Well Past 50: The Weblog of Boomerful.com

What Lies Underneath

Making sure your holiday outfits look good on the outside depends on what is going on "underneath." As we get older, a good fashion foundation is more important than ever. We’re not running around with taut little bodies anymore, so if you don’t have time to work for it, then you need to bring in the reinforcements.

You CAN camouflage those problem areas (especially if you have started early on that holiday weight gain cycle), AND be comfortable. One of my favorite sites on the Web is BareNeccesities.com which has every type of body-sculpting, shape-shifting, form-morphing undergarment on the planet, so it doesn’t matter if you are wearing a neat cami with a velvet jacket or a full-length satin evening gown, you will have the utmost confidence at finding something on this site to find the correct support for your style:

Capri-length body shapers are a hot item, and designer Nancy Ganz makes several styles with medium and firm control like the Belly Band Satin Capri with Tummy Control (pictured right) that will keep you contained whether you are wearing jeans or a dressy pair of velvet pants. The fabric content is 80% nylon and 20% Elastane, with the band at 70% polyester and 30% rubber is proof that you can look good in comfort.
The Miraclesuit (pictured left) – can you look 10 lbs lighter in 10 seconds? It provides triple action control in the tummy, hip and thigh area, and the fabric content is 77% nylon and 23% spandex, which makes it tight yet livable, for at least an evening. AND it's comfortable!

Let's not forget the upper half. Because breasts come in all shapes and sizes, you need to take the extra time to find the right fit. This is hard to do through a Web site, and my recommendation is to get yourself professionally fitted for the best bra results. There are plenty of styles available today so take advantage of finding a bra that'll make "the girls" look their best no matter what your size or outfit. For a few tips, read my blog entry “Get the Bra Rolling: Expert Bra Tips by Catherine Schuller of Curvestyle.”

Here's to looking good for the holidays!

The Red Wine Wagon

It's no secret that I consider red wine to be an essential part of my health regimen, but what makes me feel even better is that I have scientific research to back my claim.

A recent article in the Washington Post gives an in depth view of the study of resveratrol, given in huge quantities to the mice, may open up a whole new field of drugs to prevent diabetes and reduce obesity, which in and of itself is likely to lower the incidences of stroke and heart attacks, at the very least, and prolong life. This ingredient in red wine has also been shown to dramatically increase endurance and longevity in the mice who took it compared to the ones who didn't. In fact, they resembled "trained athletes" without the training, with lowered heart rate and similar muscle fibers.

So go ahead - pour that second glass of red wine!

Choose Cashews! Or, how to Eat Your Way Through the Holidays and Still Be Healthy (Kind of…)

This time of year just stinks when it comes to my ongoing struggle with will power.  It’s never an easy battle but – in addition to the daily treats brought into the office by well meaning co-workers (sisters of Satan carrying out the devil’s work on my thighs), finally “doing” lunch with all the folks that I actually enjoy seeing, but somehow managed to miss the entire year, and feasting on quarts of buttered popcorn (my favorite ‘meal’ but only when heavily slathered with real butter) while watching every sappy holiday movie that cable bestows – there are the parties. 

It’s not that I’m overly popular – I’ve just been around a long time- so maybe people feel obligated to keep inviting me. And, all of these people lay out the most fabulous spreads of food ever seen. And, I don’t think any of it comes from Sam’s!   They actually prepare – from scratch – incredibly scrumptious and very eye appealing food for these affairs – and there’s lots of it and it’s all different. 

Fighting off guilt  (guilt was winning) I decided to go Online and see what I could find about eating “bad” stuff that might actually be good for me and would be served at a party.  There at www.realage.com I found some wonderful news.  Cashews!! Cashews - they tell us through proven research (I’m not going to doubt such a wonderful find) - are good for us.  It’s a favorite nut of mine and I can now stand next the bowl at the end of the bar and not feel at all guilty about picking the cashews out of the mixed nuts. I think there is a modicum of moderation involved but they’re good for my heart!

