RSSCategory: Sites To Know
Botox for Christmas
December 7, 2008
More women I know want this than anything else. Would they really do it? Or are there still too many unknowns… like how do you know a good doctor when you see one, where do they inject exactly, and is it REALLY safe? A thousand questions. Now you can find answers.
Photo by EverJean
In Gift Ideas For The Real World 4 (items 9&10), I told you about this fantastic website called Skin Tour. How excellent to have found an authority site on anti-aging treatments for skin that we can count on.
To tell the truth
Skin Tour is the website of Seattle dermatologist, Dr. Brandith Irwin. It is dedicated to providing consumers with the facts about anti-aging skin products that work, be they cream or injection. I’m always looking for that. This field is desperate for some reality.
We need voices that will plough through all the rubbish and gimmicks and tell us what’s true. Skin Tour is full of informative articles that whittle the topic down to what you need to know. Specific products are shown but the anti-aging focus is more about cosmetic and enhancing procedures like Botox, peels, fillers, and the various types of lasers.
Under Resources >> Menopause and Your Skin, there is the most clear, concise article on what the options are for improving the skin - and there are loads of options !!. Love the comment about the greater confidence and self-acceptance that we finally have found. Yes, we have.
A learning site
I have an impression that the opinion of dermatologists is that every one of us (with normally aging skin) should be using RetinA or Renova afer age 35 or so. I’m not certain if that’s correct but Dr. Irwin seems to support the belief. I haven’t cared enough yet to see a Derm to get some. I was thrilled (not too strong a word) to find Skin Medica Retinol Complex.
Terrific products are recommended, many that I’d never seen before. There are moisturizers, sunscreens (look at them when you go to the site; most interesting), antioxidants, both costly and affordable options. Look at the very neat Booster Packs while you’re there. Cute gifts, matched to a person’s activities.
Video treatments
Dr. Irwin has totally demystifyied Botox/Restlylane injections for me. I get this now. Watch the video blogs. See the questions that were asked, how comfortably the doctor could adapt to the face of each woman to produce a natural look, and how relaxed the patients are. What I can see for sure is that you need someone who can handle a needle.
After all, a needle is a knife. This is far and away my biggest fear. How do you know how smooth a doctor will be as an injector? It takes huge left brain- knowledge and right brain- artistry to be that proficient at using a needle and syringe. It’s really a form of surgery. Conservative taste and a great eye for the end result as part of the entire face go a long way too. These procedures are as much art form as science.
If you’ve been thinking of finding a dermatologist but aren’t sure what to look for in technique or bedside manner, this woman sets a high standard.
Recovery
I wish there were more After pictures on the site. I know exactly what the before issues are. I see them in the mirror every day. What I’d love to understand is what it looks like after. My inkling about Botox is the wooden look. Restylane? I haven’t a clue what that can do when it’s done well, though I can well imagine what done poorly looks like (lopsided and bumpy). It worries me greatly.
I also wish there were some idea given of how the recovery looks. Am I wrong or does Restylane appear to have serious bruising potential? I’m sure it’s covered in depth in the consultation and each woman is different, but I’d like to see the average reaction.
Note the AntiAging Tour
Definitely do take The AntiAging Tour. Scroll down and key in your areas of interest. Mouse over the dots that come up on the face and your options appear in a table on the screen. What smooth and effective use of the internet this is.
To teach and provide information consumers can depend on is the best of what this medium can do. The 13 year old sitting in front of me looking at street level satellite pictures of Paris and finding the pizza place nearest to the Eiffel Tower is illustrating the same thing in a whole different way.
You and I can’t tell what’s in a skin cream by the feel of it. We sure don’t know Restylane from Juvederm from the many new options flooding the market. The next 20 years will be crowded with this stuff, which I personally am quite pleased about.
Photo by Julianne.hide
Feel better
What impresses me most is the Doctor’s desire to just send something good out into the world. Though commission is made on the sale of products, it probably just pays for the site. The time and work seems to be a labor of love and a sincere desire to help people. Since every single molecule of good energy (and bad energy) you send out there boomerangs back to you, I would say there’s some good stuff coming her way.
