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How to Live Longer and Better (Part 2)

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Continued from Part 1 of How to Live Longer and Better…

Quote About Laughter

Laughter Really IS the Best Medicine

One of my favorite sayings, and one that I suppose would be my third motto (in addition to Give me coffee and Give me chocolate) is “Live, Love, and Laugh.” To me, these three words just say it all. I just don’t see any way to have one of them without the other two, and if you could – why would you want to?

Laughter is one of those things that makes you feel good from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. When you’re in the middle of a great laugh, nothing else matters in the world. That’s what makes it such a mentally healthy thing to do. It’s the best way to keep worries and anxieties at arm’s length. It’s puzzling to me, but some people just don’t seem to know how to laugh and have fun with life. They’re far too serious and far too critical. I’d get ticked at them, but I kind of feel sorry for them.

Each day, look for things to laugh about. Turn on an Andy Griffith, Sanford and Son, or I Love Lucy rerun. Pop in a Friends dvd. Look for Dane Cook or Bill Cosby on YouTube. Loosen up and Laugh! Not only will your family, friends and co-workers enjoy your company more – you’ll feel better, live longer, and be oh so much happier.

Hang Out With Your Elders

In Part 1, we talked about hanging out with young people. (I guarantee, they’ll keep you young at heart and in mind.) Now, it’s time for the flip side. We should do ourselves a world of good by enjoying the company of older people as well. They’re precious, too! They have so much wisdom and wit to share with us, if we just slow down and take the time to allow them to do so. We think we have all the answers, don’t we? Heck, we don’t even know all of the questions!

If you have older family members or friends, ask their advice and seek out their knowledge. They’ve been around longer, seen more, and experienced more. Chances are they have a lot they could teach us and would feel overjoyed to do just that.

Don’t Worry, Be Proactive

It would be easy to say, “Don’t ever worry,” but that’s pretty close to nonesense. Sometimes we’re going to worry! If it’s a really, really stormy evening and one of my daughters was due home over an hour ago but is nowhere in sight, I’m not going to be doing cartwheels in the front yard. Worry will have crept into my heart and onto my face – I don’t have any problem admitting that. The key is, when we feel a good old case of worry (or the frets) coming on – we need to take action. In the scenario above, the unhealthy thing to do would be to sit and stare at the driveway. The healthier approach would be to call the daughter in question and find out where she is and if she needs to pull over. This is also where I’d tell her that her dad could come get her (after all, he’d have his shoes on and keys in his hand at this point).

We need to address that which worries us face to face – you know, see what it has to say for itself. Many times, we’ll find that its bark is worse than its bite. Other times, we’ll find that some sort of action is called for on our end. Then we know what we have to do… act!

Drink More Water

Okay, I have a problem with this one. Water? Are you kidding me? Not when there’s Diet Dr. Pepper, tea, and (what’s that other beverage called??) coffee! My husband forwarded me an article the other day that gave a great idea, though. It said that if you didn’t care for water (guilty), you should sweeten it with Stevia, a natural sweetener, and add some frozen blueberries or raspberries. I thought that was a delicious idea and I honestly plan to try it.

Drink More Tea

Antioxidants, antioxidants, antioxidants. If you aren’t a big tea drinker, become one! Experiment with green tea, white tea, black tea, Rooibos tea. The benefits of drinking tea are simply far too reaching for me to list all in one post, so to read more, visit Tea USA. The page I’ve linked you to goes right to an article about the health benefits of tea.

 

How to Live Longer and Better (Part 1)

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Oprah Winfrey Quote about Life

There are things we can start doing today and things we can’t stop doing tomorrow that’ll not only help us live better, they’ll help us live longer? If you love life even half as much as I do, you’ll lean a little closer and read what the experts have discovered for us.

Be Good at What You Do

Did you know that Oscar winners live an average of 3.9 years longer than other actors? Blessed by success! Succeeding at what you do brings about a certain level of satisfaction and confidence. Apparently these feelings lead to a better life as well as a longer life. David Gems, Ph.D, professor of biology at University College London puts it this way, “Working in such a way that you get little reward in proportion to what you put in is one of the biggest causes of occupational stress. If you can get rid of that stress, you’ll live longer.”

Take Away: Find a job that is rewarding and satisfying to you, then do it as well as you possibly can.

Rise and Shine, Sleepyhead!