Cashews, we’re now told, improve something called baroreflex sensitivity – which means when blood pressure rises, cashews tell our hearts to calm down – as well as providing other cardio benefits.  So choose cashews over the mini-cream puffs, mini-quiche and wheels of Brie.  Of course, you could pick the carrots and pepper slices but - come on – it’s the holidays!

Dr. Perricone's Promises

Has anyone out there actually tried Dr. Perricone’s products or diet? I bought his first book and tried eating nothing but salmon and cantaloupe, washed down with 12 oz. of spring water, plus an additional 6 glasses of water, for three days to “restore the suppleness, radiance and youthful glow” to my skin.  Okay, I actually tried it for 2-1/3 days, at which time I had to move my desk closer to the restroom and remove the fish tank from the office.  I was beginning to feel like there was an actual live salmon swimming inside my stomach, and the office goldfish was adding to the wooziness it was causing.  It was hard to tell if any suppleness had been restored, as my face was firmly set in a starvation grimace.

Having said that, I am intrigued by the regular newsletter I receive from Dr. Perricone. His promise to jumpstart my cellular rejuvenation and give me a robust sex life by reading his latest book is provocative. And his vast array of products that not only improve the skin’s luminosity, but curb excess sebum production, make my cells quiver with anticipation. 

However, at $240 for the Neuropeptide Facial Contour Cream, I want to be darned sure my suppleness, luminosity and sebum production are going to improve dramatically before I write the check.  I need testimonials that offer positive proof that neuropeptides will infallibly reverse the aging process and make my face return to its 23 year old radiance for $240.

Do they work? Has anyone read the book, actually stuck with the diet, slathered Neuropeptides on her face, or taken Dr. Perricone’s (also-pricey) supplements that include a Polysaccharide Peptide Blend said to increase the energy in our cells (my cells are quivering again)?  The names alone weaken my resolve and make me want to place an order for everything he sells.  Is there a danger that if I read the book, go on the diet, apply the ointments and take the supplements all at the same time my cells will rejuvenate too fast? 

The man has sold a bizillion books, so there must be someone out there who has experimented with Neuropeptides or Polysaccharides or sebum production. Tell me – do I spend the $240, move my desk back near the restroom, start popping Polysaccharides or all of the above?

I'm Wearing My Mother's Hands

When I was roughly 19 – or I might have been 29 –I don’t remember the details because the incident was not important to me, until now.  Anyway, my mother and I were washing dishes together when she stopped, examined her hands and said sadly, “I used to have beautiful hands.  Everyone would say, ‘what pretty hands you have’.  Look at them now. There’s no point in doing my nails – I don’t want anyone looking at my hands anymore.”

“Mm-hm,” I responded without looking at her hands.  My mother’s laments over the loss of her beautiful hands, her luxurious hair, and her adorable, trim figure had all become commonplace. Not that I doubted she had been a real knock out, but come on!  When you’re old, you’re old. Get over it.

Somewhere near my 45th birthday I was driving to work when I looked down at my hands on the steering wheel and nearly had to pull over to take in what I saw. I was wearing my mother’s hands.  There they were with age spots, bulging veins and crepey skin – exactly like the hands my mother had lamented. I had been overcome with guilt the first time my daughter spewed venomous diatribes at me and I realized that I, too, had once been a hateful daughter.  Now I was filled with the same guilt over my lack of compassion for my mother’s sadness as she lost the attributes she had once treasured. 

I had already dealt with baggy knees, and the chicken skin that replaced the smooth, taut skin on my neck. But this was far worse. My neck could be covered up with turtlenecks or tightened with surgery. My knees were rarely noticeable anymore – my mini-skirt days were definitely behind me, and I almost always wore pants. But my hands!  My once beautiful hands that I had adorned with rings to draw attention to them. I had rings for nearly every finger and I had loved the look - when I had beautiful hands.

