dancing in them. Danny Kaye was one of my favorites back then. And films with Shirley Temple ... Jeanette McDonald and Eddie Nelson .... Julie Andrews ... Frank Sinatra ... Fred Astaire ... I could go on and on...! I was hooked. I day-dreamed about becoming a singer and dancer and actor myself. It was my life! And I had no barriers back then. I sang with confidence. My Dad used to sit himself down by the piano in the evenings, playing a variety of songs, especially Christian traditional songs and hymns, but also songs like "Home on the Range", "My grandfather's clock.." and that kind of stuff. And I sang. Sometimes alone, sometimes together with my sister. We could go on for hours, and my Mom listened to us from the kitchen and often joined in, too. Those were happy times, for sure! And as I grew older and became a teenager, I listened a lot to "Radio Luxembourg" in my room at night, when I was supposed to be asleeep. I turned the volume of the old Radionette way down low so I didn't wake anyone up, and listened with my ear close to the radio. That's where I heard "Bridge over troubled water" with Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel for the very first time, and it was the most beautiful song I'd ever heard. And the world of pop music opened up to me. The Carpenters, Neil Sedaka, The Beatles ... I felt like I was floating away on a white cloud in the sky. The music got under my skin. Tickled my ears. Filled me with joy. And then there was Donny Osmond ... "Puppy Love" ... I had a crush on him for quite a few years, and the walls in my teenage room was covered with pictures of him (and of course a big poster of Liverpool FC and my favorite player at that time, Kevin Keegan), - until ABBA, Queen, Paul McCartney / Wings (among others) caught my interest more. I got my first record player when I was 14 or 15, and my LP record collection grew slowly in the beginning, since I didn't earn much money of my own back then (the paper round I did 3 times a week didn't pay much), - but it grew more rapidly over the years, since music was a huge passion of mine and I discovered more and more artists from very different genres. In the late 1970s I also started to buy a lot of Christian music, and Larry Norman, Amy Grant, Paul Field, and Adrian Snell were among my favorites, as well as a few local Norwegian bands, like PeOBand and Kainos (from my home area). Whenever there was a Christian concert or festival in my area, I went there together with my friends, and it's a period of my life that I remember with great joy. A few of the friends from that period are people I still have contact with. My music library in the 1980s naturally included Randy Crawford, Billy Joel, Lionel Richie, Kate Bush, Belinda Carlisle, Tanita Tikaram, T'Pau, and many, many more. As the years passed by, my list of favorites just kept on growing, and they represented very different genres. This is not covered in one day, for sure! I'll definitely be sharing more about music later. Hope you've enjoyed it so far, and that you'll share this article with someone who might enjoy it too. Do you have any personal favorites? Stay tuned, and who knows: Maybe you'll find a piece about them here later. À bientôt!  Picture by Andrea Piaquadio via Pexels Imagine browsing through skincare aisles and finding that one, perfect product that boasts of all-natural ingredients. Then you read the label, expecting to find a virtual salad, but instead you find yourself reading benzoic acid, butyl stearate, and some totally unpronounceable names. You're no botanist, but you're quite sure that all that stuff doesn’t grow on trees. This is because most commercial items meant for skin care nowadays contain preservatives and other chemicals to maintain their consistency and shelf life. Problem is, most of these chemicals can actually irritate more sensitive skin. So what solution is there for this kind of crisis? Simple. Mix your own, homemade skincare line. There's really nothing to it, as most ingredients are found in your fridge or fruit basket. All-natural skin recipes are easily found on the Internet or even in magazines. Usually, these skincare mixes are composed of a combination of one or two fruits. Combinations like these can include either the fruit pulp, fruit juice, or both. Milk, water, or honey are usually added to smoothen the mixture. Add-ons such as oatmeal, wheat germ, brown sugar, and dried herbs are also included for more specialized effects such as a pimple treatment, flaking, and oily skin. Skincare using natural ingredients offers great variety. There are facial cleansers, scrubs, moisturizing creams, and face masks. Don't worry, because indications for use are usually found with the recipes. The recipes indicate whether the mixture is for normal, dry, oily, sensitive, and acne-prone skin. Some are even more specialized as blackhead removers or whitening solutions.  Picture by cottonbro via Pexels.
