8 Biggest Weight-Loss Mistakes

Losing weight is cyclical for many people, in that they work hard to lose weight for a time and then they end up putting the weight back on, often along with additional pounds. This can be a huge discouragement – but if you continue to work at weight loss, you will be successful. Many people give up too early in the game, for various reasons. There are some really big mistakes that people make when they plan to lose weight, and we cover five of the biggest ones here: 1. Mindless Snacking If you’re not paying full attention to what you’re putting in your mouth, then you are likely eating a lot of calories without knowing exactly how many. Every time you eat, make a point of putting the items onto a plate so you can see how much you are eating. Sit down at the table and turn off the television to avoid stuffing your face mindlessly. The TV is only a distraction that has your mind elsewhere when it should be focused on the business of eating until you are finished. 2. Having Unrealistic Expectations Many people expect to lose massive amounts of weight when they diet, and are disappointed when they step on the scale after a week or two. If you expect to see a 10-pound loss after just a few weeks, then you’re on the wrong track. Healthy weight loss is about one-to-two pounds per week. If you are losing more weight than that, it is probably muscle and valuable water weight. If you lose too much weight too quickly, you are more likely to gain it back quickly, too, and once you are on that path you may feel that all is lost – and then simply continue to eat and gain even more weight.

Healthy Lunch Under $5 – Eat Right and Save Money! 3. Skipping Meals It is true that successful weight loss involves eating fewer calories, but you are better off eating several small meals in a day rather than skipping any meals altogether. By eating regularly, you will keep your metabolism revved up (this is your fat-burning furnace). Skipping breakfast is one of the worst things you can do because it is a meal that ends your nightly fast and helps to get your metabolism going for the entire day. If you skip breakfast, you will feel sluggish and slow, and this is not going to help in your weight-loss quest. Skipping a meal can make you feel more hungry, which means you may give in to temptation more easily, and eat a lot more calories than you had planned to simply because you are extremely hungry. 4. Failing to Readjust Caloric Intake As you lose weight on a reduced-calorie diet, your calorie intake needs should also be readjusted. In order to lose one pound per week, you will need a total calorie deficit of 3,000 calories – or an average of 500 calories per day. As your body weight is reduced, so is the amount of calories required to maintain that body weight. Keep a diary of your calorie intake or use an app on your smartphone that helps you to track your daily meals. This will give you an accurate idea of how many calories you have already eaten and how many more you can still consume on any given day. The other great thing about this approach is that when exercise is added in, your calorie deficit is even larger – but it’s important to avoid making up for the calorie deficit by eating more food after you exercise. 5. Overestimating Calories Burned With Exercise If you work out on a machine at a gym, the display on the machine will typically show you that you have burned about 30% more calories than you really have. Do not rely on the ‘calories burned’ display, and instead set a goal of doing a certain type of exercise for 30-45 minutes per day to burn extra calories. If you can exercise at least four days per week, you should start noticing a difference in just a few short weeks. If you find yourself getting bored with one type of exercise, try another or join a gym with a friend or two, and use peer pressure to get your butt down to the gym.

6. Not Counting Beverages in Calorie Totals If you are drinking juice, alcohol, pop or any other sugary beverage, you are adding a lot of unnecessary calories. The best drink to consume is water and nothing more. Water is all that your body needs to keep you hydrated and healthy, and you should be drinking at least 6-8 glasses of water each day. 7. Keep Getting on the Scale The bathroom scale is not your friend, and when you obsess with what the scale says it can be really unhealthy. Stop relying on the scale, and instead start to rely on how your clothing fits. Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day for a variety of reasons, and the scale is not always an accurate reflection of your current weight. When you start to lose fat, your clothing will fit more loosely and you will feel lighter and better. You will also see the difference in the mirror. 8. Allowing a Setback to Derail You You decided that you want to lose some weight, and you have been working really hard. One day a friend comes over and brings you a slab of cheesecake to share over a cup of coffee. Your friend has no idea that you are on a diet, and you don’t mention anything but you go ahead and eat the cheesecake. It’s fine to do this, and everyone is human, but you need to get right back on the diet train as soon as possible to maximize your weight-loss efforts. If you allow a small slip-up to stop your progress, then you are probably going to find yourself eating more things you should not be eating, consuming larger portions, etc. – and then eventually you will be gaining the weight right back. Old habits die hard, but hard work helps break those habits.

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8 Biggest Weight-Loss Mistakes

Losing weight is cyclical for many people, in that they work hard to lose weight for a time and then they end up putting the weight back on, often along with additional pounds. This can be a huge discouragement – but if you continue to work at weight loss, you will be successful. Many people give up too early in the game, for various reasons. There are some really big mistakes that people make when they plan to lose weight, and we cover five of the biggest ones here: 1. Mindless Snacking If you’re not paying full attention to what you’re putting in your mouth, then you are likely eating a lot of calories without knowing exactly how many. Every time you eat, make a point of putting the items onto a plate so you can see how much you are eating. Sit down at the table and turn off the television to avoid stuffing your face mindlessly. The TV is only a distraction that has your mind elsewhere when it should be focused on the business of eating until you are finished. 2. Having Unrealistic Expectations Many people expect to lose massive amounts of weight when they diet, and are disappointed when they step on the scale after a week or two. If you expect to see a 10-pound loss after just a few weeks, then you’re on the wrong track. Healthy weight loss is about one-to-two pounds per week. If you are losing more weight than that, it is probably muscle and valuable water weight. If you lose too much weight too quickly, you are more likely to gain it back quickly, too, and once you are on that path you may feel that all is lost – and then simply continue to eat and gain even more weight.