So yeah. Pretty soon, the face on both sides of my nose will cave in enough and the lines will be so deep that I’ll be glad to have this option. I can almost imagine having these injections with no more worry than getting a hair color. In good hands, it looks like there’s little to fear, especially if you start with temporary treatments.
PS: The purchasing is redirected to Skin Care Rx. Let me tell you, they’re worth a look. Based in Utah, you’ll find an amazing list of hard-to-find brands. If you buy, do link to it from inside Skin Tour. We want to support that site. It’s going to help us a lot over the next 30 years.
I couldn’t link to Skin Care Rx directly or through Skin Tour. I don’t know if it’s a Mac thing because the 3 Windows XP IE7 systems I tried were fine. Oh, the stress! I finally had to place the order by phone. They have terrific tech support at Skin Care Rx and they helped me find a bypass way into the site with the Mac. Let me know if you have any issues.
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More women I know want this than anything else. Would they really do it? Or are there still too many unknowns… like how do you know a good doctor when you see one, where do they inject exactly, and is it REALLY safe? A thousand questions. Now you can find answers.
Read moreThe IUD Saga Continues
November 21, 2008
I was trying not to think about it so I wouldn’t get a pimple. One of the girls at work described the pain as “like labor”, something I was sure I’d never have to live through again. She said I’d be having a lot of hot baths.
For anyone new to the story, I began a period back in September that hasn’t stopped yet. Apparently, it’s common in early menopause. If you care to read the gory details, they’re in The Pill Or Mirena and What’s A Mirena IUD?
I chose the IUD. The appointment to insert it was November 18. I went in there reeking of Rose Oil. The mean secretary was very friendly, surely meaning she felt sorry for what I was about to go through.
I was prepared for a 5 day convalescence. I stocked 2 magazines (InStyle and Oprah). I have the 5 movies (The Devil Wears Prada because I am the only person left in North America that hasn’t seen it, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, The Queen, and Death At A Funeral).
Sites To Know : FTC Who Cares
Nicole sent me a link to this excellent FTC site dedicated to filtering medical information for consumers, very much a Site To Know. In an ocean of information so overwhelming that you can’t decide how much applies to you, I look for good data that does the legwork in finding dependable outlinks for me. I looked up MRT and really think the IUD is the right first choice. I followed the link at the bottom to the National Institute on Aging (never knew about it before) which got me to more good info on MRT .
Though the intention is to keep the site updated, the purpose though is to provide a “short list” of the best and most reliable sources of information. How welcome is that, given that Googling these topics gets you hacking through a jungle of material that’s questionable at best.
Insertion
Ideally, you’re having your period when the device is placed so that the cervix is relaxed. Well, I wasn’t. I was on those pills!! I asked twice and they said “Stay on them”. Actually, in a step I’m sure physicians love, I self-medicated myself down to ½ pill a day. I crack them in half with my teeth because the pill isn’t scored. Those horrible little things were fogging up my head and becoming my enemy. I figure this isn’t utter quackery. It’s being faithful to the normal gradual physiologic drop in hormones before a period.
I feel a little embarrassed about this fuss and worry now. Doing a stomach crunch (1) hurts way more than the IUD placement. BUT this adds yet another item to the growing list of why it is better to be loose and floppy!! After 3 vaginal deliveries, the last one 11 years ago, my cervix is permanently relaxed. I felt nothing when the rod went in. When the bars of the little T were opened, it felt like a large gas bubble for about 4 seconds, and that was that. This must be what I am inside:
I was expecting to be grinding my teeth, clutching the table, and trying not to scream. He told me I could scream if I wanted to, he was used to it, and blood too, and besides I was the last appointment of the day, so “whatever turns your crank”. He puts in 1 of these a week and he’s seen it all. This is the kind of doctor I love. If he’s not excited, you definitely do not need to be.
Go back to your regular life
Anyhow, I drove myself home and told my husband to stay at work. He told me to enjoy my Rosemary Wine, which is the closest he can come to understanding Rose Oil. I have a friend called Brigitte, pronounced “brig -EETA”. The closest he can come to her name is “briquette”. He NEVER says her name when they meet.
Watching the movie later, as Anne Hathaway walks past the Sephora store in NYC and I’m almost sobbing with envy, I do have a little tightening in my lower abdomen and have to sit up straight. I treated myself to hot chocolate made with real cocoa.
