Healthy Aging: Body, Mind & Spirit

What is self-esteem?

Learn much more here.

Anger Management

I just found this great BBC summary of what anger is, and why it is so important to understand it!

How soon is sex safe after a heart attack?

This can be a difficult question to ask your doctor, but you should ask.

Learn more here.

Healthy midlife weight loss

I’m inching ever closer to my target weight now.  This morning when I glanced at myself in my full-length mirror, my immediate response was, “Oh, so that’s what I’m supposed to look like.”

FLASH FORWARD…

In the past year I lost 55 pounds or over 20% of total body weight.  As you might guess, this requires some major changes in your mind, body AND soul!

Now I have put together a simple, concise e-book which includes ALL that I learned in my one year journey to healthy weight loss.  I call it:

“HOW I LOST 55 POUNDS AT AGE 55: This isn’t brain surgery, but may require some serious soul surgery!”

Send me an e-mail at: MidlifeCrisisQueen@gmail.com, if you would like to receive your own PDF copy of my brand new e-book for $3 through PayPal.

Is finding love a part of healthy aging?

It is an unusual human being who has not experienced feelings of abandonment or betrayal in their lifetime.  When these misfortunes occur we normally look for the life lesson in them, and too often believe the lesson is that love never works.  Sometimes we decide we are fundamentally unlovable.

If this is true for you, you need to read my new book: How To Believe In Love Again. Don’t miss this excerpt from the chapter: “Why I wrote this book”:

“It is essential that each of us revisit our abandonment or betrayal stories, and especially the lessons we think we have learned from them.   How has your perception of that story changed over the years?   How about the deep and abiding shame you may feel from previous breakups?  Has your self-concept changed since then?  Do you need a reality check?  Does that old rejection hold far more power than it should in your present world?

Recent brain research shows that we remember most clearly those things we experienced while we were in the midst of strong emotions.   Difficult life experiences may stick with us for decades, often holding more power than they deserve, especially when they have caused severe psychic trauma.

It is only through a careful reassessment of these experiences and then a little patient, careful “soul surgery” that we may regain our original belief in the power of love to improve our lives and our right to receive it.

This book is designed to help you become a private detective in service to your own self-awareness and self-development.   If you wish to gather a deeper understanding of why you fear love so much, and then search out those experiences in your past that have kept you stuck in your old ways of perceiving love, this book can help.    Together we will explore those negative love experiences from your past where you lost your trust of others—those bad times that now sabotage your present faith that you might ever find love again.

Don’t miss my new website: HOW TO BELIEVE IN LOVE AGAIN!

Can you really die from a broken heart?

When people encounter certain distressing situations, a flood of stress hormones are unleashed, taking a drastic toll on the heart and causing sudden life-threatening heart spasms in otherwise healthy people.   Such situations may include:

• A traumatic romantic breakup
• The shock of a surprise party
• The death of a loved one
• Being in a car accident

One woman experienced sudden, intense chest pain after giving an emotional talk about her son’s battle with mental illness.   After being rushed to the hospital and treated for what doctors believed was a heart attack, it was discovered the woman had instead experienced an unusual heart malfunction, otherwise referred to as broken heart syndrome.

How Does Broken Heart Syndrome Occur?

For centuries, doctors have understood that emotional shocks, similar to those listed above, can trigger heart attacks and sudden deaths. Yet broken heart syndrome, technically known as stress cardiomyopathy (myopathy meaning disease), is an unusual phenomenon; no one really knows why it happens.

In one study, researchers analyzed 19 patients who had what appeared to be traditional heart attacks after experiencing sudden emotional stress.   All but one were women and most were post-menopausal.  (It was learned that women are more vulnerable to suffer from a broken heart, as the occurrence may be correlated with hormones or how women’s brains are wired to their hearts.)   When researchers compared the 19 patients with other people who had experienced classic heart attacks, it was discovered:

• The patients had healthy, unclogged arteries
• The levels of stress hormones in their blood, such as adrenaline and noradrenaline, were two to three times higher than those suffering from classic heart attacks

Researchers suspect high amounts of stress hormones go straight to the heart and produce a startle to the heart muscle that causes a temporary dysfunction.  Instead of killing the heart muscle like a heart attack would, it simply renders it helpless.

An additional explanation as to why people suffer from broken heart syndrome is that grief kicks the body’s “fight or flight” response into overdrive.   Instead of fleeing, however, the body is placed in a state of prolonged activation, completely void of direction or outlet or purpose.  Therefore, this prolonged stressed response takes its toll on the cardiovascular system, causing heart attack-like symptoms.

Unlike heart attacks, those suffering from broken heart syndrome begin recovery within a few days and are completely recovered within two weeks’ time.