Healthy Lunch Under $5 – Eat Right and Save Money! 3. Skipping Meals It is true that successful weight loss involves eating fewer calories, but you are better off eating several small meals in a day rather than skipping any meals altogether. By eating regularly, you will keep your metabolism revved up (this is your fat-burning furnace). Skipping breakfast is one of the worst things you can do because it is a meal that ends your nightly fast and helps to get your metabolism going for the entire day. If you skip breakfast, you will feel sluggish and slow, and this is not going to help in your weight-loss quest. Skipping a meal can make you feel more hungry, which means you may give in to temptation more easily, and eat a lot more calories than you had planned to simply because you are extremely hungry. 4. Failing to Readjust Caloric Intake As you lose weight on a reduced-calorie diet, your calorie intake needs should also be readjusted. In order to lose one pound per week, you will need a total calorie deficit of 3,000 calories – or an average of 500 calories per day. As your body weight is reduced, so is the amount of calories required to maintain that body weight. Keep a diary of your calorie intake or use an app on your smartphone that helps you to track your daily meals. This will give you an accurate idea of how many calories you have already eaten and how many more you can still consume on any given day. The other great thing about this approach is that when exercise is added in, your calorie deficit is even larger – but it’s important to avoid making up for the calorie deficit by eating more food after you exercise. 5. Overestimating Calories Burned With Exercise If you work out on a machine at a gym, the display on the machine will typically show you that you have burned about 30% more calories than you really have. Do not rely on the ‘calories burned’ display, and instead set a goal of doing a certain type of exercise for 30-45 minutes per day to burn extra calories. If you can exercise at least four days per week, you should start noticing a difference in just a few short weeks. If you find yourself getting bored with one type of exercise, try another or join a gym with a friend or two, and use peer pressure to get your butt down to the gym.

6. Not Counting Beverages in Calorie Totals If you are drinking juice, alcohol, pop or any other sugary beverage, you are adding a lot of unnecessary calories. The best drink to consume is water and nothing more. Water is all that your body needs to keep you hydrated and healthy, and you should be drinking at least 6-8 glasses of water each day. 7. Keep Getting on the Scale The bathroom scale is not your friend, and when you obsess with what the scale says it can be really unhealthy. Stop relying on the scale, and instead start to rely on how your clothing fits. Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day for a variety of reasons, and the scale is not always an accurate reflection of your current weight. When you start to lose fat, your clothing will fit more loosely and you will feel lighter and better. You will also see the difference in the mirror. 8. Allowing a Setback to Derail You You decided that you want to lose some weight, and you have been working really hard. One day a friend comes over and brings you a slab of cheesecake to share over a cup of coffee. Your friend has no idea that you are on a diet, and you don’t mention anything but you go ahead and eat the cheesecake. It’s fine to do this, and everyone is human, but you need to get right back on the diet train as soon as possible to maximize your weight-loss efforts. If you allow a small slip-up to stop your progress, then you are probably going to find yourself eating more things you should not be eating, consuming larger portions, etc. – and then eventually you will be gaining the weight right back. Old habits die hard, but hard work helps break those habits.

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8 Easy Ways to Wake Up Happy Every Day

If you often wake up feeling stressed and miserable, worrying about the events of the previous day or the day ahead, you may want to know a few tricks to wake up happy every day. Although positivity is the key to happiness, there are some little changes that you can make to feel happier in the morning. Here are seven tried and true ways to wake up happy every day. 1. Let go of your worries Since I’m a huge overthinker, I need to let go of my worries every evening in order to sleep better and wake up happy in the morning. One of the best ways to let go of your worries is to make a list of all your worries. When you write them down and then read them, this helps you feel less stressed. If you have some important tasks to accomplish tomorrow, I recommend you to make a list too. You will fall asleep knowing that you won’t forget anything and wake up feeling more refreshed. 2. Pamper yourself You probably work hard and spend your days in a constant state of flux, so it’s important to find time to relax every day no matter how busy you are. Pampering yourself in the evening is an effective way to wake up the next day looking and feeling great. When you feel and look great, you feel much happier, don’t you? A hot bubble bath, hair treatment or face mask will help you relax and fall asleep faster. You will begin the next day feeling happier and full of energy, I promise! 7 Efficient Ways to Reduce Back Pain and Improve Your Posture 3. Read a good book Switch off your laptop and TV, turn your phone on silent and read a good book. Reading at bedtime is a great way to relax and let go of the worries. Plus, it will let your creativity flow. 30 minutes of reading before sleep could help you wake up in the morning filled with wonderful ideas for the day. So what are you waiting for? Grab that interesting novel and read it every day before bedtime. 4. Get enough sleep One of the most important things to remember when you are trying to wake up happy every day is to get enough sleep. From personal experience I can say that lack of sleep can leave you feeling stressed and it can contribute to your misery. When you get enough sleep, your body copes with stress a whole lot better and you feel much better during the day. So make sure you get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. 5. Fall asleep happy and wake up happy Think of the positive things in your life before bedtime and you will certainly wake up positive in the morning. You might have a lot of problems and you might think that there’s no reason to be happy now. However, if you learn to fall asleep happy no matter what, you will wake up happier each day and cope with your problems faster. 6. Make plans Break the habit of thinking about your work before bed. Instead, plan something you can look forward to. You need a small reward after hard work, remember it. Plan to go to the cinema, meet your friend for coffee, have a shopping trip, take a stroll in the park or anything that will make you smile and happy. 7. Exercise or meditate If you wake up feeling stressed, try running. Running is a perfect source of stress relief and it’s a perfect opportunity to get outside and enjoy the nature. If you’re dealing with a difficult situation and you can’t fall asleep or you wake up thinking about your problems, running can be a great distraction. Running releases endorphins in the body that help boost mood. However, if you have trouble falling asleep, I recommend you to meditate. Meditation before bedtime helps fall asleep faster and sleep better. 8. Eat a healthy breakfast This may sound strange, but eating a healthy breakfast can help you feel happier in the morning. Never skip breakfast and don’t opt for a low-fat cereal or cardboard-flavored cereal bar as you rush out the door. Try to prepare something you like. Eating a breakfast you enjoy will give you energy to start a new day and prevent you from reaching for unhealthy snacks. Happiness plays an important role in our daily lives. Since inner happiness heals everything, you should learn to be happy with who you are. This way, true happiness will definitely follow! Well, friends, these are my favorite ways to do to wake up happier in the morning. What do you do to wake up happy in the morning?

