Well Past 50: The Weblog of Boomerful.com

Green Tea: Good Stuff!

Our New Product Editor, Mary Kellenberger, takes a look at a product that isn't new, but it is definitely good for you!

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It took me a little while to get into green tea. I love Earl Grey and Chai. So, switching to something I didn't really like took some will power on my part. But, as I kept reading and hearing about its benefits, I decided to just do it. 

It's okay now! I add a little sweetener, some lemon and it's not so bad. I have a cup or two of the decaffeinated version after coming home in the evening and it even curbs my appetite. That's definitely a good thing.

Today, I learned of additional green tea benefits from our good friends at  www.realage.com:

* It may help you lose weight. Here's how.

* It may help keep your knees young and strong. Here's the reason.

* It can help your skin look great. Here's how to turn green tea into a skin soother.

* It can help you stay sharp. Here's how much you need to help your mind.

It can help my weight, knees, skin and mind ... I'm sold!
 

I still drink Earl Grey and Chai, but I always make sure I have at least one serving of green every day.

Have you had good results with green tea? Please post your comments!

Simple Ways to Give Yourself a Beauty Boost

It's spring – time to freshen up our looks. There are lots of new ways to do a quick fix – and some that won't cost a thing.

Coffee is the latest beauty discovery. It's high in antioxidants and has real skin-firming capabilities. When you put it on your skin, it acts as an antioxidant, a diuretic and a vasoconstrictor. Coffee- or caffeine-based products include:

* RevaleSkin CoffeeBerry Skin Care Kit - www.revaleskin.com - Coffeeberries are high in antioxidants and these products help to repair and rejuvenate damaged skin. RevaleSkin products cost from $40 to $110.

* Bliss Love Handler lotion - www.blissworld.com - uses the power of caffeine to tone skin, reduce cellulite and whittle down those love-handles. An 8.5 oz. bottle is $36.

Or, if you're looking to save money, you can use your own brewed coffee grounds. They make a great exfoliator – just mix them with olive oil and rub on your skin.

You can make a caffeinated beauty mask by mixing brewed coffee grounds with egg whites. Put it on your skin for 10 minutes and then wash off.

Coffee grounds are also great for cellulite. Just mix with olive oil and rub on the areas that need it. Wrap plastic wrap around the treated areas and leave on for 20 minutes.

Caffeine also makes a great hair rinse – it makes your hair shiny and full. Brew a strong cup of coffee, cool it and pour on your hair. Leave it on for 20 minutes and rinse.

Aloe also makes a great, natural beauty mask. You can find aloe products on the market, but personally, I like to get my aloe straight from an aloe plant. Just break off some leaves and squeeze out the juice. It also makes a great burn remedy if you touch a hot frying pan or cookie sheet!

If you want to get rid of crow's feet without visiting the plastic surgeon, a good temporary fix would be a product like Freeze 24/7 - www.freeze247.com. It's $125 for a 1 oz. jar and does a great job for that special night on the town.

If you're on a tight budget, Lubriderm - www.lubriderm.com - will help smooth out lines around the eyes. Freeze 24/7 and Lubriderm are helpful if you'd like to tighten up the eye area for a special occasion without having to get Botox.

I personally love lip plumpers. They come at all price points and temporarily smooth and plump the lips. You're not going to look like Angelina Jolie, but you can see the difference.

Change your makeup. Try a new look. Regardless of what you've been doing, you've probably been doing it too long. The department stores will do mini-makeovers for you and even if you don’t buy their products, you'll get new ideas for colors and styles.

Most of us wear too little color as we age – and we need it. Eye shadows and eyebrow pencils will take years off your age – especially the eyebrows. They fade as we age and are a highly important feature, because they frame the face. Eye shadow makes a natural-looking eyebrow, and there are also liquid eyebrow stains.

But, a word of warning: making your eyebrows too dark or thick can give you a hard look, and you don't want that.

Now, if you're like me and you spend the winter covering up your body fat with bulky sweaters and the work-outs haven't started to show results yet, Spanx - www.spanx.com - are a great product for holding in, pushing up and slimming everything all the way down. So give thanks for Spanx!

Do you have a special beauty tip that you'd like to share with your friends here at Boomerful.com?

A Heart Healthy Reminder

New Product Editor Mary Kellenberger shares these heart-healthy thoughts!

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As we approach ... and pass ... age 50, our doctors take great care to tell us about all the things we should be doing to take care of our hearts. There is especially great awareness now about women's heart health.

One of the recommendations I received from my wonderful (Boomer) doctor is an aspirin regime. She said I should take an aspirin each day - either adult or children's version. I'm sure many of you have heard the same thing. Aspirin can help lower the risk of heart attacks and clot-related strokes. While it may not be right for everyone, it's a pretty popular recommendation by physicians these days.

