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Travel – From Scrumptious to Scary, Good to Know Eating Tips

September 4, 2011 in Boomers, Health, Travel

Doris Gallan

There is no culture in the world that isn’t proud of its cuisine. And so, when traveling, food becomes far more than just necessary sustenance. Shopping for, preparing and eating the local delicacies become an adventure, an opportunity to socialize, a way to learn more about people as well as a form of entertainment.Almost anywhere you go you will be faced with myriad choices of food in markets, grocery stores, restaurants and people’s homes. The challenge is in making the right choices: an especially challenging task if you don’t know the language or the key ingredients in the proffered dishes.

Unfortunately, food also represents a danger to your budget. If you’re not careful, you can easily blow a full day’s budget on one meal although you may decide the lobster Newburg was worth it. Here are some tips to eating well while keeping a healthy bank account: Read the rest of this entry →

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by Dena Kouremetis

So what’s the big deal about yoga?

August 10, 2011 in Boomers, Health

Dena Kouremetis

I’ve been asking that question for a while. The idea of merely holding poses and stretching limbs did not constitute a form of exercise in my addle-brained estimation. But my yoga-loving daughter and my fitness guru friend have been barking at me of late to try it as something to do a few times a week as an adjunct to strength training and cardio bursts.

I’ve always thought myself to be more flexible than many in my age group, but recently I’ve noticed that I’m not great at getting up off the floor without using both hands. Ugh! In my mind, a bird’s eye view of me suddenly has me looking like an 80-year old as I rise from the depths with all limbs engaged. And soon the line from the movie Network (“I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”) springs into my consciousness. I had promised my daughter. I had boldly told my fitness friend I would do it. I had no choice.

So I look online to see if my health club offers yoga classes and sure enough, the little icon announcing their existence on nearly a daily basis appears on the charted web page in front of me. I would go the next day.

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by Bonnie Joffe

When is a Senior in Crisis?

August 4, 2011 in Boomers, Health, Our Lives

Bonnie Joffe

What exactly is a Senior in Crisis?

“Crisis”- An onset of an emotional disturbance or situational distress involving a sudden breakdown of an individual’s ability to cope.”

So now the question you may be asking yourself, “how will I know if my mother, father, grandparent or aging loved one is in crisis”?

GOOD QUESTION!

This subject is so complex that it would be impossible to convey the message in 500 words or less.

My goal is to create awareness about a subject that is so profound and far reaching that it cannot be ignored or shoved under the proverbial rug.Nancy Carman, a Geriatric Care Manager with Senior Wise Care Management in South Jersey, states “the challenges of making sure that the elderly are cared for is a struggle that most adult children face. This is not child care. The elderly are fully developed individuals who have feelings and rights. It takes a village to keep the elderly safe and secure while enjoying a good quality of life.”

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by Dena Kouremetis

Self-sabotage: a thief in the night…

July 12, 2011 in Health

Dena Kouremetis

I don’t want a lot. My weight loss goals are not even that lofty.

Now rapidly approaching my sixth decade (galloping, actually), I realize that becoming fashionably slender might look great on me from the neck down, but will probably add wrinkles to which so far the mirror gods have been kinder than most. This means that I am brutally reasonable about just how much smaller I’d like to become. It shouldn’t be a stretch, so to speak….

As I get older, however, I seem to be able to find more and more nefarious ways to sabotage my own fitness goals. It’s like that Mae West line, “I generally avoid temptation until I can’t resist it.” Truth be told, I am not a binger or a chocolate and ice cream queen. I eat healthy foods about 95 percent of the time. Even though I exercise regularly and my clothes fit better when I do, the number on the scale does not decrease significantly and the dress size I am aiming for has not yet become a reality. It’s the little things that keep me here.

Starbucks? Sure. But when no one is looking, why not add the little packet of brown sugar to the healthy oatmeal I just purchased at the drive-through window? After all, I wouldn’t want to waste it. People are starving in the world. A healthy salad? Sounds great. Romaine lettuce, a sliced hardboiled egg and some chicken for protein. But lurking in the depths of my fridge is leftover Caesar salad dressing my firefighter husband (who prepares incredibly tasty food for his comrades-in-arms at the firehouse) prepared for dinner guests last week. That imported shredded parmesan was so expensive — wouldn’t want to waste it…

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