Honestly, there’s nothing you can do about your hands. You can slather them with the most expensive lotions and the crepe-iness still exists. You can put skin whiteners on the brown spots, but they don’t really disappear. And those veins! If there was a surgical procedure to remove unsightly veins from the hands, I’m sure every woman over 50 would gladly give up having blood run to her fingertips.

And yet, when I think of my mother’s hands I don’t remember them as unsightly at all. I remember them stroking the hair out of my face to keep it from being soaked by my tears when my first boyfriend dumped me. I remember them lifting freshly baked cookies off the cookie sheet so I could eat one even though the melted chocolate chips were still hot enough to burn my tongue. I remember them turning the pages of books she read to me and then to my children. And I remember them smoothing my grandmother’s dress as she lay in her coffin, her aged hands crossed over her heart.  There is nothing ugly to remember about my mother’s hands. Every touch with those hands was filled with love – and beauty.

I can’t stop wishing that my rear-end would cease its rapid descent down the backs of my thighs, or that my waist would miraculously appear again. But when I look at my hands, with their striking similarities to my mother’s, I love the lines and spots and crooked fingers. And I hope that every time I touch my children, or bake something special for my family, or reach out to comfort a friend, that I truly am wearing my mother’s hands.

Value Every Moment

I don’t like to focus too much attention on health problems. I’ve always had the philosophy that if you don’t think about them they won’t exist. That philosophy worked pretty well for me until I turned 50. With each day after my 50th birthday it became harder and harder to make myself believe that my expanding knuckles were still delicate and balanced with the rest of my hand. The pain didn’t want to go along with my philosophy either. Still, I chose the fantasy route I had enjoyed for so many years, popping Ibuprofen when the pain became unbearable, and stuffing my hands in my pockets during conversations that had once required a great deal of gesturing.

There have been a few other signs that the body is wearing out. My eyes have developed a number of afflictions too, including a cyst the size of a golf ball right on my eyeball (you do remember, I am prone to exaggeration?), reoccurring inflammation, and constant watering. Still, the fantasy continued: ‘My eyes are fine.  I must remember to stock up on purse size tissue packets.’

My body may be wearing out, but my serious gift of avoiding reality has kept my immune system in a state of such confusion that it keeps fighting like a whirling dervish trying to free itself of my massive denial.  Unfortunately denial can only survive until it is challenged. 

My denial was seriously challenged a few weeks ago when, for no apparent reason, my heart began to race, I couldn’t get my breath, my hands went completely numb and my skin turned ashen. My assumption that I must be dying was reinforced by my husband’s comment that he had never seen anyone that color unless they were dead. This condition actually needed to be dealt with.

Fortunately my doctor knew immediately that I had suffered from supraventicular tachycardia, or abnormal heart rhythm. Although the condition is generally a non-issue, in rare cases it can cause sudden death. That last bit of information sent my husband to the internet to track down a defibrillator. “Hey, they have one on Ebay for $300 less than the one on the medical supply site,” he announced, giddy with accomplishment. 

Our eyes met, and he froze in the chill of my icy stare. “You would buy my life-saving device at a discount on ebay, where it’s probably being sold because it malfunctioned when the first owner used it on his wife when she was in the middle of an attack of SVT?  Of course he doesn’t need it any longer.”  The purchase of the defibrillator was put on hold awaiting further information from the doctor.

But, for approximately the 12th time in a week I was struck by the transience of our lives and the need to value every moment, not to mention the miserliness of my adoring husband.  No, I don’t think I’m going to keel over from SVT in the near future. But it could happen. So I think it’s imperative that I stop hording my treasured Martinelli wines and start drinking them. I’m buying a hot tub to sit in while I sip my Martinelli 2003 Giuseppe and Luisa Zinfandel. I’m going to join my daughter in a makeover at the MAC counter (she always appears to be having so much fun), and I’m wearing my little short sweatshirt dress with leggings and boots because it makes me feel good and I don’t care what the fashionistas say. They don’t have SVT. I do.

