Hello there blog world – I don’t even know if anyone’s actually out there reading this, but if you are – Good morning!
Last night after I posted I read the first chapter of “How to be Lovely” by Melissa Hellstern, the book about Audrey Hepburn. I also read the first chapter of “Flat Belly Diet” by Liz Vaccariello, I think what that ones about is implied….lol.
The first chapter of “How to be Lovely” was about happiness, and the tips I picked up from the lovely Ms. Hepburn were(along with some commentary from me):
- Happiness lies in how we look at things
- Being a woman is as simple as knowing who you are, and who you are not
- Happiness is health and a short memory (lol)
- Try to sparkle, life is a glorious opportunity
- Rose colored glasses might not always be such a bad idea
- Be on time (one of my best traits)
- Think of others first
- Don’t talk about yourself a lot (I think blogging might be excused…)
- Never forget manners or kindness
- Always have hope and think positively
- As long as you have your life things do not matter.
- Be serious about what counts
- Keep everything in perspective
- Appreciate safety and how quickly it can change
- Let the lessons from bad experiences turn them into positives in your life
- Be appreciative of everything good
- Respect food, freedom, health, family & life
- Value education and don’t try to hide it
- Expect less
- Be kind & generous
- The greatest accomplishments in life will happen without you seeking them
- Don’t expect anything and you won’t be bitter
- Only we ourselves know what really goes on with ourselves
- Don’t be concerned about public image
- Don’t swear on a regular basis
- Live without regret
- Have your priorities in order
- Let go of bad things, missed opportunities & what could have beens
- Have a combination of happy work and happy life
- Live a balanced life
- Remember life is too short, and therefore do what you want and appreciate what you have
- Remember work will come and go but family will always be there
Also mentioned (but not really happiness related) stand straight, sit erect, and use discipline with wine & sweets!
So those are my first lessons from Audrey and I’m going to work to incorporate them into my daily life. As a result of reading it I’m going to do two things 1) Make a list of everything good that’s happen in my life and that I’m grateful for 2) Find a small way I can help people 3) Try and have good posture (one of my worst traits).
Now onto the lessons I picked up from the first chapter of “Flat Belly Diet”:
- Eating well & being active should be your norm (duh…)
- MUFAs – or MonoUnsaturated Fatty Acids – are really good for you, in fact – more of them in your diet can help PREVENT weight gain!!!! (wow…)
- You should feel confident, powerful and proud of your body (yeah ok…)
- Small changes can yield big results
- An average woman should eat 1600 calories a day
- Maintaining a healthy mind and body are the absolute most important things you can do for yourself
So some it’s your basic diet book fluffer crap so it’s a book and not a pamphlet but some of it is really interesting…
The diet is basically 4 days of really strict to jump-start you and get you started and then there’s a 4 week plan that involves 4 four hundred calories meals a day, MUFAs at every meal, and a daily confidence reflection – which brings in the healthy mind piece they talked about…
MUFAs, by the way, are found in olive oil, avocados and nuts – just to name a few sources.
There’s also an **optional** exercise program! It includes fat burning walks, a metabolism boost & a belly routine to build muscle and maximize calorie burn!
So, now I’m going to read the next couple of chapters so I really know what I’m doing and then I’m definitely going to get started — it sounds good right??? I got the book on clearance at Barnes and Noble if you too what to try the “Flat Belly Diet” you could also go to flatbellydiet.com where I’m going after I post this so I can calculate my BMI.
Now coincidentally, Rachel Ray had a ‘happiness expert’ on this morning….and as fake a title as I think that is she said a few interesting things that could be of use to the new mission of the blog:
- Smile more
- Say ‘thank you’ & ‘I love you’
- Build up gratitude
- Change the word ‘but’ to ‘and’ when talking about good things with negatives attached to them
She also talked about the causes of happiness/unhappiness – your happiness apparently is influenced 50% by genetics, 40% by things you can control and 10% by life circumstance….interesting.
And now I’m off carry these lessons out!
