National Association of Baby Boomer Women - NABBW

Salsa – The Perfect Nutrition Choice

Dr. Janet Brill — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:54:09 +0000

Salsa – The Perfect Nutrition Choice

By Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN
NABBW’s Healthy Heart Lifestyle Expert

The Energy of Philanthropy

Margaret May Damen — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:41:00 +0000

The Energy of Philanthropy
By Margaret May Damen, CFP, CLU, ChFC
NABBW’s Philanthropy Expert

Here’s How You Can Afford to Spend 30% More on Organic Food

Diane MacEachern — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:27:28 +0000

Here’s How You Can Afford to Spend 30% More on Organic Food

By Diane MacEachern
NABBW’s Going Green Expert

How I Lost Six Pounds on a Two Week Asian Vacation – Eat Like the Chinese

Jan Cullinane — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:06:57 +0000

How I Lost Six Pounds on a Two Week Asian Vacation – Eat Like the Chinese

By Jan Cullinane
NABBW’s Expert on The New Retirement

Adjusting to Life With Chronic Illness

Mary J. Yerkes — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:49:22 +0000

Adjusting to Life With Chronic Illness

By Mary J. Yerkes
NABBW’s Living with Chronic Illness Expert

Why Can’t You Hear Me?

Dr. Dorree Lynn — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:46:53 +0000

WHY CAN’T YOU HEAR ME?

By Dr. Dorree Lynn, Ph.D.
NABBW’s Expert on Boomer Women Sexuality

Recalling Favorite Fictional Reads of the 60s: Charlotte’s Web, The Boxcar Children — And the Much Less Popular “Maida Series”

Anne Holmes — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:48:39 +0000

Recalling Favorite Fictional Reads of the 60s: Charlotte’s Web, The Boxcar Children — And the Much Less Popular “Maida Series”

By Anne Holmes
NABBW’s Baby Boomer Expert

So You Didn’t Win the Lottery…Now What?

Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. & Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:36:30 +0000

So You Didn’t Win the Lottery…Now What?

By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D.

Now that all the mega-lottery winners have stepped forward, the overwhelming odds are you didn’t win. Americans spent $1.5 billion in their quest to win the jackpot, fantasizing about how they would happily spend the $656 million to be paid out to the winner.

As it happened, there were three winning tickets so the final after-tax take home for each will be about $100 million. Still, nothing to sneeze at.

Are you wondering how winners have fared in the past? In many cases, not so well. Over 1/3 were in serious financial trouble within five years, some facing bankruptcy. Others saw their health deteriorate or addictions spiral out of control.

Relationships often turned sour, with friends or family taking advantage of them. And after an initial spurt in elation, most were not any happier than they were before winning.

So now that you don’t have to spend time counting your fortune or interviewing and hiring a wealth adviser, here are six approaches to think about as you seek the happiness you thought a winning number would bring:

Focus on gratitude. Several times a week, count your blessings and write about three specific experiences for which you were thankful that day. Linger over these memories and choose not to take them for granted. Express your gratitude to those who have made a positive difference in your life – you’ll feel happier and so will they.

Savor pleasurable events and emotions. First immerse yourself in these activities, being mindful so that your experience is rich and deep. Then set aside time later to re-live the event and enjoy your feelings all over again. You’ll find that your body becomes more relaxed, your thoughts more focused and your mood more upbeat.

Engage in the world around you. When you’re absorbed in a challenging activity that you love and are skillful at, you’ll feel more alive and authentic. Your energized focus and immersion in the task at hand create flow. This peak experience is accompanied by deep feelings of fulfillment and happiness.

Build and nurture personal relationships. Studies continue to show that positive relationships provide a buffer for stress and are correlated with greater happiness, wellbeing, optimism, improved health, even a longer lifespan. And they work to create an upward spiral – the happier we are, the more we attract additional positive relationships.

Build and nurture personal relationships. Studies continue to show that positive relationships provide a buffer for stress and are correlated with greater happiness, wellbeing, optimism, improved health, even a longer lifespan. And they work to create an upward spiral – the happier we are, the more we attract additional positive relationships.

Set goals for yourself and work to achieve them. Striving for and accomplishing a goal increases self-esteem and a sense mastery and efficacy. When you overcome challenges along the way, it creates even deeper wellbeing and feelings of control. And the optimism that you have about future meaningful successes can generate authentic happiness.

Is happiness really as simple as a warm puppy? Or as materialistic as a winning lottery ticket? There have been scores of philosophers and theologians over the years attempting to define it and to identify its components. As Abraham Lincoln put it: Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

How happy will you decide to be?

Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. are family relationship experts with a 4-step model for change. Whether you’re coping with stress, acting out teens, aging parents, boomerang kids or difficult daughters-in-law, we have solutions. Visit our website, http://www.HerMentorCenter.com to discover practical tips for dealing with parents growing older & children growing up and to learn about our ebook, “Taking Control of Stress in a Financial Storm.” Log on to our blog, http://www.NourishingRelationships.blogspot.com and sign up for our free newsletter, Stepping Stones, and complimentary ebook, “Courage and Lessons Learned.”

I’m Pro-Aging

Leigh Anne Jashaway-Bryant — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:11:49 +0000

I’m Pro-Aging

By Leigh Anne Jasheway

NABBW’s Boomer Humor Expert

The DASH DIET Action Plan: Proven to Boost Weight Loss and Improve Health

Anne Holmes — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:31:33 +0000

The DASH DIET Action Plan: Proven to Boost Weight Loss and Improve Health

Author: Marla Heller, MS, RD
Website: http://dashdiet.org/newdashdietbook.asp
Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW

The DASH Diet Action Plan is a user-friendly teaching guide to the DASH diet. Which is a good thing, because in late 2011, an expert panel from US News & World Report panel chose the DASH diet as the healthiest diet. Earlier it was reported that the same panel selected the DASH diet was the best diet in the US?

Why did they choose DASH versus all the other plans? Because it has been proven in many, many research studies to improve health, while helping people lose weight. It helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol; it has been shown to be associated with lower risk of certain types of cancer, heart disease, stroke, heart failure, kidney stones, diabetes, and osteoporosis. It is good for the whole family.

But a common challenge to following the DASH DIET, according to people who have adopted it, is in finding ways to incorporate the proper number of fruits and veggies. This book makes it simple to understand and put into practice.

Clearly author Heller’s goal in writing the book is to make it easy to lose weight with the DASH diet, and she has not only included recipes and meal plans, but has provided realistic ways to add exercise.

Without this sort of help, Heller says, many people find the DASH diet to be hard to implement and sustain in a hectic lifestyle.

The DASH Diet Action Plan book is designed to help you with more than just “what” is involved with the DASH diet, it also shows you “how.”

Specifically:

How to follow the DASH diet in restaurants
How to lose weight
How to make over your kitchen to make it easy to follow your plan
How to fit in exercise
How to reduce salt intake
How to add vegetables even if you “hate” vegetables

Better yet, the book helps you make your own personal plan with specific steps you will take to fit the DASH diet into your daily routine.

NOTE: The version of this book that I read is called The DASH DIET Action Plan: Proven to Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Without Medication, but the book being sold on Amazon seems to have the title listed above. From what I can discern, they are the same book.