I haven’t felt anything since. I hope my boss doesn’t read this because I’ve booked 3 days off. I do not believe for one second that my friend at work didn’t have the pain she claims, or the other women as well. It’s just that at 48, I’m a walking, talking testament to the many benefits of flaccidity and mushiness.
Onced it’s inserted, you can go home and exercise if you like. You can have vigorous sex, but it’s suggested to wait a few days for the strings to soften, more for his sake than yours. I stay on pills for a day or two till the IUD starts secreting its own tiny little dose of progesterone, and then stop.
Wait and see (and pray)
We’ll wait and see what happens in the longer term. One-third of women have no periods. Most have very light periods, with possible spotting only for the first 3 months. Since this is menopause, periods may come every 6 weeks or with some irregularity. It seems there’s no need to worry unless the bleeding is excessive.
Karen sent me a fabulous prayer that she says often : “Fulfill every purpose for which You allowed this situation.”
Incredible. If more prayers were like that, I’d be more of a praying person. It focuses inwardly, instead of imploring someone to give you something. Please understand that I’ve done my share of pleading. I’ve beseeched. Sometimes, you’re really scared and can’t see any other option. It is all you have left. I have been there.
But I’m not there today and I am thankful in the extreme. I hope the little object does its job without incident. I cannot feel it. I marvel that it’s really in there, like when you did your first pregnancy test the day you missed your period and it came back positive.
If it doesn’t work, I know there are other choices. Many. Today, I’m reading Oprah, doing a mask, bleaching my teeth, wondering why my dog is chewing himself so much, and wading in Rose Oil. Tomorrow, I’m exercising, baking, meeting a friend for coffee, and pretending I live my ideal life which that of almost-a-hermit.
A choice that I might have run from, or not considered until forced upon me, has turned out to be (I hope) a blessing.
-->The appointment to insert the IUD was November 18. I went in there reeking of Rose Oil. The mean secretary was very friendly, surely meaning she felt sorry for what I was about to go through.
I was prepared for a 5 day convalescence. I was prepared for pain worse than labor.
In fact, it went very well. I hope the little thing does its job.
Just goes to show that all fear gets you is pimples. And that we are given challenges for reasons only to be found in overcoming them. And that yet another benefit of aging surfaces here: it’s a whole lot easier to be mushy inside than tight.
Sites To Know : stillGorgeous
November 1, 2008
Here is the website of two British women, Kathryn Hamlin and Laura Barker. Kathryn and Laura might holiday in Greece and think nothing of shopping and seeing plays in London. They use different products than we do. We’d have trouble driving each other’s cars.
The thing I love about this website is the reminder that beyond the superficial differences, women everywhere are the same. It’s especially so as we get older and develop a stronger sense of what really matters in life. We’ve coped with losses, raised children, seen our bodies change, all constants regardless of the language you speak or currency you use. They have a great balancing effect.
Kathryn (in front) and Laura, being cool on a Harley.
We’re all trying to keep our children happy, healthy, and entertained so they become happy, healthy, and successful. We’re trying to preserve our sanity and the last dollar in our wallets. We’re growing and finding ourselves as human beings and exploring the many facets of relationships. Many of us have finally seen how vital our contribution is within our families and to this planet’s wellbeing.
Kathryn and Laura’s site, like AGT, is dedicated to making the most of the mature years. They reject any notion that it’s all downhill, as do I. There is celebration here, not defeat. Hope and love for themselves and their families prevail, not resignation to superficial concerns like, oh heavens, wrinkles!
Kathryn Hamlin.
Laura Barker.
Kathryn’s About Page is sobering. Having lost her sister to accident when she was 14 and her mother to illness at 17, effectively the entire female side of her family, she somehow survived to become a happily married mother of 4. Today, she is 45. Perhaps because she has proven herself such a survivor, life seems to be sending her for a tumble once again with her own health difficulties.