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8 Easy Ways to Wake Up Happy Every Day

If you often wake up feeling stressed and miserable, worrying about the events of the previous day or the day ahead, you may want to know a few tricks to wake up happy every day. Although positivity is the key to happiness, there are some little changes that you can make to feel happier in the morning. Here are seven tried and true ways to wake up happy every day. 1. Let go of your worries Since I’m a huge overthinker, I need to let go of my worries every evening in order to sleep better and wake up happy in the morning. One of the best ways to let go of your worries is to make a list of all your worries. When you write them down and then read them, this helps you feel less stressed. If you have some important tasks to accomplish tomorrow, I recommend you to make a list too. You will fall asleep knowing that you won’t forget anything and wake up feeling more refreshed. 2. Pamper yourself You probably work hard and spend your days in a constant state of flux, so it’s important to find time to relax every day no matter how busy you are. Pampering yourself in the evening is an effective way to wake up the next day looking and feeling great. When you feel and look great, you feel much happier, don’t you? A hot bubble bath, hair treatment or face mask will help you relax and fall asleep faster. You will begin the next day feeling happier and full of energy, I promise! 7 Efficient Ways to Reduce Back Pain and Improve Your Posture 3. Read a good book Switch off your laptop and TV, turn your phone on silent and read a good book. Reading at bedtime is a great way to relax and let go of the worries. Plus, it will let your creativity flow. 30 minutes of reading before sleep could help you wake up in the morning filled with wonderful ideas for the day. So what are you waiting for? Grab that interesting novel and read it every day before bedtime. 4. Get enough sleep One of the most important things to remember when you are trying to wake up happy every day is to get enough sleep. From personal experience I can say that lack of sleep can leave you feeling stressed and it can contribute to your misery. When you get enough sleep, your body copes with stress a whole lot better and you feel much better during the day. So make sure you get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. 5. Fall asleep happy and wake up happy Think of the positive things in your life before bedtime and you will certainly wake up positive in the morning. You might have a lot of problems and you might think that there’s no reason to be happy now. However, if you learn to fall asleep happy no matter what, you will wake up happier each day and cope with your problems faster. 6. Make plans Break the habit of thinking about your work before bed. Instead, plan something you can look forward to. You need a small reward after hard work, remember it. Plan to go to the cinema, meet your friend for coffee, have a shopping trip, take a stroll in the park or anything that will make you smile and happy. 7. Exercise or meditate If you wake up feeling stressed, try running. Running is a perfect source of stress relief and it’s a perfect opportunity to get outside and enjoy the nature. If you’re dealing with a difficult situation and you can’t fall asleep or you wake up thinking about your problems, running can be a great distraction. Running releases endorphins in the body that help boost mood. However, if you have trouble falling asleep, I recommend you to meditate. Meditation before bedtime helps fall asleep faster and sleep better. 8. Eat a healthy breakfast This may sound strange, but eating a healthy breakfast can help you feel happier in the morning. Never skip breakfast and don’t opt for a low-fat cereal or cardboard-flavored cereal bar as you rush out the door. Try to prepare something you like. Eating a breakfast you enjoy will give you energy to start a new day and prevent you from reaching for unhealthy snacks. Happiness plays an important role in our daily lives. Since inner happiness heals everything, you should learn to be happy with who you are. This way, true happiness will definitely follow! Well, friends, these are my favorite ways to do to wake up happier in the morning. What do you do to wake up happy in the morning?

Read More

Cannes: Breakouts, Boo Birds and 8 Other Festival Takeaways

My eyelids are heavy, my derriere is sore and if I drink any more complementary Nespresso my aorta is going to burst right out of my chest. I've made it to the end of the Cannes Film Festival, and the last thing I can do before I collapse is lay out my 10 top takeaways. The rumors are true. The French (and those pretending to be French) really do boo if they don't like a movie at the Cannes Film Festival. They don't care if the director and stars are right there in the theater. Heck, maybe that eggs them on. But it must be said that with the boos (and hisses, whistles and ironic claps) there are always applause mixed in. I've never experienced a full-on bombardment of anger. This year there was some audible hating on Michel Hazanavicius' The Search, Ryan Gosling's Lost River and, most of all, Olivier Dahan's Grace of Monaco starring Nicole Kidman. Don't weep for any of these people, they all have cars that cost what you make in a year. 100 Hottest Chicks on Instagram However, when the Cannes crowd likes something, they really like something. The Sundance hit Whiplash was given a ten-minute standing O and the love-in after Melanie Laurent's film Respire (Breathe) would have lasted as long had not the actress-turned-director not bashfully shooed everyone away. French Canadian director Xavier Dolan's Mommy elicited an enormous standing ovation that brought many to tears. There was also a mid-film break into enraptured applause when his winning drama, shot in the unusual Instagram-y 1:1 ratio, stretched out for a brief respite of glorious widescreen. Another mid-show round of huzzahs came during Jean-Luc Godard's highly experimental Goodbye to Language. The legendary 83-year-old director shot his newest movie in 3D, and when a gag that featured two images crossing over one another (giving everyone an eye-ache) finally "corrected” itself in tune with the story, it was a trick that even this jaded crowd had never seen before. New fortunes were made in 2014. Among them David Robert Mitchell (above right, with stars Daniel Zovatto and Maika Monroe), who followed up his teen indie The Myth of the American Sleepover with a wonderfully unique horror picture, It Follows, which got far more attention than anyone was predicting. (Its simple hook of a sexually transmitted haunting really sings.)