Natural skincare routines have many advantages. # 1)The ingredients are easily available and the choices are great. They are also natural, thus, greatly reducing risks of allergies or skin irritations. # 2) The ingredients are cheap, which translates into more savings for you. # 3) You can modify the recipes to suit your needs. Since the risks for irritations are minimal, experimentations are relatively safe. # 4) Vitamins and antioxidants are naturally found in fruits, while milk and honey have restorative properties. Therefore, you get the same vitamins found in commercial products while limiting or eradicating chemicals. As these skincare recipes use natural ingredients, they require refrigeration and can only keep for a week. However, it is better to make these in small quantities or batches for immediate use. In addition, these recipes contain natural hydroxy acids and vitamins for direct and instant skin rejuvenation. Last, but not least: Don't forget to keep fit by exercising, having a balanced, healthy diet, and regular sleep. With these prerequisites and your new skincare solutions, you're on your way to having healthy skin that can top what science can offer. Now, that's what you call natural. ----------------------- I hope you found this article useful to you! If so, I hope you'll follow my blog and also share this article with someone else who might be interested in it. If you want to read more articles on skin-care, and if you're interested in how French women do it, check out my article on How to do skin-care like French women. À bientôt!  Picture by Kampus Production from Pexels Have you tried over and over again to create a morning routine, but you just can’t stick with it? Me too! But I’ve figured out how to do it. And so can you! The key is to make it flexible. Now, you may think that sounds strange – it’s a routine, shouldn’t it be … not flexible? Well, the answer to that is yes and no. It’s also important to make the routine manageable. There’s no point trying to make working out in the morning a routine if you don’t have time for it. Why flexibility is important  Picture by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels You may think the point of a routine is to make different actions into habits. And that’s one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is that a routine helps you have time for the things you want to do more of. It’s also self care in the sense that you take time out of your day to do something for yourself. That may be reading, it may be to cook a healthy lunch, or working out. It all depends on what YOU want. But a strict routine doesn’t take into account that not every day is the same. You may oversleep, or you may have slept bad and you don’t have the energy to go through a whole routine. That’s why having a flexible routine is important. Create your perfect morning routine  Picture by Kampus Production from Pexels So, imagine your perfect morning routine. You feel rested and energized and you have enough time. It’s a good idea to write this down. Because now, we’re going to start messing with it. The idea of a perfect morning routine is great, but, as I touched upon, not all mornings are perfect. That’s where having a flexible routine is useful – and when I figured this out, it was a revelation. Some people talk about having a “habit menu”, and there is also a book by Stephen Guise called Elastic Habits. So how do we take the perfect morning routine and make it flexible? Make alternatives  Picture by Judit Peter from Pexels The key to making a flexible routine is to make alternatives. I think it’s important that all alternatives involve some of the same elements, because it’s not really a routine if not, is it? If you just do different things every morning, it’s not a routine. And instead of maybe give you a nice start to the day or help you reach your goals, you’re just doing random stuff. Lateral and vertical flexibility The variations of your morning routine should involve some of the same elements, but there needs to be both lateral and vertical flexibility. What I mean by that, is that you need variations on how much you do, and how intense it is. An example: If you want to work out in the morning, you can have a small, medium or large goal. But you can also vary the intensity. So, say you’re pressed for time, but are really energetic, you can work out for 15 minutes with high intensity. If you have more time, but less energy, you may want to do a 30 minute yoga session. Both of those activities belong in the category of “working out” as part of your routine (if that is something you’ve included). Examples and inspiration to make your own perfect, but flexible, morning routine  Picture by cottonbro from Pexels Earlier, I asked you to imagine your perfect morning routine. But maybe nothing came to mind, you just know that you want to make a routine to get a better start to your day. So, I would suggest taking a few minutes to think of what you want to achieve with your morning routine. Do you want to have a calm, relaxing start to the day, or do you want to feel like you’ve achieved something first thing in the morning, or maybe you just want to make your mornings run more smoothly? Examples of some alternatives There are a few things I want to incorporate more of in my life. Working out, reading and learning a new language are some of those goals. But I also want to be kind to myself. Therefore, my routine(s) have elements of both working on my goals, and having a relaxed morning. So a low energy morning routine may look like this:
A high energy morning routine may look like this:
And a low on time morning routine may look like this:
As you can see, you can vary the amount of time or energy you spend on an activity, depending on how you feel and what you have time for.  Picture by Ivan Samkov from Pexels
Right now I don’t have that many items in my morning routine, but If I’m really short of time or am really low on energy, I may completely omit a habit that day. That’s the great thing about a flexible routine – it allows for you to stick to the same elements, but vary them depending on time and energy. And that’s how you stick to a morning routine, you have to make the routine work for you. ------------------ I hope you found this article valuable! If so, feel free to share it with someone else who might like it, too. And of course I would be very happy if you would follow my blog and subscribe to my newsletter! See you soon! À bientôt!  In my previous blog article I wrote about why I don't think you should make new year resolutions and what I think you should do instead. Today's article is kind of a follow-up on that, and today I want to focus on the resolutions many people make when it comes to improving their health, such as to lose weight, stop smoking or join the neighborhood health club. While it is common to set high goals, experts say that setting smaller goals could do more for our health. James O. Hill, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, says (and I quote): "Small steps are achievable and are easier to fit into your daily routine. They are less overwhelming than a big, sudden change." Here are 10 small steps I suggest that you try: Step # 1: Keep an eye on your weight  Picture by SHVETS Production on Pexels I don't mean that you should get obsessive about what you weigh - quite the contrary, actually, because the scale might lie or not give the full picture. It's really your measures that are most important. But still: Keep an eye on your weight and work on making sure you are not gaining extra pounds / kilos. Even if you gain just a pound or two every year, the extra weight adds up quickly. That being said: When you're trying to lose weight and you might have taken up exercise and you're starting to build muscles, be aware that your muscles add weight, too, so that's why I'm saying the scales might lie. Step # 2: Walk more / add more steps  Take more small steps. Use a pedometer to count your daily steps; then add 2,000, the equivalent of one extra mile. Keep adding steps, 1,000 to 2,000 each month or so, until you take 10,000 steps on most days. Step #3: Eat breakfast.  Picture by life of pix on Pexels Breakfast eaters tend to weigh less and have better diets overall. For a filling and nutrition-packed breakfast, eat whole grains, for example oatmeal, with fresh fruit slices and low-fat or fat-free milk. A little bit of yoghurt is also a good option, preferably fat- and sugar free ones like Greek yoghurt. Step # 4: Go nuts!  Picture by David Disponett on Pexels Nuts are good for you. They are a great source of necessary nutrients such as protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Some nuts you could eat are walnuts, hazelnuts, pecan, pistachios, almonds and peanuts, A handfull a day, or as little as 7 walnuts, are enough. Add some berries or fruit, and you have a delicious and easy snack meal. Step # 5. Have at least one salad per day  Have at least one green salad every day. Eating a salad (with low-fat or fat-free dressing) is filling and may help you eat less during the meal. It also counts toward your five daily cups of vegetables and fruits. Step # 6: Cut down on the fat  Picture by bulut tuncay on Pexels Fat has a lot of calories, and calories count. Purchase lean meats, eat poultry without the skin, switch to lower-fat cheeses, use a nonstick pan with only a little bit of oil or butter. Step # 7: Consider calcium by including two or three daily servings of low-fat or fat-free milk or yogurt. Dairy calcium is good for your bones and may also help you lose weight. Step # 8: Downsize The smaller the plate or bowl, the less you will eat. This can keep you from over-eating. Step # 9: Keep track of your eating.  