Now this woman could have given in to depression, or simply self-pity. Instead she chose to provide an understanding ear and heartfelt support to those coping with adversity. In strengthening and supporting other women, she is also empowering herself in her own life. Her website provides “an oasis of tranquility”, a place to moan a little, and to receive a virtual hug from someone who’s been there.
stillGorgeous was created in May 2007 when Kathryn and Laura decided to find a new challenge once their youngest children had started school. With no previous computer or business knowledge and after a lot of late night foraging on the internet for information, they built the website themselves. The steep learning curve has continued but it’s a journey they are still enjoying and it fits in well with their family commitments, despite a few grumbles that the home baked goods are in scarcer supply than they used to be!
At the London Premiere of Pirates, Dead Man's Chest (LB on left, friend Carrie, KH on right)
When you browse at stillGorgeous, you’ll find features on fashion, beauty, health, and travel. There are articles on homemade skin treatments, ways to save money and pass a rainy day, and recommendations for great reading or movies. They take on family issues and the working woman’s balancing feat.
Carrie's publicity board, signed by Johnny and Orlando!
The Glam Gals from Fabulous After 40 visit now and again. Deborah and JoJami are Image and Style Experts, and write one of the best sites out there showing women over 40 how to look vibrant, fashion-savvy, and age appropriate. Their latest article at stillGorgeous is all about how to look fabulous in under 10 minutes this fall.
Style Experts Deborah Boland and JoJami Tyler.
Of course, I headed straight to the articles on makeup and looked at some of the Best Cosmetics as voted by the CEW (Cosmetic Executive Women Awards). Since this is a hot button for me, I had to wonder where European women go for independent reviews of products before they buy them. They have access to the same information we do, but what do they actually use?
Most impressive is the ability to create join the sG community by creating your own social network page. It’s a lovely site where you can upload videos and photos, and find women of our age group without having to filter millions of facebook and MySpace pages.
My thoughts are very much with Kathryn right now as she copes with her health concerns. I was very happy to hear that she found so much relief from acupuncture, and this was her first treatment! Hang in there, Kathryn. You have more strength than you know. We all do.
-->Here is the website of two British women, Kathryn Hamlin and Laura Barker.The thing I love about this website is the reminder that beyond the superficial differences, women everywhere are the same. It’s especially so as we get older and develop a stronger sense of what really matters in life. We’ve coped with losses, raised children, seen our bodies change, all constants regardless of the language you speak or currency you use.
Read moreDo You Keep Your Age Secret?
October 6, 2008
Debby wrote a comment recently to an article that got a lot of heat, Why Do You Want To Look Younger? She speaks for many women (the majority?) in that she avoids telling her age.
Paula and Avis at BeautyBunch
Interestingly, I’ve been looking at the Paula’s Choice blog at Beauty Bunch lately. The site is an introduction to Paula and a few members of the Paula’s Choice team away from the office. This is not a marketing site. Topics range from travels, to pets, many of whom come to the office each day, to the TV shows they follow. It’s intriguing to meet them in their regular lives. I didn’t expect to find that Paula would be funny.
2 recent posts are especially pertinent to Debby’s comment. The first is written by Paula herself, at My Thighs Are Not My Legacy.
Avis Begoun, Paula’s sister, is the author of the second article, at Growing Old Well. Avis is a clinical psychologist who specializes in women’s issues, and seems a thoughtful, interesting woman.
I was so happy to see women rejecting the notion that aging must be a setback. Could there be a groundswell of us out there who will decline to buy into the idea that something bad is happening when we get older?
We are stronger, smarter, richer, more independent and empowered, less fearful, healthier, and more vibrant than women of our age have been at any time in history. Why in the world are we the sorriest about it too?
Is younger better?
The young take better pictures. Of that, there can be no doubt. As the inside gets richer, the veneer has taken a few nicks and scuffs.
They need less sleep. Among the top three things I’d change would be the need for 8 hours each night.
Do I care that I have lines around my eyes? Not really. How did these lines get to be so important? They have so little significance. We have so much to celebrate. Why is this what’s in our heads?
Brian Clark wrote an article about Innovation at Lateral Action, a site dedicated to achieving success through creativity and productivity. He had some things to say that are relevant to our topic, and he said them well (if you’re language-sensitive, don’t go there). In Rule Number 5, replace “khakis” with “wrinkles”. Pause for a moment at Rule Number 8 as well.
Does Your Deeper Self care?
I am not leaving this life without having been the best parent I could be. It is my highest calling. Do my children care if I have lines around my eyes? Of course not. They expect it. Someone has to be the Moms and Dads. They want us to look like we can carry the load, instead of trying to run from it.