A UCLA study found that People who slept 8 hours or longer died 12 percent younger than those who averaged between 5 and 7 hours of sleep each night. However, less than 4 hours is considered dangerous and extremely unwise.

I can certainly attest to how too much sleep makes you feel – groggy and lethargic. Ironically, sleeping too much almost makes you feel worse than when you don’t get enough sleep. The healthiest approach to sleep is to try to set a routine bedtime and stick to it. One person’s “routine” won’t be the same as the next person’s, of course. My uncle goes to be around 10:00 each night and wakes up before 6:00.

I can’t even imagine being in bed by 11:00! By the same token, I’m sure he can’t imagine being awake after 11:00. Work schedules as well as personal preferences play a big role in when people want to schedule their sleep.

Take Away: The bottom line is this, aim for between 5 and 7 hours each night. If you tend to sleep longer, try getting up 30 minutes earlier. If necessary, after your body adjusts to that, you can aim for 15 to 30 minutes earlier. If you average less than 4 hours of sleep each night, try to cut back on the caffeine, because you must have it running through your veins! (Not that I’m not a little jealous of that accomplishment.)

Get That Body Moving

Researchers have been singing the same song (and trying to get us to dance to it) for two forevers. People who exercise at least 5 days a week live longer, have fewer illnesses, feel better, and have more confidence. Buy a pedometer, take up yoga, walk, jog, buy a treadmill (want, want, want), park further from the door, etc. MOVE IT!

Take Away: Our hearts love it when we move. Exercise makes them feel good to be alive. And, face it, if our hearts feel good, they’ll treat us ever so much better. Start keeping an Activity Journal – write down, each day, what you do and how long you keep at it. Five days this week, for a personal example, two of my daughters and I walked for 30 minutes at the mall. I seem to have more energy than I normally did AND I’ve actually lost 2 pounds! The only other difference I made was to drink lower calorie drinks at Starbucks. Fortunately they’ve come up with quite a few wonderful new low-calorie drinks.

Hang Out With Young People Whenever Possible

With 3 daughters who happen to have great boyfriends, this is as easy as apple pie for me. Our home is almost always filled with laughter, squeals, Vin Diesel, Guitar Hero, Wii, Mario, etc. Last night, even, two of the boys and my husband were all on different computers playing against one another in a game of some sort. With all the screams of “You got me!” and “Yesss!”- I assume they were after one another in some fashion. All I know is there was a lot of laughter going on, and that’s always a beautiful thing.

One of my biggest pet peeves – oh let’s just call it what it is – one of the things I HATE the most in the world, is when people look down, judge, avoid, or chastise young people. Most of them would be a world better off if they hung out with them more! Think about it, everyone’s a winner – the older, more experienced people are able to share their knowledge and experience with the younger ones while the younger ones share their wide-eyed excitement and eagerness.

When all of that’s brought together, how can anyone lose?

A young person’s energy is contagious – and it’s something we should all want to catch. The next time you see a young person in the mall or at the theater, don’t snarl or act like they’re dirty (because if I see you doing it, I may throw a drink on your feet.) Smile at them! With all of the surly adults in the world, I guarantee you’ll catch them off guard – and make your generation look so much cooler.

Take Away: Don’t let your mind, your body, your spirit, or your psyche get old! Stay up on the latest phrases, movies, games, books, etc. If someone calls you a fuddy duddy, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables

There’s a reason your mom always told you to eat them, you know. We mothers know what’s best – always. Research backs us up: Eating at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day adds 3 years to your life! A study at Cambridge University ranked eating fruits and veggies right up there with exercising and quitting smoking.

Take Away: Drink fruit or vegetable juice at breakfast (Have you had a V8 lately? Delicious!). For lunch, have either a glorious Subway sandwich and/or salad with a side of apple wedges or serve up a healthy bowl of vegetable soup. For supper, serve a couple of your favorite vegetables with your meal. Less meat leaves room for even more vegetables and fruit. When it comes to snacks, keep apples, bananas, grapes, etc on hand. And I’m dead serious about the V8 juice – they come in cans now, too, so they’re as easy to grab as they are yummy to drink. One can of V8 juice actually counts as two servings of vegetables and it only has 70 calories (watch out for the sodium though).

Go Nuts and Be Fishy

A California study found that eating a handful of nuts each day added as much as 2.7 years to our lives. The omega-3 found in nuts and fish keep your brain sharp, skin soft, and mood balanced – to say nothing of the wonderful affect they have on your heart.