Can You Prevent Broken Heart Syndrome?

Some researchers believe understanding how broken heart syndrome occurs will allow people to successfully cope with stress and protect their heart heath.   Yet opposing researchers note the abrupt and unforeseeable nature of the stress suggests the condition may not be something people can learn to control.

For victims recovering from a broken heart, it is suggested that they rest and drink plenty of fluids.  Other preventative methods include nutritional supplementation, exercise (in order to keep the heart and mind healthy) and learning to effectively cope with stress.

The nutrient, CoQ10, plays a major role in supporting heart health.   To provide energy for a strong, vibrant heart, CoQ10 or Ubiquinal helps the body to produce adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, the energy needed for heart muscle contraction.  To keep your cellular energy pools maintained at full capacity in the face of stress or strenuous activity, also try heart-enhancing D-Ribose, and L-carnitine.  Since D-Ribose is the literal starting point in creating the heart’s energy source: ATP, and L-carnitine is a naturally-occurring compound needed for both cellular and heart energy, D-Ribose can serve as the perfect “generator” to keep the heart from simply giving out due to the onslaught of factors like stress hormones or traumatic situations.

Give Them Some LOVE and Emotional Support

If you know someone going through a severe stress or loss, especially during tough times like the holiday season, do not hesitate to stay in touch.  If they have lost someone close, share cherished remembered stories.  Recall funny experiences, as laughter is one of the most healing natural treatments we all can use.

Why do Americans keep getting fatter?

In a time of many great excuses for eating too much like “the holidays,”  I have seen a few important stories in the mainstream media recently which explain much about Americans and their ever increasing girth.

It seems we have created the perfect storm for eating out of control.   How?   First of all we must look to “The Flavorists,” a story on CBS 60 Minutes this past Sunday.

Here is CBS’s summary:  “When you chug a sports drink or chew a stick of gum, you probably don’t think of science.  But there is a precise science – and a delicate art – behind what you’re tasting.   Morley Safer reports on the multibillion dollar flavor industry, whose scientists create natural and artificial flavorings that make your mouth water and keep you coming back for more.”

Yes, food doesn’t taste the way it started out tasting 20 or 50 years ago.   There are lots of scientists whose job IS TO GET AND KEEP YOU EATING TOO MUCH, and they know exactly what your brain finds absolutely addicting! They interviewed David A Kessler, MD for this piece, because he wrote the book The End Of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, where he documents how many and how much our chain restaurants invest in getting you addicted to their food.

Then we have the American perception of ideal weight, which has been heading up, up, up especially in the past 20 years or so.   According to the latest Gallup poll, actual weight and ideal weight — have risen, although “ideal weights” have not quite kept pace with actual weight gains.  The average American male now weighs 196 pounds and the average woman is up to 160 pounds. Both figures are 20 pounds greater than self-reported weights in 1990.

Perhaps more importantly, Americans’ self-professed “ideal weights” are getting higher and higher.   Women on average said their ideal weight would be 138 pounds — up from 129 in 1991.   Men on average said their ideal weight should be 196  — up from 180 pounds in 1991.   In other words, our perceptions are shifting upwards as our health is taking a gigantic fall.

I know personally how this happens.   Before I decided enough was enough and started seriously losing weight, I could easily turn to others around me and say, “I know I’m overweight, but I’m not that bad. Just look at her.”   As those around us expand, our perceptions get distorted.

If you would like a reality check, go do an honest assessment of your own BMI. Anything over 30 is OBESE.

In addition, the traditional American diet assumes far too much fat and starch for our present lifestyle.   I have learned that my own traditional perceptions which caused me to expect starches like cereal, bread, potatoes, and pasta, not to mention cookies,  for breakfast, lunch and dinner equal dietary disaster!   No, I cannot eat bread or cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and then have a potato or pasta with dinner and expect to remain a reasonable weight.   This is the road to obesity plain and simple.   Starches are filler foods we needed when we were doing physical labor 60 hours a week.   Fill up on the highest quality proteins, fresh vegetables and fruits instead, and cut your starches in half.

What are the facts?   Fat kills us even when we don’t see ourselves as fat, and we will continue to die at an earlier age with fat induced illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and cancers of all types. Not to mention our present sky-rocketing health care costs, which will only increase as we choose to become the most obese country in the world.

Do you hope to live past 90?

When I first started writing my Midlife Crisis Queen blog four years ago, at age 52, it seemed like everyone asked me, “What is midlife?” Now it’s beginning to seem like I may be right in the MIDDLE of my life!

According to new census research, more Americans than ever are living past age 90. Nearly 2 million are over 90 today!   And by the year 2050, the year I would turn 95, that number is projected to be 9 million!

