Oh Crap, I'm A Baby Boomer!

You can manage your stress and slow  the aging process.   Significant life changes as well as  simple everyday unresloved "stuff"  play a big part in rapidly ageing you before your time.  For instance, your boss is breathing down your neck for the report that was due yesterday or the traffic is bumper to bumper and road rage seems to come out of nowhere or the list of bills is larger than your  monthly income, or your spouse of 25 years just told you they want a divorce.  All of those issues and more can help accelerate you looking older, particulary if you you do not employ  stress management techniques.

The experts say that stress places a toll on your body and to make issues even worse, several studies suggest that persistent stress  can cause irreparable brain damage, memory loss, early dementia as well as a rapid rise in the brain proteins which is linked to Alzheimer's

So how can you  manage your stress and slow down the aging process.  There are excellent books and audio tapes that will facilitate in the process of helping you learn about stress as well as offering information on stress management solutions. Here are a few tips;

Excerise

Exercising is really a huge stress reliever and also a great anti-aging weapon.  Exercise can generate endorphins that will allow you to feel better and make the world seem alright again.  Plus it does amazing things for your skin.  Going for a brisk walk or perhaps working out.  These activities not only enable you to step away from your current troubling issues, but they help clear your mind so that you are able to identify some positive alternatives and are less likely to feel so overwhelmed.

Laughter

In Proverbs 17:22, it says
"A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones"   Laughter is also responsible for producing that wonderful chemical in our brain called endorphins.  Endorphins foster a sense of relaxation and well-being and actually dull the perception of pain
 Put a comedy into the DVD player.  You know, one of those that make you laugh so hard and loud, tears run down you face. Old "I Love Lucy" episodes are one of my favorites. Your family or the neighbors might think your crazy.. or they just might join you.  Laughter is contagious!

Pamper Yourself

Make it a routine to pamper yourself by doing what makes you feel good as often as possible. Get dressed up and go out for a night on the town, (even if it's your  nearest bowling alley). Take an unscheduled vacation over the weekend.  Don't have a lot of money? Save for a month (maybe don't eat out as much) and go to a nice hotel. Do it up, eat at the hotel restaurant, and pick one where there is live music so you can dance a little.  When was the last time you "cut a rug"  (only boomers would know that one). Order room service, leave you clothes on the floor. Pretend it's back in the day and have outrageous sex which can be a real stress buster! And don't tell a soul where you are so you won't have to answer the telephone.  Oh yeah, don't make up the bed when you leave…Smile

Talk To Someone

Sometimes, it takes a lot of courage to eradicate long-term stress, and it may mean making significant changes in your life to learn how to cope.  The fact of the matter is, unless you get on top of your stress management, it will not only make you look years older than you are and enhance the signs of aging, it will make you sick and cause harmful ramifications to every area of your body. Heart disease, stroke and even death have been caused by unresolved stress
This may mean getting a deeper level of help.  You may have to consider joining an outside support  group or iyou may consider  talking  to someone,  whether it is your pastor, a mediator, close friend, counselor, attorney, or financial advisor, just do it!.  I have found that during times of extreme stress, reading the Psalms has given me comfort, clarity and emotional strength.  Identify what is causing your major stress and deal with it, Your ageing will slow down to a snails pace.

Age well and live a long and joyous life!

Related articles

• 8 Tips for Managing Stress (everydayhealth.com)
• Stress and Heart Health (everydayhealth.com)
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Azar Colter

Tagged with: Alzheimer's disease • Health • Physical exercise • Psalms • Stress • Stress Management • The Aging Process

Filed under: Baby Boomer Life Style • Exercise • Stress • The Aging Process • Wellness

Weight Loss After 50

What’s so hard about losing weight after 50? From the commercials and ads you’ve on TV and in magazines, it looks like it ought to be easy enough. Just take this wonder pill and you’re trim practically overnight.

You probably already know – getting rid of that extra weight isn’t that easy! If it really was, you’d be slim already, right?

But there is good news — it is possible to lose weight after you’re 50 (or even 60). You just need a different strategy. Your body is adjusting and re-adjusting to aging, and weight loss probably won’t happen quickly (sorry).