The deepest, strongest, most meaningful bonds between human beings are ignorant of lines around eyes. Superficial relationships might have a thing about it but is that a goal worth going after? Our skin records the events that have shaped us. The lines are the map to our soul and our spirit. In the lives of the people for whom you are a blessing and a gift, how high does your skin’s elasticity rank?
Is it downhill now?
What of the notion of being “past your prime”? Hey, the hard part is behind you. You’re setting up for the best years if you let yourself enjoy them. Your voice is finally coming on strong. You have some time and some clarity. At 30, I was distracted, careful, nervous. The great real estate looks to be ahead of me, not in the rearview mirror.
There is no need to believe you should have it all figured out. Nobody does. Ever. The best that you can hope for is to have a strong guiding light. The ability to find great happiness in the simplest things is an accomplishment by itself. It’s a big part of “having it all figured out”. Not only are you not “past it”, you’re just arriving. Don’t shut the door in your own face. It took you fifty years to get here!
Can you look at the women you interact with and see those who are retreating behind an age barrier (of their own imagining) and those who are just coming into their own, who seem happier every time you meet them? That’ s not good luck or good genetics. That’s a choice to let luck happen.
Your thoughts are your choice
The more you think a certain way, the more a reality that supports that thought process will exist around you. Things will come to you a lot if you think about them a lot. You will attract a lot. Get your thoughts on the right path. Keep moving forward and adapting to something you’ve consciously decided to believe in.
Through your thoughts and your actions, better things can and will happen. It doesn’t start from a position of having sorted all the variables into their neat little slots. It’s an ongoing evolution in your own head but it begins with choice and determination that you need to energize. These won’t get done for you. The energy for the first step is your declaration to the Universe that your beliefs are about to change. You are the medium for whatever message you choose to send out so MAKE your choice. Build it yourself from the blocks on the table in front of you.
The wisdom of age
Are there are 70 year old women reading this? Have you any advice for us? I try to think about difficult decisions from the perspective of my older self looking back at my life. I’m sure I will not wish I’d spent more time at the office, had a cleaner house, or worried so much about my age. Besides, there never seems any sense in thinking about what you can’t change. The number’s only going to get bigger so we might as well come to grips with it.
Living in a material world
As the gears of your life grind forward, don’t waste your own time caring about fluff. Think about all you’ve done and all that’s part of you that wasn’t there 20 years ago. People just see us as we see ourselves. Be fifty and LOVE your life and where you are in it.
This is your moment. Live it well. Take a stand against the part of you, the concern with age, that you want to evict. Say your age like it’s a good thing. Dredge up enough pride in how far you’ve come and all you’ve learned to say the number like the achievement it is.
Feel the love, sister. It’s real and we’re all here together.
-->Could there be a groundswell of us out there who will decline to buy into the idea that something bad is happening when we get older?
We are stronger, smarter, richer, more independent, less fearful, healthier, and more vibrant than women of our age have been at any time in history. Why in the world are we the sorriest about it too?
Sites To Know : Makeup Alley
October 2, 2008
Many of you are probably familiar with this huge resource. AGT’s Sites To Know list wouldn’t be complete without a mention of it.
If I’m buying any skin care or makeup product, there are 2 places I check first. They are Beautypedia at Paula’s Choice (PC) and Makeup Alley (MUA).
For skin care, Beautypedia gets 99% of the weight – see the article 4 Wrong Ways To Choose Skin Cream And 1 Way That Works. The composition takes precedence over almost any other factor and consumers cannot know, or evaluate, this information. Do you know you can get Beautypedia for 2 days for free?
For makeup, the 2 sites are weighted more evenly. Beautypedia is still ahead because Paula’s and Bryan’s reviews are just so dang good. The Search function is so well thought-out that it is a pleasure to use. Every color in the line being examined is evaluated, which make these reviews quite unique. You’re getting not only ingredient lists, but application, durability, and color selection on this site.
Makeup application is particular though. Everyone has different preferences. The consumer is much more able to appraise the product’s performance than with skin creams. The strength of MUA is the voice of so many end users.