Brain Food: Tips to Preserve Your Mental Power

I enjoy following USA Weekend's weekly Eat Smart tips by Jean Carper. Here are 5 brain food tips for baby boomers that will help reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and preserve brain power as we age:

• Eat fish. Studies have show that the omega-3 fat in fish such as tuna or salmon may help fight toxic plaque and stimulate communication between the brain cells.
• Get plenty of fruits and vegetables into your system. A daily serving of strawberries, blueberries or spinach helped to prevent AND in some cases reverse brain aging in animals.
• Drink Green Tea. Two cups of the antioxidant-rich drink a day can cut the risk of cognitive impairment by 54%.
• Eat Curry. This could be called the spice of life! One of the ingredients in curry, curcumin, is shown to improve memory in animals and reduce a brain toxin that's linked to Alzheimer's.
• Trim Animal Fat and Calories. A new Swedish study indicates that people who ate more saturated animal fat in midlife doubled their Alzheimer's risk, especially those who are genetically vulnerable.

Stay Cool and Live Longer

An article in the New Scientist says that if we lower our body temperature, we could increase our lifespan.

"The refrigerator is used to lengthen the life of your food, and a new study suggests a similar principle could prolong your life, too.                                                     

Researchers have found that lowering the body temperature of mice by just 0.5°C extends their lifespan by around 15%. In the future, people might be able to take a drug to achieve a similar effect on body temperature and enjoy a longer life."

Tummy Tuck: Good, Bad and Ugly

Like many Boomer generation women - babies, buttered popcorn, and our old friend, gravity, have definitely taken a big toll on my abs and formerly taught tummy muscles. The profile that now appears when I turn sideways to my full-length mirror wouldn’t make it to the first roll call of a Body by Jake infomercial.

There is a solution, though - the tummy tuck – a slick little surgery that could give us all the tight bodied look of Lindsay Lohan. But – is it for you? In addition to the cost – which can range from $5,000 to $15,000 – it is not exactly a ‘slam-bam, you’re looking hot ma’am’ procedure. 

One of our readers shares her tummy tuck experience, some advice to those considering the surgery, and her feelings on whether she would do it again:

"My body is in great shape for 51.  But - after major abdominal surgery for endometriosis, two C-sections, and a hysterectomy—I was left with a hanging bag of flesh that I just couldn’t make peace with. I tried for two years after the hysterectomy to accept it - even calling it “my buddy” for awhile – but I just couldn’t be comfortable in my skin. That’s why I finally went for it: A tummy tuck.

For starters, it’s not a perfect science and there are no guarantees that you’ll be happy with the result. And – because payment up front is required - it can be a gamble.

The recovery was a long one and much, much worse than my hysterectomy. The part that was most painful was not the cut, but the procedure where they actually separate the skin from the muscle over the entire abdomen. After two months, I still can’t wear my jeans because of the pain from bruising that remains. There’s also an odd sensation of numbness. The nerves are damaged and, according to my surgeon, normal feeling will never fully return. I wasn’t aware of this until after I had the surgery, and it’s something to think about before taking the plunge. I do rub lotion on my abdomen daily to give those nerves lots of sensory input to help them repair.

Strangely, the worst pain after surgery was in my lower back. One post-surgery requirement was to walk bent over at the waist for two full weeks. That’s hard!  Our spines are designed for us to walk upright. After the 14th day, I was allowed to gradually straighten up. But, it took me another week and a half to finally go back to a completely erect walk.

Since I had previously undergone those four major surgeries, I knew that general anesthesia could be a bad scene for me. After each surgery, I ended up vomiting uncontrollably for two days and there was nothing that would stop it—not even the anti-nausea IV. So I made sure to request that the tummy tuck be done under an epidural, instead.  That was a good choice.