The Menopause Factor and Weight Loss

What can you do about it? Weight loss after (and during, for that matter) menopause is harder now than it was at any other time during your life. Maybe you could lose 10 pounds fairly easily, now three pounds seems like an impossible goal.

Realize that your hormones are working against you; you therefore need to take charge of your diet and cut out foods that spell trouble for you.

Simple sugars, like the infamous whites (white rice, white bread, etc.) are known trigger foods. But did you know that some fruits can be a problem too, because of the fructose content? You still need fruits as part of a healthy diet; just choose fruits higher in fiber.

Here’s one you’ve heard before, but it’s still true — don’t skip meals. It spells trouble when your blood sugar falters, as it makes you more likely to snack.

Bones that are frailer bones, muscle loses mass and you metabolism goes south; and there are still issues. For example, you may have stress bladder problem and your body loses flexibility as well.
Losing Weight After 50 Tips

It seems like you’ve got the deck stacked against you, doesn’t it? Is there anything you can do to help with losing weight after 50?

If you’re eating a balanced diet, exercise is the next most important thing you can do. Without it, your bones will continue to become frailer and your muscles continue to weaken. This weakening, and accompanying loss of mass, means it will be even harder to lose weight!

You don’t need to worry about walking miles or heavy cardio routines; in fact they may hurt more than help at first. Even if you should have mobility problems, you most likely can still work with hand weights, wrist weights and/or resistance bands. These help to re-build muscle mass, and therefore increase your metabolism.

Yes, it’s possible to lose weight after 50, and you can do it. It’s just a matter of taking it one day at a time, and know that with every pound you lose, you’re increasing your health!

Author:  Robert Fowler is President of Retirement Media Inc.

Article Source:  Boomer Places.com

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By Azar Colter

Tagged with: Boomer Weight Loss • Fitness • Health • Personal Development

Filed under: Exercise • Fitness • The Ageing Process • Weight Loss

Boomers Creating A New America – Who Would Have Guessed

When we Baby Boomers were charming new relatives with toothless smiles and sweet gurgles, no one would have thought that, as a group,we would create social changes that would actually create a new America.

Groups of demographers have had a field day creating virtual groups based on year of birth, careers, financial position and any other trait they can think of that would put all Baby Boomers in tidy pigeon holes. Well, that didn't work!  We have redefined the term "Old Age"

The first thing we  did was crowd schools, beginning in elementary school and continuing right through college. Our very existence forced schools to add resources and teachers to accommodate the overload. Additionally, we were not the normal students that were mental clones of our parents. We had our own beliefs and acted upon them.

We were too young to march with the civil rights activists, but the Vietnam War did not escape us. At least 30 percent of us served in Vietnam and the rest protested in the streets, passed out leaflets, wrote articles for the newspapers and posted in forums. We were a strong force for change on college campuses.  We formed definite political attitudes that did not resemble the attitude of our parents and as a group, believed that the American Military had to be strong in order to protect this country from our enemies.  We held solid opinions about family values, gender identification, social values, sexuality and family solidarity. Because of  our generation, traditional parenthood and family values changed.  Retirement evolved into something far more elusive to accommodate the changing and failing economy.

Our financial status depended on when we became old enough to pursue a career or take a job. Those of us born early, 1946 to 1955, had the benefit of a robust job market and an emerging economy to choose from. Those born between 1956 and 1964 had a different, less stable job market ahead of them, which encouraged moving to other locations and making career alterations.

1 in 5 Americans are now boomers and our disposable income is a whopping $2 trillion dollars. We  are creative, resilient and tough. We love to travel, buy gadgets and in general, are much better educated and have a better quality of health than the generation before  us. The American dream for us is no longer to retire, (with the assurance of Social Security), sit on the porch in our rocking chairs and  in bed by 8 pm simply waiting for the "Sweet By And By".  However, because we are living longer, our financial situation does have challenges and is far more complex 

 Health issues are a considerable concern  because  we want to live as long as we can and practice preventive  measures now more than any time in history. On the positive side, they are likely to live longer than their parents and be healthier, but aging bodies do need additional care.   I'm so glad that there is now so much information on the internet so that we can keep abreast of the latest health technology, which I will be sharing from time to time.