Another new name to learn is Damián Szifrón, an Argentine director whose anthology film Wild Tales shows a deft hand at comedy, over-the-top action blocking and heightened drama. In a rare move for this type of movie (essentially collected shorts) it was bought for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. Yet another new name — and you may need a pen for this one — is Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. His weird crime drama The Tribe won three awards in the Critics' Week sidebar. The dark and disturbing Ukrainian production is done entirely in sign language. It'll never play the multiplex, but those who seek odd movie experiences will go nuts for it. And then there's this new actor named Steve Carell. Turns out the joker from Anchorman 2 has real acting chops, as you'll see when he puts on a fake nose and plays John DuPont in Oscar-nom ready Foxcatcher. It's an amazing departure for the comedian, and will surprise mainstream audiences later this year. Like the Hotel California, you can check out but you can never leave. Once a Cannes director always a Cannes director, and this is the only way to explain why Atom Egoyan's truly awful film The Captive played the festival. A disaster of illogic and tonal mismanagement, this Ryan Reynolds kidnapping drama (alleged drama, I should say) is a candidate for worst film of the year. To see it in the world's finest theater, the Grand Lumiere, just made no sense.

Another unfortunate pick from a repeat competitor was David Cronenberg's Hollywood satire Maps to the Stars. Bon Appetit Late at night, after all the restaurants have closed shop and people are stumbling from the bars, Cannes' action turns to a square near the train station where two kebab stands vie for the Palme d'Order Out. Succulent slices of meat wrapped up with lettuce, tomato, onion and fries and covered in your choice of spicy sauces are wolfed down by the world's most discerning cinephiles. My favorite is the Sauce Algerienne, which is like a mayonnaise enhanced sriracha. Vive le France (and its North African immigrants!) Everyone is beautiful in Cannes. The girls, the boys, the elderly, even the jerks cutting you in line. Even the dogs, some of whom have very expensive haircuts. There are more well-groomed dogs in Cannes per capita than anywhere else in the world.

A Caste Of Kings The rigid social order in Cannes feels as old as the landed gentry's titles. The big divide is between the Blue and Pink badges (you don't want the Blue) but it goes deeper than that. Blue, as annoying as it may be — because you can't get seated until all the Pinks are in — is still better than the Yellow. The White is for royalty, but those are pretty rare. Then in between there's the Pink with a Yellow Dot — just to make things difficult. (My flatmate had the Dot to best my own Pink. It's a tiny little thing but it really is like salt on a wound.) The major performances this year were all women. Marion Cotillard in the Dardennes Brothers Two Days, One Night, Anne Dorval in Xavier Dolan's Mommy and (believe it or not) Kristen Stewart in Olivier Assayas' Clouds of Sils Maria.

There were also, by Hollywood standards, a high showing of women directors. Among them were Melanie Laurent's aforementioned Respire (Breathe), Shira Geffen's Self-Made, Alice Rohrwacher's The Wonders, Naomi Kawase's Still The Water and Party Girl, which had three French co-directors, two of whom were women whose names I don't feel like looking up right now. (When you have three directors on one movie, you don't get to be individually named, sorry folks.) Sawing Logs Every movie at Cannes is, at one time or another, accompanied by the sound of snores. And at one point, those snores will be coming from YOU! It's impossible not to nod off at some point. The seats are really cushy and comfy, you've been out late and up early (first screening is always 8:30 am), chances are you've had a glass of wine the night before and prior to each screening you're baking in the sun and shoving your way through on a poorly organized line. Also, let's be frank, these movies are hardly part of the X-Men franchise. These are frequently quiet, contemplative pictures. Imagine the chutzpah of Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who presented a three hour and 15 minute movie of wall-to-wall talking and actually called it Winter Sleep!

A fascinating symptom of mass hysteria occurs every year at Cannes. People stop calling movies by their title and start referring to them by the name of their director with a “the” in front of it. So Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language ceased to be Goodbye to Language. It became “The Godard.” Mommy became “The Dolan” and Two Days, One Night became “The Dardennes.” Yes, even Lost River became “The Gosling.” It's the most obnoxious thing in the history of the world and at first you roll your eyes at it but by day three I swear you'll catch yourself doing it, too. There are, of course, some exceptions. Only the most daring changed The Search to “The Hazanavicius,” Leviathan to “The Zvyagintsev” or The Tribe to “The Slaboshpytskiy.” Prognostication What are you gonna do while you are waiting in line, stare at all the young, fit people in their gowns and tuxes? Well, yes, but you need to be sly about this, so there has to be conversation — and all anyone does is try to figure out what will win the top three prizes. (Best Director is, essentially, the Bronze Medal; the Grand Prix is the Silver and the Palme D'Or is, well, the Gold.) Comparisons are made to years past. What was programmed in what slot? How much buzz is the movie getting? Who is due? Who needs it most? Would it be cool for the Dardennes to win for a record third time? The funny thing everyone forgets is that it really is dependent on the whims of a very small jury (led this year by Jane Campion) and it's hard to know what they are thinking. After all, it's unlikely they're waiting in line and grabbing midnight kebabs.