Reviews range from 1 line to 1 page or more. These are regular women of all ages, not beauty editors who will drop $30 for a concealer. Everyone at MUA agrees that it B-L-O-W-S when you buy $30 mascara and hate it.
The products are rated on performance by the consumers that use them… the power of the internet, right? By all of us, for all of us. You can learn from a woman in Sweden or find a fellow Thierry Mugler Angel lover in Tokyo tonight, and chat with them for 4 hours for free. Awestruck just thinking about it.
MUA is also a great resource for application techniques, color selection tips (especially if buying products online), with many reviews about the specific colors themselves.
You’ll learn to scan both sites in seconds.
At PC, I select the product category I’m interested in, then Customize Search. There, I select only the reasonably priced Paula’s Picks, which show me the best of the best at a price point I am willing to get with.
At MUA, I start in Preferences along the left side margin, and choose “Show full list” rather than “ Auto Suggest”. That way, I can scan down all the brands without missing any. Back in the main page under Product Reviews, choose a category, and look down the brands and click on those of interest. When the list comes up, I look at the % in the Buy Again column. If it’s over 75%, I’ll take a closer look. When scanning the reviews for each product, I often select only reviews by women over 40 since they’re more representative of what I’m looking for and what my own opinion is likely to be.
Like Beautypedia, MUA is about a lot more than makeup. Hair products can be found here, as can nail polish, self-tanner, candles, men’s products, and body care . Even toothpaste is here – with raves about Crest Whitening Plus Scope and many of the natural (non-animal-tested ) products.
This is one of my favorite ways of finding a new fragrance : just as I described above, I go through the company list and find those with rave reviews. It goes on my Test List. So I clicked on Prada and found Infusion D’Iris.
You do need to register at both sites. PC will cost a little money but it’s big time worth it because you’ll get info you can’t find anywhere else and you will save a bundle. MUA is a free, fast, easy registration.
You will add to your list of U&P’s (user names and passwords) for both sites. Mine is 5 pages long, and this is for my convenience. I’d eat my hard drive (both of them!) if I ever lost that document. Listen, Apple, what better use for a webcam than retinal scan technology?
-->Many of you are probably familiar with this huge resource. AGT’s Sites To Know list wouldn’t be complete without a mention of it.
If I’m buying any skin care or makeup product, there are 2 places I check first. They are Beautypedia at Paula’s Choice (PC) and Makeup Alley (MUA).
Sites To Know : ChefMD
September 15, 2008
Since finding Dr. LaPuma through Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks site (see the article Sites To Know : 101 Cookbooks), I find myself visiting ChefMD often. I get the weekly recipes in my Inbox. I’ve looked at all the video clips and searched inside his latest book, The Big Book Of Culinary Medicine.
This book is now on my Christmas list. The Table of Contents knocked my socks off. If there’s a healthy food you’ve wondered about, it’s in here. Now, learn the best way to use it to reap its fullest benefit.
Dr. John LaPuma, M.D.
Rebecca Powell Marx
Dr. John LaPuma and Rebecca Powell Marx
I place more faith in his advice because he has such impressive medical credentials. He understands the implications of your medical test results or condition in ways that someone without the M.D. training, let alone a boarded internist, just can’t.
I’m not saying that a nutritionist needs an M.D. to be effective. But, perhaps because I’m also a product of North American medical training, I don’t believe that the scope and depth of comprehension about health and disease that an M.D. provides can be replaced by any other teachings. An internist takes it many levels beyond that, with a truly staggering understanding of the human body. (In Canada or the U.K., his designation would be M.D., F.R.C.P. (Internist).)
Since he’s also a professionally trained chef, and not some guy who taught himself to cook on Sunday afternoons, he can provide recipes and cooking tips to create truly delicious dishes.
You can read about Dr. LaPuma’s medical and culinary training and accomplishments on his About page . You’ll also meet Rebecca Powell Marx, the co-founder of Chef MD. She is a writer, TV producer, and marketing executive. Together, they bring you the art and the science of foods that can heal.
Food as pharmacy
Pills certainly have their place. So do acupuncture, SOME supplements, and many other conventional and less traditional treatments. However, we look to them all too quickly and bypass the power of food as medicine in the process. For many conditions, especially common ones like joint pain and depression, your medicine cabinet begins in your refrigerator.
