midlifejourney.com

The sad truth is when you’re a boomer you never know when something is going to go wrong with your body. With 40, 50, even 60 years of life behind you, things just happen. Aches and pains are just part of the midlife story. When pain does strike, or a headache lingers, when you just can’t figure out what’s wrong with you, do you ever check out health websites for the answers? If you do, which health websites do you find reliable?

Recently a friend of mine hurt his back reaching for a box of cereal on a top shelf. Somehow he had twisted the wrong way and within moments he was in absolute agony. We knew nothing was broken—it was just a bad sprain, but we were at a loss for how best to treat the pain. I immediately went to the Internet and did a quick search for back pain. There were more than 48 million entries!

We looked through some of the more credible sites based on well known names: Mayo Clinic, Boston Medical Center, and New England Baptist Hospital. They all had comprehensive sites with good advice but the one web site that had the easiest navigation and quickest answers for our particular need was WebMD.

It’s written in simple straightforward language so that even the lay person can follow along easily. True, it’s loaded with advertising, but still it offers answers quickly. For more in-depth answers, one of the other sites serves well. But for a quick answer to our immediate question, WebMD had the answers.

If you’ve found a great health website let us know. We really are interested.

It sounds counter intuitive, but it’s true. To lose weight you have to eat  — a lot! Of course, it has to be the right foods that increase your metabolism: grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries, and less of those high calorie snack foods we both love to nibble on in the late evening hours.

I’ve read a lot of books and listened to a lot of talk shows and after all is said and done, the one thing they all say that will guarantee weight loss is consumption — keep eating — and drinking a lot of water. Don’t let yourself feel hungry.

Think of your body as a furnace. It’s burning up fuel all day long, helping your muscles work, your brain stay sharp, and your attitude stay healthy. Give it the right fuel and you’ll have energy to do all the things you want to do. Give it the wrong kind of fuel filled with sugars and fats and you’ll clog the pipes, reduce the energy output and make yourself sick.

It’s all a question of balance. Find the rhythm of meals and snacks that works for you to keep your “furnace” stoked. And exercise too, to burn off the occasional whiskey sour or fried clams, or ice cream sundae.

Ok, I’m hungry. Gotta go.

The Acai Berry is one of the hottest weight loss products on the internet right now. If you Google “weight loss” you are sure to get hit with one of the many online ads promising amazing weight loss for midlifers, within just a few short weeks.

Well, like many baby boomers, I’m overweight and have been struggling with diets for years. We all have high hopes for a magic miracle cure, and I got suckered in like so many others. With a savvy web site that mentions both Oprah and Rachel Ray in the copy, it was easy to think that these credible superstars had endorsed the product on the site.

I signed up for a 14-day trial product called AcaiPure. For only $1.95 for shipping they would send me a supply. If I wasn’t fully satisfied I could cancel at any time. If I did nothing, they would continue to ship a monthly supply and charge my credit card $39.95. (I was one of the lucky ones. Some sites charge $4.95 for shipping and charge upwards of $89 for a months supply!)

In the meantime I began to hear all sorts of nasty rumors about this company, Central Coast Nutraceuticals out of Arizona. Our local TV news station has uncovered hundreds of stories of people who have tried to cancel the “membership” and recover their money. Continue Reading »

Remember the wild times you had back in those early boomer days? Even though you are now a true midlifer, I bet you still listen to those fabulous hit tunes from the 60’s and 70’s. Of course, it would make more sense for you if the lyrics were changed to make them a little more relevant to your current life style.:-)

Just got this listing of NEW LYRICS from a Boomer friend and couldn’t resist posting it.

Some of the artists of the 60’s are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers. They include:

• Bobby Darin — Splish, Splash, I Was Havin’ a Flash.
• Herman’s Hermits — Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Walker.
• Ringo Starr — I Get By With a Little Help From Depends.
• The Bee Gees — – How Can You Mend a Broken Hip.
• Roberta Flack— The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face.
• Johnny Nash — I Can’t See Clearly Now.
• The Commodores — Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom.
• Marvin Gaye — Heard It Through the Grape Nuts.
• Procol Harem— A Whiter Shade of Hair.
• Leo Sayer — You Make Me Feel Like Napping.
• The Temptations — Papa’s Got a Kidney Stone.
• Abba— Denture Queen.
• Tony Orlando — Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall.
• Helen Reddy — I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore.
• Leslie Gore— It’s My Procedure, and I’ll Cry if I want To.

And Last but NOT least….

• Willie Nelson — On the Commode Again

Hey, you’ve got to have a sense of humor, people! Enjoy.

Every woman in their 40’s wants to be more beautiful. It’s in the genes. Sudden singing sensation, Susan Boyle, is no exception. After taking the world by storm with her Britain’s Got Talent performance of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, the media swarmed in, surrounding her home in the village of Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland. They asked questions, speculated about her love-life or lack thereof (she was sorry she ever mentioned having never been kissed) and captured her every move on camera and video.

Though her voice is spectacular, we can all agree that her fashion sense is very simple, perhaps a bit dowdy. Now that the nation and the world are watching her every move, it’s only natural she wants to put on her best face. Fashionistas have been calling her with advice, and designers begging that she wear their designs at her next audition. (I made that up, but if I were a designer of a 40ish woman’s clothes line, I would definitely be in there begging!)

We just heard via the web that she had her hair colored and cut, and her eyebrows trimmed. Good for her. And all done by the local village hairdresser for about $50. (A lot less than what those celeb hairstylists in London would have charged.)

So what’s the problem? If you were going to be on worldwide exposition wouldn’t you want to take your style up a notch? I certainly would. And I don’t think it will change her simple, straight talking style one whit. She’s no kid and at nearly 48 years of age she seems to have a very sensible head on her broad shoulders. She may never again live the simple life of her past, but I think her talent will bring her only good fortune and if she wants to trim her eyebrows, cut and color her hair, then good for her. I even like the new black leather jacket!