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Cannes: Breakouts, Boo Birds and 8 Other Festival Takeaways

My eyelids are heavy, my derriere is sore and if I drink any more complementary Nespresso my aorta is going to burst right out of my chest. I've made it to the end of the Cannes Film Festival, and the last thing I can do before I collapse is lay out my 10 top takeaways. The rumors are true. The French (and those pretending to be French) really do boo if they don't like a movie at the Cannes Film Festival. They don't care if the director and stars are right there in the theater. Heck, maybe that eggs them on. But it must be said that with the boos (and hisses, whistles and ironic claps) there are always applause mixed in. I've never experienced a full-on bombardment of anger. This year there was some audible hating on Michel Hazanavicius' The Search, Ryan Gosling's Lost River and, most of all, Olivier Dahan's Grace of Monaco starring Nicole Kidman. Don't weep for any of these people, they all have cars that cost what you make in a year. 100 Hottest Chicks on Instagram However, when the Cannes crowd likes something, they really like something. The Sundance hit Whiplash was given a ten-minute standing O and the love-in after Melanie Laurent's film Respire (Breathe) would have lasted as long had not the actress-turned-director not bashfully shooed everyone away. French Canadian director Xavier Dolan's Mommy elicited an enormous standing ovation that brought many to tears. There was also a mid-film break into enraptured applause when his winning drama, shot in the unusual Instagram-y 1:1 ratio, stretched out for a brief respite of glorious widescreen. Another mid-show round of huzzahs came during Jean-Luc Godard's highly experimental Goodbye to Language. The legendary 83-year-old director shot his newest movie in 3D, and when a gag that featured two images crossing over one another (giving everyone an eye-ache) finally "corrected” itself in tune with the story, it was a trick that even this jaded crowd had never seen before. New fortunes were made in 2014. Among them David Robert Mitchell (above right, with stars Daniel Zovatto and Maika Monroe), who followed up his teen indie The Myth of the American Sleepover with a wonderfully unique horror picture, It Follows, which got far more attention than anyone was predicting. (Its simple hook of a sexually transmitted haunting really sings.)

Another new name to learn is Damián Szifrón, an Argentine director whose anthology film Wild Tales shows a deft hand at comedy, over-the-top action blocking and heightened drama. In a rare move for this type of movie (essentially collected shorts) it was bought for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. Yet another new name — and you may need a pen for this one — is Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. His weird crime drama The Tribe won three awards in the Critics' Week sidebar. The dark and disturbing Ukrainian production is done entirely in sign language. It'll never play the multiplex, but those who seek odd movie experiences will go nuts for it. And then there's this new actor named Steve Carell. Turns out the joker from Anchorman 2 has real acting chops, as you'll see when he puts on a fake nose and plays John DuPont in Oscar-nom ready Foxcatcher. It's an amazing departure for the comedian, and will surprise mainstream audiences later this year. Like the Hotel California, you can check out but you can never leave. Once a Cannes director always a Cannes director, and this is the only way to explain why Atom Egoyan's truly awful film The Captive played the festival. A disaster of illogic and tonal mismanagement, this Ryan Reynolds kidnapping drama (alleged drama, I should say) is a candidate for worst film of the year. To see it in the world's finest theater, the Grand Lumiere, just made no sense.

Another unfortunate pick from a repeat competitor was David Cronenberg's Hollywood satire Maps to the Stars. Bon Appetit Late at night, after all the restaurants have closed shop and people are stumbling from the bars, Cannes' action turns to a square near the train station where two kebab stands vie for the Palme d'Order Out. Succulent slices of meat wrapped up with lettuce, tomato, onion and fries and covered in your choice of spicy sauces are wolfed down by the world's most discerning cinephiles. My favorite is the Sauce Algerienne, which is like a mayonnaise enhanced sriracha. Vive le France (and its North African immigrants!) Everyone is beautiful in Cannes. The girls, the boys, the elderly, even the jerks cutting you in line. Even the dogs, some of whom have very expensive haircuts. There are more well-groomed dogs in Cannes per capita than anywhere else in the world.

A Caste Of Kings The rigid social order in Cannes feels as old as the landed gentry's titles. The big divide is between the Blue and Pink badges (you don't want the Blue) but it goes deeper than that. Blue, as annoying as it may be — because you can't get seated until all the Pinks are in — is still better than the Yellow. The White is for royalty, but those are pretty rare. Then in between there's the Pink with a Yellow Dot — just to make things difficult. (My flatmate had the Dot to best my own Pink. It's a tiny little thing but it really is like salt on a wound.) The major performances this year were all women. Marion Cotillard in the Dardennes Brothers Two Days, One Night, Anne Dorval in Xavier Dolan's Mommy and (believe it or not) Kristen Stewart in Olivier Assayas' Clouds of Sils Maria.

There were also, by Hollywood standards, a high showing of women directors. Among them were Melanie Laurent's aforementioned Respire (Breathe), Shira Geffen's Self-Made, Alice Rohrwacher's The Wonders, Naomi Kawase's Still The Water and Party Girl, which had three French co-directors, two of whom were women whose names I don't feel like looking up right now. (When you have three directors on one movie, you don't get to be individually named, sorry folks.) Sawing Logs Every movie at Cannes is, at one time or another, accompanied by the sound of snores. And at one point, those snores will be coming from YOU! It's impossible not to nod off at some point. The seats are really cushy and comfy, you've been out late and up early (first screening is always 8:30 am), chances are you've had a glass of wine the night before and prior to each screening you're baking in the sun and shoving your way through on a poorly organized line. Also, let's be frank, these movies are hardly part of the X-Men franchise. These are frequently quiet, contemplative pictures. Imagine the chutzpah of Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who presented a three hour and 15 minute movie of wall-to-wall talking and actually called it Winter Sleep!