 Thousands of us  will leave the workforce in large numbers as we retire and dramatically decrease the workforce  This week, the oldest baby boomers will be turning 65, and 10,000 more will cross that threshold every day for the next 19 years.  That equates to about 69 million people who will turn 65 by 2030.. The birth rate decreased after our generation which means less workers to fill the vacancies left by the retirees.

We Baby Boomers started creating a new America shortly after their birth and now we are changing America once again as we retire. Who would have guessed?

Related articles

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  Who Would Have Guessed!

Tagged with: Baby Boom Generation • Baby boomer • Baby Boomer Life Style

Filed under: Baby Boomer Life Style

I have one resolution for 2011….No More" New Years Resolutions" because they  don't work……at least not for me.  What does  work for me is to affirm daily the areas in my life that I've made a commitment  to change and continue that process, whatever it takes.

 One of the most important revelations  I've learned about me, after doing a major self- inventory recently is, I'm simply not goal oriented.  After looking back over my life, I saw that every year that I made new years resolutions, or set goals to change some aspect of my life, I was just setting myself up for failure because of how I had viewed myself for so many years. All of the negative messages I had believed about myself gave me the excuse not to change.  So the goals I set out to accomplish were always doomed to fail because I saw myself as a failure,  I didn't attract love because I did not see myself worthy of being loved.  I was not successful because I never saw myself achieving success.  I had no faith.

I became serious about marketing online in January of last year and over the last 12 months, I have had a radical mindset change. Last year, I was introduced to Tony Robbins(through his books and tapes) and the most profound thing that I learned from him was this statement; "Success Leaves Clues"  So I started seeking successful people. I began reading and listening to people like Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnigie, James Allen, W. Clement Stone, Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Og Mandino, Jack Canfield, Les Brown and others The common thread that they all spoke of was believing in yourself, having faith that God really was on your side,  making daily affirmations and to use them as a vehicle for change.

 When I began affirming and believing that I actually had the power to change the outcome of my life as well as access that power on a daily basis, change started happening.  My life had been in the toilet for so long and I had become comfortable right where I was.  But over the years, accumulated garbage began piling up in my mind and my thoughts just stunk.  There came a time when I could no longer recognize the person I had become.  I was in so much  bondage.  I can honestly say, I hated myself.   But when I made the decision to get up out of the pit that had become my life, that's when God showed up. Today I realize, He was with me all the time but I had become so self-centered and spiritually blind, I could not see or feel  His presence.  My life has experienced a drastic transformation and today I thank Him for sustaining me all of my dark years, but most of all I adore Him  for loving me when I did not have the ability to love myself.

 I have grown personally by leaps and bounds and that growth has been accelerated since I began using  daily affirmations.  My life is exactly where it is right now because of my past and present behaviors and  I take full responsibility for the good and the bad.  I have created everything that has happened in my life by how I have viewed myself and others.  But the most amazing thing that I have learned during this whole process is, I have  always had the power to make radical changes to be better and do better.  I just had to believe and have faith.

This past year was when the pieces started falling into place and I  marvel at the fact that I am 60, a baby boomer  and more  excited about  life than I've ever been in a very long time.  Now I didn't make any new years resolutions, nor did I set any goals. I just make the decision on a daily basis to continue being committed to  the process of   change.  It has not always been easy and there have been so many times that I wanted to give up. But every struggle and stumbling block has been worth it to finally become the person I was intended  to be. To live a my life with purpose  to pursue my passion, and to love… that's success!

Finally, in the words of my good friend, Lynn Rios;

May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills!

May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be those of joy!

May the problems you had, forget your home address!

In simple words …

May 2011 be the best year of your life!!!

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Tagged with: Jack Canfield • Jim Rohn • Les Brown • Napoleon Hill • New Year • Tony Robbins • W. Clement Stone • Zig Ziglar

Filed under: Baby Boomer Life Style • Motivation

Oh Crap, I’m a Baby Boomer!…My God, am I really 60 plus years old? I sat here in front of my computer a couple of weeks ago becoming more and more distraught as the minutes ticked by because something had triggered me and I began to think some very stinky stuff. (Sometimes your thoughts can become very a dangerous thing.) I’m over 60 and I began to look at the condition of my life and the picture was not very pretty. I’m a doggone senior citizen!  Lord help me, I’m old and my life is in the toilet. I held my breath for a minute, unable to breath as my screwed past and my current baby boomer status collided.  A profound and deep sadness began to envelope me like a thick fog on a cold morning rolling in from the San Francisco Bay.

