I’m writing this really as a reminder to myself. These are things I’ve come to learn, in this year of trying to keep this weight off me. I share them with our readers, in case it helps!
Ten Things to Help Me Keep Weight Off (or Lessons Learned the Hard Way):
1)Exercise every day, if only for 20-30 minutes.
2)Wear a rubber band on your wrist and snap it every time you feel like eating something you shouldn’t. If it actually hurts, it is having a physical effect on your brain—and changing the channel!
3)Try to eat dinner early—and brush your teeth right after eating.
4)Chew sugarless gum any time you get a hunger craving.
Do some Yoga!
5)When you are feeling sorry for yourself and think you “deserve” that chocolate sundae or that bag of Cheetos, pamper yourself some other way. Take a nice, hot bath. Read a book. Listen to soothing music. Go to a movie (but skip the popcorn). (more…)
I spent the last two weeks at home with a terrible case of bronchitis. Too sick and contagious to work, I vegged out on the couch and spent my time watching daytime T.V. Now that’s an experience, especially for us baby boomers.
Really!
I watched the last episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show, lots of Dr. Oz (both shows are great for women over 50); morning talk shows; afternoon talk shows; The Lifetime Channel; The Classic Movie Channel; and of course all the commercials – and there are many. All this shows led me to the discovery that our country is obsessed with challenges. Why? I ask. Isn’t living life itself challenging enough? Why do we have to break it down? Give it a name? The media is so good at seducing us with “challenges” and the products we need to overcome them. Here are some of the tempting challenges even I contemplated while lying on the couch.
The weight loss challenge (by far the most numerous) I was particularly drawn to the Dr. Oz challenge to reboot your body in just two weeks! He also has the ultimate anti-ageing challenge, and the sleep challenge, too.
I have found, after more than a year of being on my weight management program, that, amazingly enough, there really is a direct connection between exercise and keeping my weight off. Who would have thunk it? I have fought this connection for years because I basically hate exercise. I get bored by walking or running or stepping on an exercise machine. I hate getting up early in the morning to go to a class. So, I have never been any good at finding exercise I can do on a regular basis–until now. I love deep water aerobics! And I highly recommend it for women over 50!
Deep water aerobics is basically water aerobics in the deep end of the pool, with or without a flotation device around your waist. (I usually wear one because I’m phobic about drowning, but most people in my class don’t.) There is something about deep water aerobics that makes it fun and soothing—at the same time that it works your muscles. Maybe it’s because when you get tired, you can always lie back in the water and rest for a minute. Or maybe it’s because you feel so weightless at the same time that you are trying to burn off weight. Or maybe it’s because it’s one of the few kinds of exercise that doesn’t end up hurting my back when I get carried away with it. My friend, Nancy, says it’s the only kind of exercise she can do that doesn’t end up hurting her knee—and she has had knee surgery! And it’s not just for old codgers. Our class is a mix of people of all ages. (more…)
There was an article in the Huffington Post recently by Barbara Hannah Grufferman called Is Life After 50 Different in Israel? Aging Gracefully Around the World. It’s about women over 50 in Israel–especially their excellent eating habits. She’s also the author of The Best of Everything After 50. We found Ms. Grufferman’s post very interesting and just ordered her book and will review it soon. Check it out!
When Charlie Rose interviews someone, I watch and listen. I guess that makes me a Charlie Rose groupie (I rely on Tivo to get my fill). So, when he interviews Joan Rivers about the documentary, “A Piece of Work,” I go see it. The film, by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, spans the 40 year career of Ms. Rivers. At 77 (she’s actually 75 in the film), we see a tough broad who is not afraid to bare all. In fact, she thrives on it, needs it, like an addict.
Watch this great trailer:
I’m not exactly sure when I stopped liking Joan Rivers, but I’m guessing it was back in the late 80s with everyone else. Falling from grace due to a series of professional and personal blows such as being blacklisted by Johnny Carson/NBC, and the 1987 suicide of her husband/manager, she struggled to find work in her beloved show biz.
The Young Joan Rivers
Circumstances and age seemed to have turned Ms. Rivers into a comic whose jokes seemed more like cruel jabs aimed to hurt the likes of Liz Taylor and her battle with weight. I find it very ironic for Joan to be hassling Liz when she was perpetually under the knife of her plastic surgeon re-figuring her face, and who knows what else. I know it’s none of my business how many face lifts this Grande Dame of comedy endures but frankly, I think her face lifts turned me off when she started to look like a caricature of herself standing in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.
Now, here’s the big BUT – after seeing this film, and her journey back to glitz and glamour, I actually like Joan Rivers again! She’s one smart woman who climbed her way back to legendary status selling her jewelry on QVC, and her red carpet attacks (with her daughter) on celebrity T.V. And don’t forget her latest gig on Donald Trump’s reality show “The Celebrity Apprentice.” No, I didn’t watch it but I was not surprised to learn that Ms. Rivers won the competition, which by the way, meant she had to beat out her own daughter, also on the show. Needless to say, the mother and daughter relationship is strained. Nothing new here abut mothers and daughters.
The many faces of the Queen of Comedy
In spite of her obsession to be a star and stay on top of her game, I couldn’t help but admire Joan Rivers. Like I said before, she is one tough broad, and she’s not afraid to fight tooth and nail to keep her dream alive. Aging gracefully? Not her. Aging any way she can is more like it.