Picture by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels Write down what you eat over the next couple of days and look for problem spots. Often, just writing things down can help you eat less. Please note: The last step is something to consider only if you are over-weight - otherwise you can skip this: Step #10: Lose just 5 to 10 percent of your current weight. The health benefits are huge: lower blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides. -------------- Overall - and this could be an additional important step: Move your body more! A great way to make sure you do that, is to try my FREE 12 Days of More Activity Challenge and also get my FREE downloadable Year of Activity Calendar for 2022. I hope you found this article useful. If losing weight is something you want to do, but you don't really know how to go about it in a healthy way, I have written an article about just that: How You Can Lose Weight The Healthy Way I have also written other articles about health and nutrition, and a good follow-up on this article that you've read here, is the one that I've called How To Put Together A Meal Plan And Eat Your Stress Away, - and if you want to learn how to get lean and strong like a French woman without even breaking a sweat, you can read more about that here. I would be happy if you would follow my blog, and also share this article with someone you think might find it useful. See you soon - or as the French say it: À bientôt!  WHY I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD MAKE NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS, AND 3 SIMPLE THINGS YOU COULD DO INSTEAD1/11/2022  This is actually a re-post of an article I wrote on this subject last year, with a few updates. Instead of writing it all again, follow this link to read it in full. Happy New Year! May this be your best year yet!  Picture by Lisa from Pexels. What you do on Sunday can determine the week ahead of you. If you spend your Sunday prepping for the following week, you can set yourself up for success. And it doesn’t need to take more than an hour. Over the past few years, I have realised that the way I spend my Sunday greatly affects the rest of my week. “Spend your Sunday wisely, and you’ll set yourself up for success in the upcoming week”. But what does that mean, and isn’t Sundays for relaxing? Yes, Sundays are for relaxing. But I find that if I spend all of Sunday relaxing, I feel unprepared for the week when I wake up on Monday. And so, spending just one, maybe two hours out of the whole day, in order to prepare for the upcoming week is what helps me. What to do, the breakdown What you need to do to feel prepared for the week may differ from person to person. But I like to break it down in categories: making the house feel fresh and ready, going through papers and digital clutter, making a game plan, and making myself feel fresh and ready. Making the house feel fresh and ready   Picture by SHEVTS from Pexels. When preparing for the upcoming week, I like to start with the house. This is usually what is most time consuming and labour intensive, so I like getting it out of the way. What I do depends on a few factors, but I always make sure to take the rubbish out and clean the kitchen. Which means, I’ll start by emptying and reloading the dishwasher and wash any dishes that needs washing by hand. I then continue on to scrubbing the sink and wiping down the counters. The rest depends on what needs doing. I might tidy up things that are out of order or fold and put away clean laundry. Because we all know laundry takes 4-5 days, right? 1 day to wash and dry and then 3-4 business days to get folded and put away, haha! Picture by Sarah Chai from Pexels. By doing these little things, the house feels fresh and ready for the week. Going through my papers and digital clutter
Picture by Anete Lusina from Pexels. Picture by Monstera from Pexels. Papers and digital clutter have a tendency of sneaking up on us. That’s why I like to spend a little time just going through them to see what I need to do with them. Papers are easy enough, you know: checking my notes, checking if there is a bill that needs paying, is there any junk mail that I haven’t thrown out yet? Cleaning up digital clutter may take a little bit longer, depending on how much there is, but I strongly recommend you take 10-15 minutes to go through it. I like to go through the screenshots on my phone to note down what’s important and delete what’s not. I also sort and delete e-mails and unsubscribe from newsletters. And I’m quite hard on newsletters, I unsubscribe from both the ones I don’t want, but also the ones I signed up for because I wanted them, but never end up reading. Making a game plan  Picture by Peachy Boss from Pexels. After cleaning, tidying, and going through my papers, I sit down to make a game plan for the upcoming week. And when I do, I ask myself these questions: - What are the chores I need to get done? - Do I have any appointments I need to remember? - What will I be making for dinner? - Is there any particular workout I want to get done? I plan these things out, because it takes the decision making out of the day-to-day. When I have written down what needs doing, I can spend my energy on different things. Usually, I also try to not have any more than 3 items on my day-to-day to-do lists. Any more than that, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I also prioritize the list, so I have one important task every day. The rest are “nice to do” if I have the time. If not, they can be done some other day. Making myself feel fresh and ready   Picture by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels.