After I exhaled, I just sat here like a zombie, staring at my computer screen for what seemed like forever. The realization of my life and how I had lived it to this point surfaced from the deepest part of my soul and at that moment, I wanted to crawl back into bed, cover my head, and stay there for the rest of my life. I actually thought about typing the question into Google “What happened to Azar’s life?”, but then I got a hold of myself, and thought, “You may be getting old, but you’re not crazy. ” Yet, I couldn’t stop thinking “Lord, how did I get here.  How did I get to be 60 something so quickly, it just seemed like yesterday I was in my 40′s and had felt that I still had time to do something worthwhile with my life, make things right.. What happened?”  I became angry because I didn't want to accept the truth. There had to be somebody or something to blame my quickly aging “this is certainly not what I expected my life to be at this point” situation on.   Isn’t that typical though for those of us who have taken life for granted and who have made the same dumb mistakes over and over and over again.

It’s always someone else’s fault.  And for some unknown reason, we never want focus on the real culprit…ourselves. We always want to first blame God, our families, the jobs that we thought would last until we retired. The men who we let abuse us for years, or did not fulfill our dreams of happily ever after and until death do us part. The negative messages we allowed ourselves to believe.  The economy, the dog, the weather….  Who else was there to blame? Certainly not us!….yeah right.

If you have ever been emotionally where I was a couple of weeks ago, then you have more than likely said the exact same following statements. “I'll get my life together soon, I'll write that letter tomorrow, I'll go back to school next year, I'll start my diet in January..I will, I will, I will”. How many times have you allowed those “I will's” turn into “I didn't”, year after year after year? Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, nor is  our youth.

Oh Sweet Jesus, why did I decide to take this journey?” I began to look back over the years that I had lived on this earth and realized I had so many unfulfilled dreams that drifted away, so many hopes and aspirations that I had let die a slow death. Inspiring and brilliant ideas and projects that I had started, with all the best intentions of completing, but I never did. So many promises I had made to myself, others and God, that were never kept, relationships that I had destroyed or just neglected. So many seeds that had been planted in my life which would have brought forth so much "good fruit" but I had flushed them down the toilet.

My mind at that point had boarded a run away freight train that was headed into a dark tunnel with only one destination. It was slow coming but finally I recognized it.. Fear.  I had been on that ill fated fear trip so many times before and I had always ended up at the same destructive place trying to numb the pain because there is so much stuff  I regret.  My life surfaced before me like a mind movie and fear had gripped my thoughts in a vice and would not let go.

I was afraid because I told myself that I was an old baby boomer (and rapidly getting older by the minute) who had made so many bad and destructive life choices.  In what seemed like a few moments, I had taken on the identify of an old, elderly, over the hill, senior citizen, baby boomer with no hope.  I was living alone, divorced with nobody waiting in the wings. No savings in the bank, (or under the mattress,) still working, living from paycheck to paycheck because I couldn’t afford to retire. Word to the wise, never allow yourself to get on that train because I guarantee you, your traveling companions will be the worst enemy’s of your mind…. Defeat, Depression and Hopelessness

I had to get off of this train of thought.  I quickly stopped dwelling in my past mistakes and all the “shoulda, coulda woulda” thoughts.  I couldn’t change one thing about my life good or bad, but I could change my attitude so I began to thank God again for being alive. I praised Him for my faith in Jesus and all blessings.  But most of all, I thanked Him for His grace, and the willingness to accept things exactly as they without resorting to my old stinkin, destructive behavior.

Well, sadness is gone and I’m feeling just fine. My dreams are intact,  just redefined.  Fear and his buddies have hit the road for the the moment.  I smile because I have joined the ranks of other Baby Boomers around the world born between the years of 1943 and 1964  and if God says the same,  I live to see another tomorrow.  I will  hold on to my faith that tells me I will not leave this world without having done something worthwhile with my life.  I may have been living in the toilet at one point in time but now, I’m just  excited to see to see what comes out of it (smile).  From where I’m standing, Life Looks Good!

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By Azar Colter

Tagged with: Baby Boom Generation • Baby boomer • Positive Affirmations

Filed under: Baby Boomer Life Style