A fascinating symptom of mass hysteria occurs every year at Cannes. People stop calling movies by their title and start referring to them by the name of their director with a “the” in front of it. So Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language ceased to be Goodbye to Language. It became “The Godard.” Mommy became “The Dolan” and Two Days, One Night became “The Dardennes.” Yes, even Lost River became “The Gosling.” It's the most obnoxious thing in the history of the world and at first you roll your eyes at it but by day three I swear you'll catch yourself doing it, too. There are, of course, some exceptions. Only the most daring changed The Search to “The Hazanavicius,” Leviathan to “The Zvyagintsev” or The Tribe to “The Slaboshpytskiy.” Prognostication What are you gonna do while you are waiting in line, stare at all the young, fit people in their gowns and tuxes? Well, yes, but you need to be sly about this, so there has to be conversation — and all anyone does is try to figure out what will win the top three prizes. (Best Director is, essentially, the Bronze Medal; the Grand Prix is the Silver and the Palme D'Or is, well, the Gold.) Comparisons are made to years past. What was programmed in what slot? How much buzz is the movie getting? Who is due? Who needs it most? Would it be cool for the Dardennes to win for a record third time? The funny thing everyone forgets is that it really is dependent on the whims of a very small jury (led this year by Jane Campion) and it's hard to know what they are thinking. After all, it's unlikely they're waiting in line and grabbing midnight kebabs.

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8 Worst Habits of Unhappy People and How to Break Them

Everyone wants and deserves to be happy, but not everyone understands what happiness is. Happiness lies in the heart and it always comes from the inside, not the outside. Unfortunately, many people believe money brings happiness and they are trying to earn more money in order to be happy. This actually is one of the biggest mistakes unhappy people make. I know it’s hard to believe but a lot of wealthy people are unhappy, because happy people have good habits that improve their lives and their aim in not to make a lot of money, their aim is to live a happy and fulfilled life. Apart from money, unhappy people have a few other bad habits that they need to break to live a happy life. You might say that there are times when it’s impossible to smile and enjoy life. Yes, I agree. Everyone experiences unhappy times every now and then, but a large part of unhappiness comes from our own behavior, thinking and habits. Just like Elbert Hubbard once said, “Happiness is a habit – cultivate it.” Stop making any excuses on why things are not working out for you and why you are unhappy – you are the only person who is in charge of your own happiness. Read on to discover 8 worst habits of unhappy people and a few effective tips on how to break them. Tennis - Federer and wife celebrate second set of twins 1. Dwelling on the past and dreaming about the future too much Dwelling on the past and reliving all your failures, painful memories and conflicts can hold you back from moving on with life. Dreaming too much about the future is never a good thing too. We often imagine how things could go wrong in our relationships, at work or with our health and it builds into appalling scenarios playing over and over in the head. This is an unhealthy habit that we should break no matter how hard it is. Dwelling on the past and dreaming about the future can lead to missing out on plenty of amazing experiences. Start living in the present if you want to be happy. How to break this bad habit: We all think about the future or the past on occasion, and it’s not a bad habit unless you dwell on it too much. It’s important to learn from your past and plan for tomorrow or next year, but make sure you spend more of your time in the present. Focus on your current activity and think of the problems you have now. Stop worrying about tomorrow – it’s going to happen whether you worry about it or not. Forgive all past mistakes, failures and hurts, they won’t help you in the future. Next time you dwell on your past or dream about the future, sit still, take a few deep breaths, and take in what is all around you with all your senses for a while. I also like to take a short walk and enjoy nature. It reminds me that I live in the present moment. Don’t let yourself dwell on the unhappy past, live your life now and meet any challenge with smile. 2. Overcomplicating things Overcomplicating life is becoming a habit these days. But I think life is too complicated to make it more complicated. While life can create unhappiness, it’s often created by us. Stop overcomplicating things and try to develop new habits that will help to make your life simpler. Life isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be as challenging as most of us make it. How to break this bad habit: Avoid multitasking and do one thing at a time during your day. Make a small to-do list with 3-4 important things and write down your most important goals on a whiteboard that you’ll see daily. This will help you to accomplish the most important tasks on time and reach your goals faster. Another thing to do to break the habit of overcomplicating life is to get rid of the things you don’t need anymore – give them away or throw them away. Having too much stuff means throwing away your precious time and it can prevent you from doing more useful things. People who have a habit of overcomplicating life have many problems in the relationships. That’s because they spend too much time thinking about the past or the future and creating new problems. The best way to reduce misunderstandings and conflicts in any relationship is to communicate and ask questions. Don’t create problems that don’t even exist and don’t waste your time and energy being upset about them. If you have a super busy schedule and it seems impossible to simplify your life, I’ve got some recommendations for you. First of all, try to spend less energy and time on your email in-box – check it once a day and write shorter emails. Make a short to-do list every day and make sure you set realistic goals. It’s easy to get stressed out when you have a busy schedule and plenty of things to