As I touched upon earlier, Sundays are for resting. Which is an important part of feeling fresh and ready for the upcoming week. It depends a bit on my mood, but on Sundays, I actually prefer having a quiet morning and mid-day, before doing the prep-tasks in the afternoon. Picture by cottonbro from Pexels. Usually I prefer doing tasks and chores before relaxing, but there is something special about a quiet Sunday morning with a nice cup of tea or coffee. After completing my prep-tasks in the afternoon, I like having a shower or a bath to relax, and spend the evening reading or watching a movie or a tv-show. It may seem daunting, but do it anyways Doing all of this may seem daunting, but it really doesn’t take as long as you think it will. I usually spend less than an hour on tidying, cleaning, sorting papers and planning. And when everything is done, I get to relax more. Spending ONE hour on Sunday preparing for the upcoming week, just makes everything run more smoothly. ------------ I hope this article was of value to you! If so, I hope you'll follow my blog and also share the article with someone else who may be interested. Are you especially stressed out right now because of the upcoming Christmas season? Check out my Christmas planners! They can make it easier for you to plan 1) Advent Calendar Gifts (maybe a bit late, but there's still time!), 2) What you are going to clean, 3) What you are going to bake, and 4) What you are going to give as Christmas presents this year. The planners are totally FREE! Just download and print them from this link, and you're good to go! They're my present for you! À bientôt!  Picture by Cutting Daylight by Pexels For the last decade or two I've been struggling with overweight. It's been frustrating, and even depressing at times, because I've felt that the person looking back at me in the mirror has been kind of a stranger. It's not been me. Not the real me. Because I've always been lean and strong and fit, and that just hasn't been the case for the last 10-20 years. My overweight hasn't been extreme, but it's definitly not been healty. Sometimes I've wondered "What the heck happened!?" - and I've tried everything to get back in shape, - but I actually do know what happened: It's been health issues that have prevented me from being active the way I used to, and stress and worries around that have just added to the equation. I've been struggling with fatigue, and also dizziness, and this has made it hard for me to exercise the way I used to. I've also had a few periods where I've been through some difficult times emotionally concerning other areas of my life, and this has also added to the stress, - and it's actually been scientifically proved that stress has a tendency to add to the weight gain, especially around the waist. I haven't really been obese, but I'm not so tall (I'm 163 cm), so going from being a person who never weighed over 60 kilos up until the age of 40, to then gaining almost 20 kilos extra over a very short time, - was definitly not good for me. I didn't really notice it at first, but going from always having been an active person to suddenly - almost over-night - not being able to do much exercise due to (among other things) fatigue and dizziness (caused by a blow to the head which resulted in Post Concussion Syndrome) - it soon got me into a state of overweight and a negative development healthwise. My BMI (Body Mass Index) has been around 28 (the BMI of obesity is around 30), so I've not been happy with the situation. (You can read more about BMI and obesity on WHO's website.) I don't want to get too scientific in this article, because my main focus is going to be on what you can actually DO to lose weight in a healthy way, and which is the way I myself am slowly but steadily getting back into shape now. Let's just look at a few facts first to get this topic into perspective and why I find it so important to address it: According to WHO (World Health Organization, worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. Let's look at some key facts published on WHO's official website - and I quote: "Key facts:
Until now, obesity continues to be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels within a short period of time. And here's the thing, and the reason why I decided to write an article on this, for you and me both: One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese. So education on this topic is very important, and I've decided to get as much knowledge about it as possible, because I want to help myself and other people to heal from overweight and obesity and get our health - and our lives! - back. Not to scare you, but here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds: 1. heart disease 2. stroke 3. diabetes 4. cancer 5. arthritis 6. hypertension Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.  Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels Let me just make it clear right away: The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results. More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, foods and supplements or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary. It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results. You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time. Here are some tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way: 1. Do not starve yourself.  Photo by Inna Lykasevuch from Pexels The key to a healthier way of losing weight is: Do not diet. You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted flabs on your belly and thighs by skipping meals. But remember that this would not last long. Your body cannot tolerate having insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up everyday. If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals. So if you just eat one huge sandwich in one day, it will end up straight to your problem area (i.e. thighs, buttocks, hips). 