I had been taking my daily aspirin, but realized a couple of days ago that I'd been forgetting to put one in my little pill box. So - it had been awhile but I'm back at it now. My memory about this was jogged when I came across something really neat on the Web. St. Joseph Aspirin will send you a daily email reminder to take your aspirin – in fact, they'll even phone you instead, if you prefer to be contacted that way. How great is that! They do take care to ask if your doctor has recommended an aspirin regime for you. If he or she has not, then they don't send out the reminder.

I think this is a wonderful service. Granted, it's a form of advertising for them but that's okay! It might save your life or that of someone close to you, some day. Simply go to www.stjosephaspirin.com and you can sign up from their home page.

A Beautiful Poem from a Boomerful Reader

CHOICE
by Anna M. Petrick

I am attached to living,
perhaps too tightly so
for one whose years are long.

You are old, the young ones say,
as if the old have spent
their share of life
and now should call out Death
to come with trumpet blare
and cymbal clash.

Not me.
I will not call out Death.

For I am more than wrinkled skin
and brittle bone and thinning hair.
I am more than empty shell
waiting for the blackness of the veil to fall.

I have life yet to live.

Boomerful.com Welcomes Expert On Family/Care-Giving Issues

Boomerful.com welcomes a new expert to its ranks:

BARBARA E. FRIESNER, author of How To Be Your Own Generational Coach, is an expert on issues affecting seniors and their families and has been featured on NY1 TV's "Focus on Seniors," "Coping With Caregiving" (wsRadio), and WVOX Radio. As care manager, first for her grandmother and now her mother (with dementia), Barbara learned firsthand how overwhelming, stressful, and time-consuming elder care can be. As a result, Barbara started AgeWiseLiving to help others navigate through this challenging time, and avoid the emotional and frustrating task of finding the answers themselves and trial-and-error implementation.

As a Generational Coach® and seminar leader, Barbara has collaborated with hundreds of family members, professionals with senior clients, and employees of Assisted Living communities to help them successfully build relationships and address critical elder care issues.

As an adjunct professor at Cornell University, Barbara created and taught "Seniors Housing Management" at the School of Hotel Administration. Prior to starting AgeWiseLiving, Barbara was the Director of Education & Development for Loews Corporation and Dean of Loews University. She received her Master of Business Administration from Boston University.

Lazy Can Be Fun and Rewarding

New Product Editor Mary Kellenberger tells us about the joy of doing - nothing!

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I've been so busy most of my life, I'd come to assume that 'busy' was requisite to feeling fulfilled and worthwhile. How I've changed my mind!

While the word "lazy" is probably not a good choice … it's an easy one. And, having sailed into Boomerland and since switched my speed to chugging, it probably describes what others might perceive if they walked into my home on many weekend afternoons.

In my world, one of the great joys has become the Sunday swoon - sitting with a cup of tea or hot chocolate, or a glass of wine, in a comfortable spot in my home (I switch from time to time, just to give my furniture cushions a break) and reading and dozing and reading and dozing ... the picture clear yet? What a joy!

I love my home and the views it offers from many areas - especially my deck or hammock in warm weather. And, I love to read. I LOVE to read. So, what more could I ask? My idea of fun is this free hobby, which stimulates my mind and takes no gas to get there!

Thus, I'm content with the fact that it's okay to do "nothing" for fun. In my younger years, if I didn't have a fairly full social calendar, I would get antsy and depressed. I would start making phone calls to find someone to go to a movie, or shopping or anywhere, just to get out of the house. How blessed I feel now that I've evolved from that: that I'm in a place I've worked hard to put together, aesthetically pleasing enough that I don't feel like I'm missing out on something by just staying home.

Maybe this comes to everyone with age, and I'm just now discovering that non-activity is all the activity that I need. Or, maybe the rest of the world is still getting dressed up and heading for brunch or lunch or a Sunday matinee. That's okay, too! For right now, I have a list of at least a dozen books that I really want to read. So, for those of you more social animals - enjoy! You can find me right here with my books and popcorn - having fun!

Keeping Your Brain in Shape

Contributing editor Melina Papadakis checks out an online venue for strengthening your brain - with games!

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As we age, it's no surprise that our physical needs change. It becomes increasingly more important to take care of our overall health – including our brain fitness. We need to work our mental 'muscles' to keep our minds sharp. Happy Neuron brain games - www.happy-neuron.com - offer online exercises designed to help you train your brain.

Just as working your entire body and not just a few parts during physical training is important, so is stimulating more than just one area of the brain. While similar brain games exist, including crossword puzzles and brain teasers, they stimulate only certain areas of the brain. Happy Neuron games were developed by a cognitive psychologist to target the five main cognitive functions: Memory, Attention, Language, Visual/Spatial and Executive Functions.