do. Take a few short breaks throughout the day and make sure you eat healthy. Also, make time to exercise (I recommend you to work out in the morning) since it helps reduce and manage stress levels. It might be a bit overwhelming at first, but good time management is a sure way to simplify life. 3. Striving for perfection Happiness has nothing to do with making everything perfect. There’s nothing perfect in the world so striving for perfection is just a waste of time and energy. I learned this lesson a few years ago. I was trying to make everything perfect but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t be perfect all the time. I realized I had to break this habit when I started to feel miserable and completely unhappy. Striving for perfection is harming your mind and it usually leads to low self-esteem, constant self-criticism and feeling that you’re not good enough, even if you have great results. If you are a chronic perfectionist you should realize it and break this habit because it may be the main reason why you are unhappy 4. Focusing on the negative things in life Seeing only the negative side of every situation and dwelling on it is a sure way to be unhappy in life. There’s always a positive side of every situation, even the worst one, and it’s always possible to turn a negative situation into a positive one. Both happy and unhappy people have problems. The difference is the way they solve those problems. How to break this bad habit: I can tell you from my experience that it’s hard to break this habit and you will need a lot of patience. If you are a chronic perfectionist, you should break this habit first. Once you kick that habit, start breaking the habit of focusing on the negative things in life. Learn to see both the negative and the positive sides of any situation you are in and accept things as they are. If you can change something, do it. If you can’t, let go mentally and emotionally of what is negative and don’t dwell on it. Whining about the negative detail is just a waste of time. Every time I’m in a difficult situation, I always think of the ways to turn a negative into a positive because only then I can think clearly how to solve the problem. 5. Being dragged down by negative voices It actually goes hand in hand with focusing on the negative things in life, so if you have this habit, you need to break it today. Who you socialize with, what you watch, read and listen to have a huge impact on how you think and feel. You will never be happy if you live in a sea of negative voices, which tell you that life will always be filled with limits and it will be unsafe and unhappy. In order to break this bad habit, you need to replace those negative voices with positive ones. Avoid negative people and surround yourself with positive people who make you smile and happy. Don’t start your day with watching the morning news or reading the paper. Instead, listen to the inspiring music or read some inspiring books. 6. Comparing yourself to others Comparing yourself to others is one of the worst habits that most people have these days. We often compare jobs, houses, cars, relationships, money, clothes and many other things. We get upset about someone else’s success and many of us end up living someone else’s life. Comparing what you have in life to what other people have is a sure way to make yourself unhappy. Have you ever tried to compare yourself to yourself? Sounds strange, right? But it’s actually the key to success and a happy life. See what you’ve achieved, how much you’ve grown, and what you’ve made to reach your goals. You can even have a special journal where you write down your goals and your progress in reaching them. This way, you won’t have time to think of other people and their success. You will learn to love and appreciate yourself and what you have in life. Check out the article How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Other People that will help you to overcome the habit of comparing yourself to others and will help you live a happier life. 7. Limiting life If you hold yourself back and you don’t live your life to the fullest because you’re afraid what others may say or think if you do something new or different, you need to break a habit of limiting your life. There’s nothing wrong with trying new things and everyone is unique in their own way. Unhappy people think that they know how others see them and what think about them. Stop caring about what other people think and start living your own life and doing things you like. Never take criticism as a personal attack and let go of negativity. In fact, other people don’t care about what you say and do. They have their own problems and fears and they worry about their own lives. Instead of thinking about your flaws and fearing what everyone thinks of you, focus on the people around you. Be kind and polite. Help people in need and it will help you boost your self-esteem and improve yourself. 8. Focusing too much on money While it’s okay to focus on making money, saving and buying a lot of expensive things, if you do it all the time, it can make you miserable. Unfortunately, most of us have this bad habit without realizing it. We believe money can do everything and we stop being thankful for what we have in life. Both rich people and poor people can be happy and unhappy. I know a couple of rich people who have everything they want, but they don’t have one of the most important things in life – happiness. I also have a few friends who don’t make a lot of money, but they are always positive and they really enjoy their happy life. Zig Ziglar once said, “Money won’t make you happy, but everybody wants to find out for themselves.” It’s just an illusion that money will bring you happiness. Stop focusing too much on money. Embrace all your daily blessings and be thankful for everything you have in life. It’s not difficult to be happy, you just need to want it. Try to break these worst habits no matter how hard it will be. But make sure you really overcome your bad habits, because sometimes people don’t break their bad habits, they simply replace them with the new ones. Cultivate your happiness and live your life to the fullest and without regrets. “Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.” – Roy Goodman. Do you have any bad habits of unhappy people? amerikanki