2. Start your day right. Photo by Life Of Pix from Pexels Mothers always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism. Your food intake after you wake up will be used to burn fat all day long. 3. Eat small, healthy meals frequently. Five small-serving snacks per day is better than three hearty meals. Eating more frequently, and in small servings, can prevent overeating. This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster. 4. Decide on how much weight you want to lose. Keep your goals realistic. In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks. Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life. Once you have decided on a weight loss plan or program, stick to it and make sure that you follow your own set of dieting rules. 5. Drink lots of water.  Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels. Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and keep your cells hydrated and healthy. 6. Avoid too much sugar. Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some bread, rice or pasta for that carbo fix that you need, plus lean meat and protein-rich foods. Sweets, sodas and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences only. 7. Watch your fat intake.  Photo by ready made from Pexels Fat is not the culprit to being overweight. You need this to keep your weight at the proper level. There is such a thing as healthy fats. Olive, peanuts and canola oil have them. Tuna, salmon and mackerel have omega-3 fats which is good for the heart. 8. Exercise. Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home, take the stairs instead of the elevator, jog, cycle or skate. Use these activities and other home chores if you are too lazy to go to the gym and take exercise classes. Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even notice that you are already shedding pounds with these mundane activities. It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose. What is important is that you set realistic goals for yourself. Go slow. If you have already lost 5 or 6 pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next 5 pounds. Eat healthy, drink lots of water, have enough sleep and exercise. This will give you a higher chance of losing weight and improving your health, which would result in a new, healthier you. I also suggest that you take advantage of my other FREE resource on this matter, which is my brand new Year of Activity Calendar 2022. Each month has a beautiful and inspiring picture of people doing some kind of activity and tips on what you could try that month. It's downloadable and printable and completely FREE! Get it now! ---------------- I hope you have found this article to be of value to you. If so, please feel free to share it with others and also follow my blog. Other articles you might like: 12 Ways You Can Get Chic And Fit Like A French Woman Without Even Breaking A Sweat, 8 Reasons Why The French Don't Diet, And Why You Don't Have To Either, and How To Put Togehter A Meal Plan And Eat Your Stress Away À bientôt!  It’s easy to let one bad day ruin the rest of our week. But you know what? We get to start fresh EACH and EVERY day! If you reset your week instead of letting your bad days bring you down, you will see such a difference in your life over time. And this is how to do it. I know that in the past, if I didn’t meet my goals of a certain week, I would think “I’ll start again on Monday”. But with that mindset, we let one bad day, maybe even just one bad HOUR, dictate the rest of our week. And we all know that Monday rolls around, and then suddenly it’s “I’ll start next Monday”. But by letting each and every day be a fresh start we can change our lives and see so much more progress on the projects we’re working on. Why you need a reset  It’s so easy getting stuck in that mindset of not doing enough, not managing or just failing. Because I think a lot of us spiral. So, when we don’t achieve our first task of the day, it’s easy to drop the ball on the next task too, and the next one, and next one. You see where I’m going with this, right? Most of us may let a bad morning affect the rest of our day. Because when we fail to do something, we feel it’s useless to continue with the rest of the tasks too. Don’t let one bad moment or hour ruin the rest of your day and week. What to do when you’re having a bad day  If you feel like you’re having a bad day and you’re not achieving your goals, take a time-out. OK, so maybe you didn’t finish that project for work, or you didn’t work out this morning. Whatever it is that you feel you didn’t get done, take a small time-out. Tell yourself this “I have not ruined my progress just because I didn’t reach my goal today”. Have a cup of tea, go for a short walk. Do something that gets you out of your own head. By taking a step back and removing ourselves from the situation we can look at it with fresh eyes. Why resets are helpful  When you complete a mid-week reset, rather than waiting to start again on Monday, you help yourself realise that it’s not all black and white. It’s not all-or-nothing. “One small detour isn’t going to ruin everything you’ve been working on.” In the long run, this way of thinking will help you achieve more of the things you want to achieve. Why the all-or-nothing mindset is unproductive Let’s use changing your diet as an example (because I think that’s something many of us can relate to): So, Monday morning rolls around, and you have a goal of what to eat in order to change your diet and make it healthier. And you may do well for three days, but because you maybe made your new diet plan too restrictive, you then crack. You eat something that’s not in your “plan”. And with an all-or-nothing mindset this will, more often than not, lead to you eating more of those things that are “not in your plan”, and abandon the new way of eating. Then you think “Oh shit, I’ve ruined it. It’s no point, I’ll start again on Monday”. Maybe