Fabulous Joyful Me

Foods that lift your mood:
Fermented Foods
Fermented foods, which include kimchi, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, and sauerkraut, may improve gut health and mood. The fermentation process allows live bacteria to thrive in foods that are then able to convert sugars into alcohol and acids.

During this process, probiotics are created. These live microorganisms support the growth of healthy bacteria in your gut and may increase serotonin levels. It’s important to note that not all fermented foods are significant sources of probiotics, such as in the case of beer, some breads, and wine, due to cooking and filtering.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that affects many facets of human behavior, such as mood, stress response, and appetite. Up to 90% of your body’s serotonin is produced by your gut microbiome, or the collection of healthy bacteria in your gut. In addition, the gut microbiome plays a role in brain health.

A connection between healthy gut bacteria and lower rates of depression has been shown to exist. Still, more research is needed to understand how probiotics may regulate mood.

Milk

Don't risk drinking milk that has a funny smell, strange color, or curdled texture.

While pasteurization helps extend the life of milk, this versatile drink can easily be contaminated, whether in handling or storing, which makes it prone to bacteria.
Drinking spoiled milk is a common cause of food poisoning and other discomforts.

Soft cheeses

Parmesan and Gouda are a little more impervious to bacteria and mold, especially when unopened.
Soft cheeses, on the other hand, are more susceptible to contamination.

While you can probably trim out the infected portions, it's not as easy as doing it with hard cheeses.
It's safer to just stick by the sell-by date to avoid any stomach issues.
The softer the cheese, the shorter its life span.

Foods that lift your mood: Berries
Berries contain a broad variety of antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play a key role in mitigating oxidative stress, an imbalance in your body with harmful compounds.

They 're particularly high in anthocyanins, a pigment which gives their purple-blue color to certain berries.

A diet high in anthocyanins is related to a 39 percent lower risk of symptoms of depression. If you can't find them fresh, consider buying frozen berries to hold the full amount of antioxidants stored at their peak ripeness.

Food you can’t eat past the expiration date:
Fresh meat and produce

While anything fresh will yield better flavor, the catch is that they don't last very long compared to preserved or frozen counterparts.
Fresh meats don't last long if not kept frozen or, at the very least, cool.

While root crops like potatoes and carrots tend to last longer, leafy greens and softer vegetables like eggplant are easily damaged and bruised.

Cooked food
Fried food tends to be more durable and long-lasting compared to those with sauces.

Cooked food tends to have a shorter shelf-life, especially if it's been overhandled, i.e. heated numerous times, touched with used utensils.
To make your cooked food last longer, freeze it till the moment you want to eat it.

If possible, heat only the portion you want to eat.

How to organize your life:

Environmental energy
Is your living space cluttered and messy or simple and neat?
Do you keep stuff, like clothes, you no longer use?
If you have a car, is it clean or just another place to keep your clutter and garbage?

Does your environment facilitate the emotions you consistently want to experience?
Does your environment drain or improve your energy?

Being in the Present Moment Guide
Getting into Nature

Being in nature is a handy reminder that life is cyclic, that things are constantly in flux and ever-changing. Everything comes into being, lives a life, and dies. We need to understand that this applies to the events of our life, as well as our thoughts and feelings.

Being in the Present Moment Guide
Accepting What You Don’t Know
Most of us want to know what’s going to happen in the future, especially if it’s something that’s very important to us personally, or if it’s something especially fraught with emotion.

Much of not being present in the moment is about anxiety and fear about future worries. Imagine what releasing all of that energy about not knowing would feel like, i.e., a lot more time and energy to actually be present.

Uncertainty and change are part of the human condition. The more you practice acceptance of these, instead of trying to manipulate and control them, the better you’ll get at enjoying life as it unfolds.

The same goes for your feelings. Accept your feelings as they are in any given moment without judgment. Feelings are frequently subject to change. Obviously, be responsible for your feelings but be respectful of them. Allow yourself to feel your feelings without overthinking them.

Reflecting Daily
Some people journal regularly. Others create a gratitude list. Before your day ends, get into the practice of thinking about your day, how it went, what you accomplished, what surprised you.
Were you present for yourself? Did the activities/events of the day distract you, taking you away from what is important to you? What could you do differently tomorrow?

Behaviors to adopt for life contentment:
Embracing all your emotions
There is a relationship between happiness and experiencing “desired emotions,” even when they’re unpleasant.

People experiencing more of the emotions that they wanted to feel, positive or negative, have greater life satisfaction and fewer depressive symptoms.
Happiness is more than simply feeling pleasure and avoiding pain.

Happiness is about having experiences that are meaningful and valuable, including emotions that you think are the right ones to have.
All emotions can be positive in some contexts and negative in others, regardless of whether they are pleasant or unpleasant.

It doesn’t help bottling up emotions if you want to feel a sense of happiness.

About life organization
Life is busy.
It's hard to keep everything organized and tidy.
And maybe you don't want to have an organized life.
But moving forward will require far less energy if you remove the excessive baggage and tension.
Everything in your life is energy.
If you're carrying too much, physical or emotional, your progress will be hampered.

Some things are important and some things are urgent.
Most people spend their life prioritizing urgent and "shallow" activity, e.g., answering emails, putting out proverbial fires, and just day-to-day stuff.

Very few people have organized their lives to prioritize almost exclusively important and "deep" activity, e.g., learning, health, relationships, travel, and goals.

No one cares about your success more than you do.
If you're not a meticulous accountant about the important details of your life, then you aren't responsible enough to have what you say you want.
So how do you organize your life?