Not only can these mental exercises help keep your mind more nimble, there is also the possibility that they can fend off disease. While there is currently no cure for Alzheimer's, increasing scientific evidence shows that actively participating in appropriately designed brain fitness workouts can defer the onset of this disease and other signs of aging on the brain.

To gauge your progress and identify possible areas of weakness, Happy Neuron provides players with a virtual coach who compares your results to others of a similar age, gender and education and then designs customized workouts based on performance. So visit Happy Neuron online and give their games a try. They'll even let you enjoy a free seven-day trial period to check out what they have to offer.

Please note: If you enroll for the seven-day free trial, you will need to give them credit card information. You can cancel your membership at any time within the seven-day trial period without charges to your credit card by visiting 'My Order History', un-checking 'Auto Renew' and clicking 'Submit'. If you do not cancel before the trial period is up, you will be automatically enrolled for membership to Happy Neuron and your credit card will be charged. Your subscription will be automatically renewed at the beginning of each billing period.

What mental challenges do you enjoy on a regular basis? Chess? Sudoku? Tell us what you do to give yourself a cerebral workout!

How to Look as Beautiful as a Celebrity

Contributing Editor Melina Papadakis provides this intriguing look into the world of celebrities and beauty....

In February during the Academy Awards, TV viewers nationwide oohed and aahed over celebrities with picture-perfect skin, smooth foreheads, and lush lips. But they’re only human beings, like the rest of us. Dr. Cameron Rokhsar of the New York Aesthetic Consultants points out that while some stars have naturally beautiful features, many receive a little extra help from their dermatologists.

According to Dr. Rokhsar, most of Hollywood’s hottest starlets have a devoted "beauty team" planning their gorgeous looks during the weeks and months leading up to Oscar night.

"Hollywood has most Americans fooled," said Dr. Rokhsar. "They tell reporters things like 'Oh, I just do yoga and pilates and drink lots of water!' when they really have meticulous schedules set months in advance of awards season, to guarantee they will look flawless on the big night."

Dr. Rokhsar shares the different cosmetic procedures that help keep the young and beautiful looking fresh for that extra-special red carpet event.      

One to Two Months Before:

Laser Treatments: The 'High-Definition TV Revolution' has left stars young and old concerned about how their skin will look to millions of viewers at home. According to Dr. Rokhsar, "laser treatments are ideal for a person looking to erase acne scars, age spots, sun damage, surgical scars and melasma (the 'mask of pregnancy'). However, most laser treatments leave a person’s skin looking raw and painful."

Dr. Rokhsar suggests a less invasive option: Fraxel Laser Treatments, which target fractions of the skin instead of the entire face. He recommends four to five treatments for optimal results without any side effects and minimal downtime - usually just two to three days. "Fraxel is perfect for people who want to literally look picture perfect," said Dr. Rokhsar.

Two Weeks Before:

Juvederm: While Dr. Rokhsar admits Angelina Jolie's lips are the real-deal, several A-listers at the Oscars had more than a little help with their perfectly plump pouts. Dr. Rokhsar noted, "the aging process causes a person's lips to lose elasticity and vibrancy. In many cases they can appear dehydrated and shriveled." For these cases, he suggests Juvederm, a gel made of hyaluronic acid – a naturally occurring substance in skin that adds volume and hydration. In one setting it is injected into the lips to restore them to their former plumpness and glory.

One Week Before:

BOTOX: Hollywood's favorite quick-fix – for more than just wrinkles - is Botox. "Aside from using Botox in the face, stars also have it injected into their armpits to halt sweat glands from ruining their designer gowns," Dr. Rokhsar said. Botox for the armpits can have effects lasting up to one year. Botox in the face can last up to four months, but Dr. Rokhsar recommends coordinating treatments one week before big events so the effects are at their max.

Non-Surgical Eye Lift: According to Dr. Rokhsar, the cosmetic filler Restalyne can be injected into the lower eyelids reducing the appearance of puffiness or bags under the eyes. "This procedure only takes about 15 minutes and the results can be seen immediately," he said. "It's perfect for stars who don't have the time to get a surgical eye lift procedure or want to maintain a more natural look in their eyes."

The Night Before:

Cortisone Shots: All the stress leading up to a big event can leave some stars with unsightly breakouts. According to Dr. Rokhsar, "Cortisone injection into the blemish can help flatten the pimple and make it easier to cover with makeup." Dr. Rokhsar uses a solution of diluted corticosteroid to lessen inflammation and promote healing. "It's also is great for stars who do not want a bad breakout to cause scarring on their skin," he added.

