If your new year's resolution is to get healthy, here are some quick and easy ways to boost your health in 2018. Whew. It's been quite a year, hasn't it? While things like money issues, work-life balance, health and healthcare, sex in the workplace (or out of it), aging parents, children, siblings and other significant others have always been a concern for us in this so-called midlife, this year, pardon the pun... trumps all others. That's why it's especially important to pay attention to our health, now more than ever. Because with all this stress, health often is neglected and/or suffers. While { Read More }
It’s Okay Not to Work Out
Did you read that right? If you know me, or read my stuff, you know that I am - and have been for quite a long while - a big fan of exercise. From a very young age, I've always been a person who liked movement- whether it be pacing, walking, running, dancing, biking, fitness classes of any sort. Sitting still? Not my thing. (Unless I'm on a beach, or engrossed in a good book or movie. That's a whole other story.) And then, when I entered this so-called midlife, that "like" of exercise took on a new dimension and also became a pressing "need." Movement and exercise was more than just a fun pastime; it { Read More }
How Fitness Trackers Stack Up
You see them just about everywhere: adorning the wrists of people who look dogged in their determination to log that extra step or mile. They inspire some, bringing out their fiercest competitive streak. For others, they're bothersome and nagging and are soon abandoned. For an article I wrote an article appearing in the February 2016 issue of Family Circle magazine, I tracked the progress of seven of the magazine's staffers, who tried out different versions of these high-tech pedometers. It was interesting to hear their experiences. Thumbs up or down? A bother or an inspiration? What { Read More }
Menopause and Anxiety (Revisited)
DOES THIS SOUND VAGUELY FAMILIAR? …“Crippling anxiety, sleep issues, panic attacks, lack of energy, weight gain, intense sweating, no sex drive, dry hair and brittle nails.” – Just a few of the 219 comments expressed by women from around the globe in response to a 2011 blog I wrote titled, “Menopause and Anxiety” for HealthyWomen.org. It turns out anxiety is not the only thing about menopause plaguing the 6,000 U.S. women who reach menopause each day. “I’M NOT BOTHERED BY MENOPAUSE” …Says hardly anyone. THE STORY I’ve been blogging since 2009 (that’s a long time, in blogging years). Never has any { Read More }
The Truth About Your Post-Menopausal Body
Going through menopause means a lot of things to a lot of women. While many parts of the “transition” are individual (for instance, my sister suffered nary a hot flash while I was continually bathed in sweat), one universal truth is this: our bodies change. Yes, unfair, especially when you consider that’s just one set of problems added to the long list of other changes, like sleep disturbances, anxiety, night sweats, too many things to do and too little time to do them all in. But as someone probably told you long ago, life is unfair. A cliché, perhaps, but a truism just the same. Overheard Just { Read More }
Re-Setting Your Exercise Mojo
I know. It's NOT the new year...but I can't help it. September feels like it might as well be. And you know what happens over the summer. We get complacent. Lazy, even. The long days stretch out and all we want to do is luxuriate in the extra light and lounge as if we're laying on the beach (even if we're not). It's not a "bad" laziness, but rather a type of laissez-faire, laissez le bon temps rouler time of year. (Like my French? That's about the extent of it.) As much as I abhor routines, I do realize the value they have. They help keep you on track; help you plan and stay accountable to yourself. { Read More }
Pedaling Like Mad (and Getting Nowhere Fast)
“Let’s go to spin class together, mom! There’s a new Soul Cycle that opened in Westport.” How could I resist my darling 29-year-old son’s request? I’m an empty-nester, after all, and we don’t get to spend much one-on-one time together. Jonathan was planning on visiting for the day, and what better way to kick off the morning than with some high-energy exercise? I thought back nostalgically to when he first mastered a two-wheeler, remembering the pride I felt in handing down his bright red trike to his younger brother Jeremy. I longingly thought about our bike rides through the bucolic winding { Read More }
Tylenol and Advil: Not Created Equal for Pain Relief
As we move merrily along into our so-called midlife, it’s not uncommon to feel pesky, everyday aches and pains from things like headaches, back pain, arthritis, sciatica…the list goes on. Because I exercise pretty frequently, it’s not unusual for me to feel pain from time to time (yes, I’ll admit pushing myself beyond my reasonable limits every once in a while!). Granted, I can't always blame exercise - although I hate to use the age card to start complaining...so I won't. One of my most recent and pleasant discoveries for pain management has been self-massage for various aches and pains; my favorite { Read More }
What Wake-Up Calls Teach Us
Not to be all depressing and morose, but this past week has been kind of sad. I've heard one bad story after another. A friend's 17-year-old daughter diagnosed with ovarian cancer; a cousin's 28-year old son's thyroid cancer diagnosis; a co-worker of my husbands with a blood disease so rare I've never heard of it nor can I pronounce it or understand just how the body can turn on itself that way. I've had my personal share of cancer-at-an-early-age, and with that, there's always that jolt, otherwise known as a wake-up call: it spurs you into action to do something, change something, make promises to { Read More }