grow older better

Tag: healthy aging

10,000 Steps! Good For Me?

Today in honor of Earth ay [and a rare sunny DRY day,] I walked to my nearest library branch.

According to my pedometer it was 10,325 steps [or 5 plus miles!]

In less than 2 hours, I got there and back, got some new books, took some photos, sat for a rest in the library, and stopped to shake grit out of my shoes.

Not a bad pace for an old lady! But then I love walking and do lots of it.

Health providers, including mine, say that one should take 10,000 steps a day to remain in good health! Duh? That would mean that I should walk to and from the library EVERY day! Or do the equivalent of this round trip.

Not gonna happen. Not on a regular basis. Besides does it add to my health to have breathed in whatever the cars and trucks speeding by were spewing out their exhausts? And what of the “stuff” kicked up by their tires that I not only had to remove from my shoes, but also got in my eyes, nose, throat – and assume is now in my lungs!

I’m not sure who comes up with the “you musts” for health…but this is one I shall say no thank you to. I’ll stick with my shorter cleaner walks along the levee and along my street – and the next time I am inclined to walk to the library – I’ll go by bicycle!

04/22/2011
Yearning to Be a Cougar? How to Look Younger Than Your Age
Cougars! The latest description of women who like younger men.

[At least it’s no longer called “robbing the cradle” or “perverse.”]

Throughout history, there have been older woman-younger man pairings but without the surrounding publicity we now have via celebrity news and instant media. And because of this, the use of the term cougar has gone from a pejorative term to one that is positive and has hit the popular mainstream of today’s media love of anything sexual.

Historically men have been involved with younger women [often very much younger women] and that was acceptable. But women involved with younger men had not been so well received; that is until now. [And the younger man in the relationship was never belittled as much as the older woman.]

So – you want to be a cougar? Yes? Then go for it!

The 1^st step in being or becoming a cougar is to not worry what others might think of you. If you worry about how those “others” view you – you need to develop some tough skin as there are some, maybe even your friends, who will not approve of your “going cougar.”

The 2^nd step is to look your best. I’m one who thinks we all “look our age” because we <b>are</b> our age and that’s how we look. But that said – the more general population has myths about how older woman look. My article 5 Misconceptions About People Over 65 explores some of those myths.

Can we look younger? I’m not sure of that in reality, but we can meet the societal mythology of “you don’t look your age.” And we can do that by looking the best we can look.

And how do we look our best? And especially, how do we do this if we are over 40, 50, 60 or even 70?

Not by trying to look “young” in teenage type clothing! Sorry – but teen clothes are for teens – not grown woman. Few of us can carry off that skin-tight-belly-hip-showing style without looking like – well woman trying sadly to look like teens.

Instead be a great example of who you already are!

How?
- Lose the belly fat, exercise, and stretch.
- Be as lean and lithe as your body will allow and wear clothing that complements your body.
- Take care of your skin with water-based products; keep your hair neat and colored if you wish.
- And do wear some makeup.
Ready – set – go!!

Get out there and be a cougar!

And for tips on the "hows" please see:

http://www.graywolfproductions.com/beinghealthy/

Please leave your comments below – thank you
06/15/2010
Supplements That Can Help You Immensely As You Age

I personally do not believe in the concept of anti-aging because we cannot really go backwards or stop our aging process.

But anti-aging has become a popular term most often used to sell all matter of products to those who are called “boomers” or “baby boomers.”

[An aside – I am so glad I am older so I don’t have that label.]

While we cannot stop the aging process – we can certainly slow it down and in some cases reverse some, but not all, ongoing damage to our bodies. And – while slowing it down, we can also be doing things to look and feel good as we continue to age.

The phrase “you don’t look your age” is, to me, a sign of age bias since I actually do look my age. We all look our ages – because we ARE those ages.

Bias aside, we seem to love being told we don’t look our ages. So with all that said – yes – there are supplements that can help you immensely as you age.

In fact, these same supplements can help persons of all ages to age well. And – as one with expertise in human development – please believe me when I say it’s never too early or too late to start taking care of your body [including your skin,] as well as your mind and spirit.

We live in a toxic world and that toxicity affects our food, water and our bodies. We do need to take supplements to make up for what is, and is not, there in our food, soil and water.

We need to learn about supplements that can help us and then we need to choose those supplements intelligently so that we feel and look as good as we can as we progress through life.

What are these supplements?

[Hint: the ones I take and I think at 70 – I still look great]

you can read the rest of this article at: http://ow.ly/1YxbQ

Or – you can go to http:/graywolfproductions.com/beinghealthy/

and read about the supplements / or do both

06/14/2010
What keeps you young?

Aging is a universal process…we can slow it's effects on our body and brain but we can't stop the process.

Every so often I see an article about what helps us stay functioning and healthy and what is bad for us.

When I read of "bad" stuff in food and cosmetics I get more angry at federal agencies that "allow" a certain level of "bad" stuff in our food, air water and other things. It's called an "acceptable" level….but what might be acceptable and safe for one person may be poison for another…

So in the face of all this – what does keep one young? How does one "do" healthy aging?

Here is some of what keeps me young:

I can read that coffee is bad for me and then I read that coffee is good for me. I don't allow either thought to change my coffee habits…I love my morning coffee and have for a very very long time and coffee makes me feel great and hence helps me stay young.

I love my pets and they also keep me young because I walk the dog a few times a day – which is good for him and me. And my cat, Sheba, is pure fun. Having pets is part of who I am – if I ever had to live without a pet that would be very depressing and would therefore age me.

Friends and social interactions keep me young. I dog walk with neighbors so that's a two-fer and we have a very friendly neighborhood where "everyone knows your name" and there are few secrets – but it's a situation we laugh about – and laughing keeps us young too.

We know exercise is good for us and that it keeps our heart and body in better shape than does sitting around all day. But do I get as much exercise as I need? Probably not… it's too easy for me to skip exercise and that is something I most definitely am going to work on …… <later>

Being online keeps me young too. The daily interactions with persons from all over the world and of all different ages makes me use a lot of brain cells. We chat about different topics, I am up to date on world events and my brain gets a serious work out.

What keeps you young?

Pleas post a comment below about this – thank you

11/30/2009
Monosodium Glutamate. Is it bad for you?

I can't tolerate MSG and avoid it when I can read a label. It makes me dizzy and nauseous. Sometimes after I eat some foods I feel the same way and after reading an email about MSG – I think I know better what is going on. MSG or HVP [Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein / another name for MSG] is in a lot of food we eat at home or eat out – in both fast and slow food places and it is addictive!

What does MSG do? It makes food "taste better." This from the http://www.msgfacts.com website.

MSG has been touted as a health benefit – especially for older people as it causes them to eat more; although I would never equate eating more with getting better nutrition.

There have been studies showing that monosodium glutamate [MSG] is addictive and is related to obesity. It is like nicotine in that it is a known additive that creates an addiction – but that no one wants to admit to. It would mean taking on the food industry. [The MSG fact website says it is not true that MSG is related to obesity.]

Then today when reading posts on Facebook I saw a post from http://facebook.com/jane.e.johnson [thank you] indicating that MSG is in flu vaccines and here is the site she mentioned http://truthinlabeling.org. This site offers a long list of research related to MSG and its effects.

Rather than argue whose research is correct – I shall continue to avoid all food with MSG or HVP especially when I know what it does to me and my body and I keep read material like this.

Read the research and, as usual, be the intelligent consumer I know you are. Ask for the ingredient list and see if MSG or Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein is listed in any of the foods on your plate.

10/20/2009