embracing the future!
I had the fortunate experience to learn about using Yoga for pain from a public television station, and thought I would share that information with you along with some websites, which provide information on Yoga for seniors (not that you have to be one to benefit from reducing pain with Yoga methodologies).
Happy summer to all of you. This time of year makes us more aware of our physical wellness. We shed those winter garments to reveal bodies, which have had holiday fun and some sedentary behavior, along with sluggishness due to weather circumstances.
♥
Continue reading “What is Healthy Aging?”
Today I am celebrating 
24 years since I had open heart surgery. Yes!
Walking is a really personal gift to me. What do I mean? After my surgery, I asked my Cardiologist, “what type of exercise can I do?” He recommended that I walk, which seemed easy enough to do.
However, the truth was, after the surgery I did not have the strength to walk 
across a street by myself. At that point, I promised myself and the forces that guide us that if given the future opportunity to walk, I would make sure to honor that ability.
Continue reading “For Women: Are 10,000 Steps a Day Necessary?”
This is a nice infographic I found in my web travels that I think is worth sharing with you. For more information click on the infographic.
Enjoy who we are!
source:
https://caringpeopleinc.com/
As senior citizens, I think that we are often looking for ways to enhance our well-being: 1) by changing what we eat; 2) trying to exercise; and, 3) get enough sleep. And, of course, getting our regular checkups with doctors. By taking as many of these steps as we can, we hope that it will lead us to long and healthful lives, right?
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to focus more attention on what type of groceries I am purchasing. In addition, I want the recipes I make to be creative, tasty and healthful. My grandmother cooked what could be called ‘soul food’, which was always delicious and she was healthy all her life. She lived to be 94 years old. My grandmother was not the only person I know of who lived a long life and ate things like collard greens, macaroni & cheese, biscuits. I also remember her having a garden, where she grew all kinds of vegetables and from which she used to cook her dinner. I actually don’t recall her using a lot of fertilizer on the vegetables she grew.
Recently, I treated myself and bought the TV Chef Carla Hall’s Soul Food cookbook. I trusted that when I have seen her on TV she is always doing the right thing by food. It’s tasty and the ingredients are the best she can find for the occasion. She is creative. Often, when she’s cooking a version of ‘soul food’, Carla makes it a point to prepare her food lighter – by cutting calories – and cutting out fat. This is how she was trained to cook by her grandmother; and, her grandmother was a dietitian at a hospital. What better way to learn how to cook ‘good-for-you-soul food’? Exciting! Continue reading “Farm to Table, GMO’s, Organic: What’s the difference?”
Are you aware of the benefits that senior citizens (referred to as elderly people) can receive by eating yogurt? Are you aware that not all yogurt give you the same benefits, and why you might choose one type versus another type?
First off let’s discuss some of the health benefits of eating Greek yogurt : helps with digestion; controls blood pressure; provides protein, it is also an excellent source of calcium. So there I was eating my Greek yogurt, and something told me to check the ‘benefits’ of the one I was eating. I went to Fooducate.com
Fooducate is a website that provides detailed information about the nutrition facts of the food you are eating. It also gives the food brand a rating. There is an app that you can put on your smartphone. It’s considered to be one of the best food rating apps. To my surprise, I found out that the yogurt I was eating received a B- for one cup of the yogurt, which is worst than average! Further details indicated it had over 50% of daily saturated fat, and 6 teaspoons of sugar per serving. I also checked whether the yogurt I was eating had probiotics. It did not. Continue reading “Healthwise – Yogurt – Probiotics – Diet”
Just when we thought we had the right information about taking aspirin, a new study comes out to create confusion. Even though I have had heart surgery, I must admit I do not take aspirin. As a matter of fact, I only took it immediately after my open heart surgery 23 years ago. My surgery was not because of a heart attack. I stopped taking aspirin because of an allergic reaction one time, and I never took it again. Now, it turns out that I am on the right side of what is healthy for my age. Below is a summary of my findings, which I hope helps clear up a few things for you. Please use the source links for more detailed information.
♥ If you are 70 and older, there is no benefit at all to taking an aspirin a day, 
unless you have had a heart attack; have a stent; had a bypass surgery; suffer from angina, or had a stroke.
♥ The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that those in their 50s with a 10 percent higher risk because they have high blood pressure/high cholesterol, should continue to take aspirin. The same is true for people in their 60s.
♥ Aspirin can cause bleeding, which can be dangerous. Find out from your doctor whether there are benefits for you. Continue reading “The Aspirin Question”
Have you ever heard that ‘Aging is not for Sissies’ ? Well, some people make fun of this saying, but on a more serious note, living alone as a senior and aging can be difficult, which is why it is good to know some of the ways seniors can take precautions to protect themselves. Here is a list of things that we seniors should take note of:
♣ Safety Precautions for home alone seniors:
– Remove clutter.
– Remove tripping hazards (electrical cords, throw rugs).
– Use the grab bars in the shower (or install if you don’t have them).
– Prepare an emergency kit: flashlight, batteries, matches, candles. Put it in a place that is easy to remember.
– Keep track of your keys (put them in the same place every time you come in the door). Don’t put your name and address on your key chain.
– If the doorbell rings call out, ‘I’ll get it’, which will alert the person ringing the bell that you are not alone.
– If you are expecting a service person like cable, or other repairman, have someone keep you company while the service is being handled.
– Have a list of friends that you speak with at least once a week. You can set up a ‘buddy system’ with each other on specific days to touch base. Continue reading “Tips for Home Alone Seniors”
I realize that many of us are not revved up about getting to a 30 minute exercise class, or walking continuously for 30 minutes. In addition, many seniors do not have the extra income required to spend on a health club membership.
I was encouraged by a recent study, which finds that continuous activity is not a requirement to attain the benefits of exercise. That is to say, you do not have to workout 30 minutes at a time to gain the health benefits! You can actually accumulate those 30 minutes of activity 10 minutes at a time.
♥ The latest studies, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association are summarized below:
– “Movement strongly influenced longevity. Men and women who exercised fewer than 20 minutes a day, were at the highest risk of premature death. Those who moved more often, especially if they were active in a day, cut their mortality risk in half”.
Continue reading “Tweaking Your Workout Activity”