you even feel guilty for having abandoned your new eating plan so soon. This is why we need to reset. Anyone working with bettering people’s health, will tell you that what matters is what you do 80 % of the time. So instead of having an all-or-nothing mindset, allow yourself to reset, and just try to make small changes at a time. How to reset  Do the laundry... So far I’ve told you why you may need a reset, and why they are helpful. But how do you actually do it? How do you reset when you’re having a bad day? When I need to reset my week, I start by completing a small task. Usually, I pick something off my to-do list that I haven’t gotten around to doing yet. My first task of any reset may be running a load of laundry, watering my plants, or planning out dinners for the rest of the week. You know, just something small to get you started. It’s all about creating momentum. When you are successful at completing one task, it will motivate and inspire you to keep going. It’s kind of like when people recommend for you to start your day by making your bed. By doing so, you start your day with a small achievement. Give yourself a fresh start  Make a coffee or tea and take it with you outside... (picture by Keira Burton from Pexels)
I think a mid-week (or even a mid-day) reset is helpful because they give us a fresh start. And fresh starts mean more motivation and higher spirits. Just remember that my reset may differ from your reset. Maybe you want to do something completely different from what I’m doing. If you want, you can even make a reset-routine. Because you might not want to do chores in order to reset. Maybe you just want to take a step back and take a break. There isn’t one right way to do a reset, you just have to find what works for you, and what helps you getting out of a rut when you’re having a bad day. For me that might be tackling my to-do list, for you it might be to make a coffee or tea and take it with you outside for 5 minutes. It doesn’t matter. But I will highly recommend you to implement resets in your life, so you have a way of tackling bad days, and not have those bad days ruin the rest of your week. ---------- If you liked this article, I hope you'll share it with someone else who might like it too, and also follow my blog. À bientôt!  Picture from article about Audrey Tautou on Wikipedia by Georges Biard It’s no secret that I love watching movies. When it comes to French movies, Audrey Tautou is one of my favourite actresses. And these are my favourite Audrey Tautou movies. I have tried making this list without too many spoilers, but there are some – so read on at your own risk. Movie # 1. Amélie (or Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain) Many of you may know of this movie, and it may be an obvious choice. But I think it’s a perfectly quirky and charming movie. Audrey Tautou plays the role of the waitress Amélie Poulain, who has a very active imagination. She is also a bit mischievous, but means well with her actions. Throughout the movie she tries to help change the lives of her neighbours and others around her for the better. I don’t want to give away too many details if you haven’t seen the movie yourself, so I’ll just recommend to watch it. Movie #2. Hunting and Gathering (or Ensemble, c’est tout) I love all kinds of movies, but I may have a soft spot for romantic films. This is one of those movies I could watch over and over again. It stars Audrey Tautou as Camille, an artist and cleaning lady, Guillaume Canet as the chef Franck, and Laurent Stocker as Philibert, a postcard salesman. They all live in the same building and this is how they meet. Camille lives alone in an attic apartment, while Philibert is taking care of an apartment that belonged to a deceased relative. Franck is Philibert’s tenant. When Camille gets the flu Philibert makes her move in out of concern for her health, to the dismay of Franck. Franck and Camille are a classic example of a "will they or won’t they" couple, and it’s wonderful to see the changes in the characters throughout the movie. I couldn't resist including the scene below, which I find very sweet. Movie #3. Beautiful lies (or De vrais mensonges) This is a good comedy with a touch of romance. It starts with Émilie (Audrey Tatou) passing on a love letter from a co-worker to her mother. Émilie does this to give her mother a little boost after her divorce. Which of course would be harmless, if it was not for her mother getting excited and expecting more letters. This means Émilie turns to writing letters herself, and funny intricacies ensue as she has to navigate the entanglements this creates. Movie #4. Coco Before Chanel (or Coco avant Chanel) A biographical film starring Audrey Tautou as a young Coco Chanel. The movie tells the story of how Coco Chanel worked herself up from being an orphan to becoming a successful business woman. This is simply a great movie. In addition to being a great story, it’s wonderful to see the effort that went into the costumes. The movie has received critical acclaim, and won the Oscar for Best Costume Design. Movie #5. Thérèse Desqueyroux The movie is set in south-west of France in the late 1920s. Audrey Tautou plays the role of Thérèse, the daughter of a wealthy landowner. She agrees to an arranged marriage to Bernard Desqueyroux, another wealthy landowner. Soon, it is obvious that her new life bores Thérèse, and she needs something to release her from it. Since I don’t want to give away too much, I recommend that you watch the film yourself to see what happens, but I can tell you that it is an interesting movie. The trailer of the movie that I've included, will certainly give you an idea. -------------- I hope you found this article interesting. If you did, feel free to leave a comment below, and of course share it with someone else who might be interested, too. À bientôt! |
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