Take Away: Throw nuts on top of the salads you’ll be enjoying more frequently. Serve fish several times a week. I’ve been trying different varieties of fish with my beloved George Foreman Grill and I haven’t been disappointed yet.

Know Your Blood Pressure Numbers

If you’re flirting with high blood pressure, take necessary actions immediately to bring it under control. Fortunately, the steps above will help bring these numbers within reason. If you’re overweight, start working on bringing those numbers down, as well.

Take Away: Take a good, honest look at your lifestyle and diet. Whatever shape you’re in now, your lifestyle and diet are supporting.

Vow right now to start taking better care of yourself. Take as good care of YOU as you do your spouse, children, and pets! It’s not selfish to take care of yourself – it’s selfish not to.

Also See: Part 2 of How to Live Longer and Better

Chase Colds Away With Green Tea

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Cup of Green Tea
My beloved green tea has come through again. Like a champ. A particularly nasty cold has been making the rounds and knocking people off of their feet for about a week and a half. I only got a hint of it, myself, and chased it off with mega doses of green tea.

As soon as I felt it coming on, I drank green tea as though I’d never have the opportunity to do so again. I literally felt better within hours. The congestion cleared, the coughing eased, and the general feeling of “ugh” lifted.

I convinced my daughter, Emily, that Green Tea was friend rather than foe and she also chased the bug away.

Now, like her mother, Em is a green tea convert. She’s actually on her way to drinking it more than I do – which is something I never thought possible.

If you absolutely, positively can’t stand the taste of green tea (rookie!), try the following:

  • Combine one bag of green tea and one bag of Tazo Passion tea in your mug.  The Passion tea, which is extra delicious wins out in the battle of taste supremacy.  It’s all you’ll taste.
  • When brewing water for your green tea, it’ll taste much better if you turn the kettle off before the water actually boils.  I don’t know why it makes a difference, but it surely does.
  • Lemon, lemon, lemon, lemon.
  • Some people swear by floating a slice of orange in their green tea – hot or cold.
  • Sweeten your green tea with honey – enough honey can quiet the nerves of even the most fearful.
  • If you aren’t a fan of hot green tea – try it on ice. I actually had to “work my way up” to loving hot green tea.  I still much prefer it iced, but with a little honey now I love it hot, too. When it comes to hot green tea, honey is the deal maker.
  • Celestial Seasonings makes a FANTASTIC Candy Cane Lane Green Tea (image above). It’s a Holiday Edition, unfortunately, so you’d better stock up now. All of their holiday teas are superb and each are very worthy of stockpiling.

Also See: Check out my tea blog, Crazy Tea Chick for tea reviews, gift ideas for tea lovers, benefits of tea (including green tea), and more.

Heart Health: Five Fast Facts That’ll Grab Your Attention

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Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli and Vanilla Almond Milk

Whether you’re 19 yrs old, 79 yrs old, or 29 like me (glances over shoulder for lightning bolt), it would be foolish not to start paying more attention to your heart and its well-being.  Today works for me, how about you?!

Fast Facts about Heart Health:

  1. Heart disease is the number 1 killer of American women. Number 1.
  2. Secondhand smoke kills.  While in a smoke-filled room, the blood vessels of a nonsmoker are as damaged as those of a person who smokes 2 packs a day.
  3. Know the signs of a heart attack:  chest discomfort, shortness of breath, pressure in the upper abdomen, unusual fatigue, pressure in the neck, jaw and arm, sweating, light-headedness, and fainting.
  4. A spokeswoman for the American Heart Association warns that a person might actually experience signs of an impending heart attack as much as 6 weeks beforehand.  She warns anyone experiencing less intense versions of the symptoms above to see the doctor without hesitation.
  5. If you have heart disease – or are at risk – the American Heart Association recommends that you do the following every day:
  • Exercise – it reduces heart attacks risk by 25 – 30 percent.
  • Eat oatmeal
  • Add an ounce of flaxseed to your cereal
  • Take baby aspirin
  • Use your head when you choose your bread.  White bread (and pasta, for that matter) make insulin levels spike.  This can eventually damage the blood vessels leading to your heart.  Whole grains are metabolized more slowly – no spiking, making them a much healthier choice.

Find a wealth of heart healthy advice and information on The American Heart Association.