That part of my recovery went beautifully. No nausea at all. The only down side to the epidural was that my anesthesiologist admitted to have placed it one vertebrae too high; the result was that as they cut me down low, I was squirming.  Can you imagine? I was feeling the whole thing! Thank goodness they had given me some kind of amnesia drug because I don’t remember a thing. But, that may be the reason my scar is uneven. I have this funny “W”-shaped scar. I like to think of it as an upside-down heart. So, if someone ever happens to see it from that angle (oh, my!) it may seem sort of - well, artistic.

The most unsightly result was one I wasn’t ready for. The scar over my left hipbone, is nice and flat. But, over the right hipbone, there’s a piece of skin sticking out called a “dog ear”. It’s really ugly! My surgeon will “fix” that free of charge in his office.  It will  be a shallow cut that should heal in a few weeks. But it will extend the scar another inch, which means it will show above my panty line. Maybe I’ll go hog wild and get a tattoo there - so that if I ever wear something low cut like a two-piece bathing suit - the scar will be covered with a lovely flower or hummingbird. Tattoos are not normally my thing, but neither is cosmetic surgery. 

All of this said, it’s been two months since I was cut and I feel terrific. Now I can wear that sweater dress that I once refused to wear because it showed “ my buddy.”  Naked is still something to get used to. The scar is purple, and my skin is pretty light. Tanning is a “no-no” because it will make the scar worse. They say over time (years?) the scar will turn white. I now wish I had done this a few years ago.

My bodywork friend, Ursula, told me to massage my scar like crazy. I started massaging it at three weeks with permission from my surgeon and it made a difference the very first time. Some of the puckers came right out immediately. Now I’m still massaging it daily, hoping to avoid adhesions.

If you’re thinking seriously about a tummy tuck, my advice is to look carefully at examples of the work done by any surgeon you’re considering. Think about anesthesia options. And, don’t expect perfection. When I look in the mirror naked (and I tend to do this a lot these days), what I see is far from perfect. But - believe it or not - I’m still glad I did it."

Never Too Late to Start Exercising

Here's another article by our Well Past 50 fitness guru Angela about late-in-life exercising. Even if you haven't been that active in the past, the good news is that even if you start exercising in your late 40's or 50's, your heart will benefit by the increase in activity.

It's Not Too Late to Start Exercising
Even if you don't start exercising until later in life, you can reduce your risk of heart disease by up to 90 percent by exercising regularly. This was an unexpected learning from a study that compared healthy individuals and those with heart disease to determine how different exercise regimes impact heart disease risk. As expected, lifetime exercisers had the lowest risk, but even those who didn’t start exercising until later in life achieved surprising reductions in risk.

The German study, which was published in the journal Heart, compared data collected from 312 people with heart disease and more than 450 healthy, age-matched blood donors who were all older than 40.This study looked back in time at the subjects exercise history in each decade of their life. The subjects reported whether they were "rarely active", a "little active", "somewhat active", or "very active" for different age ranges. The researchers found that the group that achieved the most risk-reducing benefit from exercise included those people who went from "rarely active" to being "very active" in later adulthood. That group of very active people over 40 years of age had 90 percent less heart disease than their sedentary counterparts.

Of course researchers were not surprised to find that those who were active throughout adulthood (age 20-40) had a much lower (62% less) risk of heart disease than those who didn't exercise at all. In fact, this group had the lowest risk of heart disease. But, those people who were active at a young age and then became inactive over time had a risk for heart disease that was similar to someone who had never exercised at all.

The key messages that you can take away to reduce your risk of heart disease:

• If you are a younger adult who is already exercising regularly, then you should maintain an active lifestyle throughout adulthood.
• Adults over 40 who are only "somewhat active" will benefit from increasing their activity.
• Even if you have been sedentary and you're over 40, beginning an exercise program will protect your heart health. You will achieve the most benefit by making it a goal to be very active, but even slight increases in activity are worthwhile.