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8 Worst Habits of Unhappy People and How to Break Them

Everyone wants and deserves to be happy, but not everyone understands what happiness is. Happiness lies in the heart and it always comes from the inside, not the outside. Unfortunately, many people believe money brings happiness and they are trying to earn more money in order to be happy. This actually is one of the biggest mistakes unhappy people make. I know it’s hard to believe but a lot of wealthy people are unhappy, because happy people have good habits that improve their lives and their aim in not to make a lot of money, their aim is to live a happy and fulfilled life. Apart from money, unhappy people have a few other bad habits that they need to break to live a happy life. You might say that there are times when it’s impossible to smile and enjoy life. Yes, I agree. Everyone experiences unhappy times every now and then, but a large part of unhappiness comes from our own behavior, thinking and habits. Just like Elbert Hubbard once said, “Happiness is a habit – cultivate it.” Stop making any excuses on why things are not working out for you and why you are unhappy – you are the only person who is in charge of your own happiness. Read on to discover 8 worst habits of unhappy people and a few effective tips on how to break them. Tennis - Federer and wife celebrate second set of twins 1. Dwelling on the past and dreaming about the future too much Dwelling on the past and reliving all your failures, painful memories and conflicts can hold you back from moving on with life. Dreaming too much about the future is never a good thing too. We often imagine how things could go wrong in our relationships, at work or with our health and it builds into appalling scenarios playing over and over in the head. This is an unhealthy habit that we should break no matter how hard it is. Dwelling on the past and dreaming about the future can lead to missing out on plenty of amazing experiences. Start living in the present if you want to be happy. How to break this bad habit: We all think about the future or the past on occasion, and it’s not a bad habit unless you dwell on it too much. It’s important to learn from your past and plan for tomorrow or next year, but make sure you spend more of your time in the present. Focus on your current activity and think of the problems you have now. Stop worrying about tomorrow – it’s going to happen whether you worry about it or not. Forgive all past mistakes, failures and hurts, they won’t help you in the future. Next time you dwell on your past or dream about the future, sit still, take a few deep breaths, and take in what is all around you with all your senses for a while. I also like to take a short walk and enjoy nature. It reminds me that I live in the present moment. Don’t let yourself dwell on the unhappy past, live your life now and meet any challenge with smile. 2. Overcomplicating things Overcomplicating life is becoming a habit these days. But I think life is too complicated to make it more complicated. While life can create unhappiness, it’s often created by us. Stop overcomplicating things and try to develop new habits that will help to make your life simpler. Life isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be as challenging as most of us make it. How to break this bad habit: Avoid multitasking and do one thing at a time during your day. Make a small to-do list with 3-4 important things and write down your most important goals on a whiteboard that you’ll see daily. This will help you to accomplish the most important tasks on time and reach your goals faster. Another thing to do to break the habit of overcomplicating life is to get rid of the things you don’t need anymore – give them away or throw them away. Having too much stuff means throwing away your precious time and it can prevent you from doing more useful things. People who have a habit of overcomplicating life have many problems in the relationships. That’s because they spend too much time thinking about the past or the future and creating new problems. The best way to reduce misunderstandings and conflicts in any relationship is to communicate and ask questions. Don’t create problems that don’t even exist and don’t waste your time and energy being upset about them. If you have a super busy schedule and it seems impossible to simplify your life, I’ve got some recommendations for you. First of all, try to spend less energy and time on your email in-box – check it once a day and write shorter emails. Make a short to-do list every day and make sure you set realistic goals. It’s easy to get stressed out when you have a busy schedule and plenty of things to do. Take a few short breaks throughout the day and make sure you eat healthy. Also, make time to exercise (I recommend you to work out in the morning) since it helps reduce and manage stress levels. It might be a bit overwhelming at first, but good time management is a sure way to simplify life. 3. Striving for perfection Happiness has nothing to do with making everything perfect. There’s nothing perfect in the world so striving for perfection is just a waste of time and energy. I learned this lesson a few years ago. I was trying to make everything perfect but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t be perfect all the time. I realized I had to break this habit when I started to feel miserable and completely unhappy. Striving for perfection is harming your mind and it usually leads to low self-esteem, constant self-criticism and feeling that you’re not good enough, even if you have great results. If you are a chronic perfectionist you should realize it and break this habit because it may be the main reason why you are unhappy 4. Focusing on the negative things in life Seeing only the negative side of every situation and dwelling on it is a sure way to be unhappy in life. There’s always a positive side of every situation, even the worst one, and it’s always possible to turn a negative situation into a positive one. Both happy and unhappy people have problems. The difference is the way they solve those problems. How to break this bad habit: I can tell you from my experience that it’s hard to break this habit and you will need a lot of patience. If you are a chronic perfectionist, you should break this habit first. Once you kick that habit, start breaking the habit of focusing on the negative things in life. Learn to see both the negative and the positive sides of any situation you are in and accept things as they are. If you can change something, do it. If you can’t, let go mentally and emotionally of what is negative and don’t dwell on it. Whining about the negative detail is just a waste of time. Every time I’m in a difficult situation, I always think of the ways to turn a negative into a positive because only then I can think clearly how to solve the problem. 5. Being dragged down by negative voices It actually goes hand in hand with focusing on the negative things in life, so if you have this habit, you need to break it today. Who you socialize with, what you watch, read and listen to have a huge impact on how you think and feel. You will never be happy if you live in a sea of negative voices, which tell you that life will always be filled with limits and it will be unsafe and unhappy. In order to break this bad habit, you need to replace those negative voices with positive ones. Avoid negative people and surround yourself with positive people who make you smile and happy. Don’t start your day with watching the morning news or reading the paper. Instead, listen to the inspiring music or read some inspiring books. 6. Comparing yourself to others Comparing yourself to others is one of the worst habits that most people have these days. We often compare jobs, houses, cars, relationships, money, clothes and many other things. We get upset about someone else’s success and many of us end up living someone else’s life. Comparing what you have in life to what other people have is a sure way to make yourself unhappy. Have you ever tried to compare yourself to yourself? Sounds strange, right? But it’s actually the key to success and a happy life. See what you’ve achieved, how much you’ve grown, and what you’ve made to reach your goals. You can even have a special journal where you write down your goals and your progress in reaching them. This way, you won’t have time to think of other people and their success. You will learn to love and appreciate yourself and what you have in life. Check out the article How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Other People that will help you to overcome the habit of comparing yourself to others and will help you live a happier life. 7. Limiting life If you hold yourself back and you don’t live your life to the fullest because you’re afraid what others may say or think if you do something new or different, you need to break a habit of limiting your life. There’s nothing wrong with trying new things and everyone is unique in their own way. Unhappy people think that they know how others see them and what think about them. Stop caring about what other people think and start living your own life and doing things you like. Never take criticism as a personal attack and let go of negativity. In fact, other people don’t care about what you say and do. They have their own problems and fears and they worry about their own lives. Instead of thinking about your flaws and fearing what everyone thinks of you, focus on the people around you. Be kind and polite. Help people in need and it will help you boost your self-esteem and improve yourself. 8. Focusing too much on money While it’s okay to focus on making money, saving and buying a lot of expensive things, if you do it all the time, it can make you miserable. Unfortunately, most of us have this bad habit without realizing it. We believe money can do everything and we stop being thankful for what we have in life. Both rich people and poor people can be happy and unhappy. I know a couple of rich people who have everything they want, but they don’t have one of the most important things in life – happiness. I also have a few friends who don’t make a lot of money, but they are always positive and they really enjoy their happy life. Zig Ziglar once said, “Money won’t make you happy, but everybody wants to find out for themselves.” It’s just an illusion that money will bring you happiness. Stop focusing too much on money. Embrace all your daily blessings and be thankful for everything you have in life. It’s not difficult to be happy, you just need to want it. Try to break these worst habits no matter how hard it will be. But make sure you really overcome your bad habits, because sometimes people don’t break their bad habits, they simply replace them with the new ones. Cultivate your happiness and live your life to the fullest and without regrets. “Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.” – Roy Goodman. Do you have any bad habits of unhappy people? amerikanki

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