How about you, Boomerful reader? Do you have any secret beauty hints that you'd be willing to share with your fellow Baby Boomers?

Space Clearing Can Improve Energy and Wellness

Contributing Editor Melina Papadakis wanted to share this story because she says, her fight against the clutter in her life has been a struggle of epic proportions...

Clearing out the clutter in your house or office can produce major, even dramatic improvements in your environment and energy level, according to space clearing expert Christan Hummel.

Hummel believes that space clearing can remove the clutter that drains energy by blocking the invisible life energy flowing through a living space, known in China as "Ch'i" which is the foundation of the science of feng shui. Hummel cites these positive global examples of space clearing:

* After space clearing in the downtown area of San Paulo, Brazil, the traffic cleared up the very next day.

* In six cities around the world where small groups have done space clearings of their communities, the crime rate dropped up to 50 percent in one month.

* In Frankfurt, Germany, a group worked on clearing the old energies of their community, and deaths due to drugs (a major problem in Frankfurt at the time) dropped by 25 percent. In surrounding areas, deaths actually increased.

* In Sonoma, CA, realtors commissioned a space clearing for three properties that were about to loose their listing because they had not sold for so long. One week after the clearing session, all three properties sold for the asking price.

Do-It-Yourself Space Clearing

Clearing the clutter in your home or office can have tremendous positive impact on your life and how you enjoy your environment. 

How you behave when you get home, and how you arrange your home and office spaces, can make a tremendous difference in the flow of energy. Here are some of Christan’s recommendations on how to clean up clutter and banish bad energy:

Thoughts linger in an environment, so clean up a room physically and that will help clear out those bad thoughts, replacing them with positive energy.

Clutter blocks energy flow. Your home is like a mirror of our body. It has a circulation system and when life energy flows freely, then the environment is healthy. Your home will reflect the energy and intention you put into it. So keep the pathways open and clear so the life energy can circulate in the home.

Energy follows thought, so watch your thoughts. Leave the bad energy behind and be aware of the thoughts you bring into the home. Control the energy you let into your home. Respect your own space. Take off your shoes and leave them at the front door. Gain from the knowledge of the ancient cultures who left their shoes at the door as a potent symbol of leaving the worries of the day at the door.

We carry energy with us wherever we go.  We take the troubles and emotional upsets of our office home with us, even if we leave our papers behind. So, practice letting go of bad energy.  Exercise, relax, meditate, and do a cleansing ritual - when you shower or take a bath, add your intention that all the stresses of the day go down the drain. Light a candle at the end of the day to symbolically burn away your worries and problems of the day.

Do some emotional release work, a closure ceremony, perhaps one in which you feel gratitude, appreciation and love for a person who you miss, then let their items go. Keep one or two representative items, and give the others to special people, family members, friends, special organizations close to your heart. Let grandma's cups circulate in the community, not stay locked up in your living room.

Christan Hummel has created a Do-It Yourself Space Clearing Kit that is available at bookstores nationwide and online at www.earthtransitions.com.

Is clutter a problem in your life? Tell us about it!

These Boots are Made for Watching: Shoetube.tv

Contributing Editor Melina Papadakis loves shoes, so she wanted to bring this story to the attention of Boomerful.com readers...

If you really enjoy shoe-shopping, than get set to blast off into heaven, because Shoetube.tv - www.shoetube.tv - is now on the Internet.

Shoetube.tv, from Powderhouse Productions, is a new online video channel and social community connecting women across the Internet through their passion for shoes. The site features a blend of original video programs, user-generated videos and photos, and sponsor-created content.

Shoetube.tv includes blogs from professional writers and everyday shoe-lovers, forums, and
articles on fashion news and trends. Viewers can tune into six video programs, all encompassing the multifaceted world of shoes:

* Behind the Boot provides access to the makers and shakers of the shoe world: designers, fashionistas, photographers, and shoe-crazed celebrities.

* Real or Deal is a studio show daring the viewer to guess which shoe is the high-end designer product and which is the knock-off.

* Walk on By features Shoetube.tv hosts greeting passersby throughout the country and asking, “Where’d you get those shoes?”

* Shop Til You Drop takes us into the trendiest shoe stores in the world. It’s a vicarious shopping thrill for true shoe-lovers.

* Sole Deep provides tours of shoe museums and interviews with artists, entrepreneurs, and social commentators like Camille Paglia.

* The Daily Shoe is the first video that greets the viewer on the website.

"We’re providing a central location online for women to connect, celebrate and share their love of shoes," said Bill Lattanzi, creative director at Powderhouse Productions and editor of the Shoetube.tv site. 

How about you? Tell us about your favorite pair(s) of shoes!