The number of us over 90 has tripled since the year 1980, but the real question is: How will we provide quality health care for so many elderly Americans? At the rate we’re going now, this goal is absolutely unsustainable, and there no use extending the quantity of life without quality of life.

At present only 1 in 5,000 Americans live past 100, but it’s still the fastest growing demographic in the U.S.  How do they do this?   Here are some lifestyle patterns that the Blue Zones Study found promote longevity worldwide:

• Build exercise into your daily lifestyle
• Slow down, relax more, and try to minimize your “inflammatory response”
• Find your unique sense of purpose
• Eat wisely
• Find your right tribe

This story from last night’s CBS Evening News finds that the most important factor in living long and well is maintaining a sense of caring and community.  Arlene Richmond who runs a senior living center says,

“Being part of a community changes their world.  They have people who share their passions.  They have a reason to get up in the morning.  They continue to be the movers and shakers that they once were.”

Why meditate?

The deceptively simple act of meditating prompts changes in your body, including in your autonomic nervous system, which regulates your heartbeat, digestion, breathing and sweating, among other functions. It’s also been shown to prompt beneficial changes in your brain, and it can help everything from stress and anxiety to insomnia and your immune system.

Among the many benefits you can expect from regular meditation are:

Improve Your Ability to Manage Conflicts: After just 11 hours of meditation, University of Oregon students experienced increased brain connectivity in the areas involving the anterior cingulated, which helps regulate your emotions and behavior.

The researchers noted that the brain pathway impacted is known to influence your ability to regulate conflict, emotions and behavior. Further, an underactive anterior cingulated has been linked to a variety of disorders ranging from dementia and ADHD to depression and schizophrenia, so the benefits may be wide-reaching.

Lower Your Levels of Stress Hormones: Researchers have found that meditation lowers levels of stress hormones. In fact, by decreasing the level of one such hormone — epinephrine — meditation has been shown to reduce the amount of cholesterol in your blood and therefore help arteries to remain clear. Reduction of stress hormones also supports the healthy functioning of your immune system. This reduction in stress hormones may be explained by the relaxed state that comes about through meditation. Electroencephalograph (EEG) studies of the brain in those who are meditating show that meditation boosts the intensity of alpha waves — associated with quiet, receptive states — to levels not seen even during sleep. This relaxed state combats anxiety, and this is confirmed by research that has found lowered levels of lactic acid in the blood. (High levels of lactic acid are associated with anxiety.)

Decrease Symptoms of Fibromyalgia: A 1998 study in Alternative Therapies showed that meditation helped decrease symptoms such as pain and sleeplessness in patients with fibromyalgia, a disease characterized by muscle pain, fatigue, and mild-to-moderate depression.

Improve Psoriasis: In a 1998 study at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, psoriasis patients who listened to a mindfulness meditation audiotape during their ultraviolet light therapy experienced faster healing than those who had the light therapy alone.Relieve Fear and Increase Feelings of Well-Being: When you meditate your brain activity shifts to different areas of the cortex. Brain waves that are in the right frontal cortex, which is prone to stress, move to the left frontal cortex, which is calmer. Meditation also leads to less activity in the amygdala, which is where your brain processes fear.

Boost Your Attention: Meditators have increased thickness in brain regions involved in memory and attention. They also perform better on tests that measure attention, even after losing a night of sleep. A study on Buddhist monks, who are known for their intense meditation practice, also found that meditating boosted brain waves associated with attention and vigilance.

Protect Your Heart: Meditators have been found to have improved blood circulation, as well as a lowered heart rate, which places less demands on the heart.A 1998 study published in Psychosomatic Medicine also showed that people who practiced transcendental meditation (TM) had lower levels of lipid peroxide than those who didn’t. Lipid peroxide can contribute to atherosclerosis and other chronic diseases associated with aging. A 1999 study published in the same journal showed that people who practiced TM had lower blood pressure immediately after meditating than did the control group.

Improve Asthma Symptoms: Study participants who took part in a yoga-based meditation technique experienced a greater reduction in airway hyperresponsiveness, or “twitchiness” in the lungs. Those who meditated also had lower rates of tension and fatigue than those who did not.

Relief from Depression: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, which is about 80 percent meditation, may help relieve symptoms in people with depression. In fact, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the UK approved it for use in people who have had three or more depressive episodes.

Meditation has also been associated with a longer life span, better quality of life, fewer hospitalizations, and reduced health-care costs. It has also shown promise as an adjunct therapy in relieving mild depression, insomnia, tension headache, irritable bowel syndrome, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS), as well as in controlling substance abuse.

Learn how to believe in love again!

My Believe in Love Again blog is taking off lately along with e-book sales!

Don’t miss my new post: Why don’t I believe in love?