Just generally feeling great is hard to measure, except by comparison to when you’re feeling rotten. Immunity is hard to see; it’s not like a broken bone or a rash. It doesn’t actually hurt in the moment when it’s not working well, like cramps or headaches. So we forget how much it matters, but it’s the cornerstone to health, present and future. By being satisfied with it working at half-strength, you’re using yourself as the gambling chips.
Overboard on pills and supplements
Why don’t we exploit the capacity of food for fighting disease all the time? There are no side-effects to diet and there’ s not a pill out there that you can say that about. It’s money you’re spending anyhow and it’s not more costly to eat this way. I’ve decided the problem is four-fold :
1. Not believing how much food can actually do to improve how you feel next week. Either you don’t believe food alone can do that OR the payoff doesn’t outweigh the effort (or it’s more fun to complain). And, after all, you don’t feel that rotten.
2. Feeling you just don’t have time to learn a new way of cooking. Life is too busy as it is. And cancer in 20 years is just too far away to take seriously.
3. You might be like my husband who combines the philosophies of “Nobody’s going to tell me what I can and can’t do” and “I might die tomorrow so I plan to enjoy every minute”. He would prefer not to live with back pain, but he’s not willing to do a thing to prevent it. He’d be anti-cancer if you give him a choice, but he doesn’t really believe the choice is his to make. I tell him he’s 70% wrong but he doesn’t want to hear it.
4. You have to take a little responsibility. That implies that some of this not feeling so good is your fault. And if the diet change doesn’t work, will that be your fault too? so maybe it’s easier to not play the game at all than risk defeat? Pills and supplements… if they don’t work, can you blame the pill?
The thing is, food change works for everybody. Is it going to happen in a week? No way. Pills are what works in a week.
You can’t change your weight in a week with diet. You can’t change your cholesterol in a week either with food alone. But you CAN change it appreciably in 4 or 6 weeks. In the long run, it’s the better thing, the cheaper thing, the safer thing.
I love dessert too
Sometimes you just need sugar, right? Believe me, you’re talking to a woman who gets it. I mean, really gets it. But I don’t need it all the time. Dr. LaPuma’s is not just a world of barley casserole here.
The Ginger Snap Apple Crisp with Sweet Cinnamon and Walnuts : fabulosity.
Warm Spinach Salad with Chicken, Grapes, and Toasted Pecans : So good , and cool to make; it cooks in white grape juice!
The Food As Medicine News is my favorite. Quick bits of information I can absorb into my life. I like the “Do this , don’t do that” style. Like “Add fat to your salad to absorb way more nutrients”. Oh, OK. Avocado and olive oil. Easy.
His blog is in Video format. He’s so into it that you can’t help but get a little excited. Like “yeah, yeah, I can do that”. He CARES about food as medicine like I CARE about skin care. I love this guy.
Can you tell I’m a true believer? Instead of salt and pepper shakers on my table, there are turmeric and pepper shakers. I’m finding places for fresh oregano in just about anything. I’m doing salmon twice a week (Pacific only). We all know about my commitment to quinoa. And I believe I make the Healthiest Smoothie out there, so I’m posting the recipe tomorrow. Wait till you see it! It’s not for everyone, but ChefMD’s recipes are.
In every recipe, as you browse the list, he’ll tell you what is special about the ingredients chosen from a health perspective. The same is true of the weekly recipes that can be delivered to you by email. The Health Tip and Cooking Technique Tip are included.
Some of the recipes are a little too fancy to feed the army of 4 that I have to fill up every day. The techniques are simple but the tastes are a little sophisticated. I have had kids for dinner that squeegee the sauce off each individual spaghetti noodle. So, adapt it. Triple the amounts to last the week and leave out the arugula, or substitute it for another food from that family.
The key is always about gaining knowledge to make better decisions in your daily life. It’s what you do every day that adds up to create the biggest impact. The 30 minute workout you get everyday counts; the hour every 3 weeks barely does. The flossing you do each day makes a big difference. Will the hour at the dentist once a year reverse the 340 days you didn’t floss?
All lasting change begins with learning. It is consummated in baby steps and the awareness that you never have to be perfect.
Make EVERY day count. Time is passing.
-->Since finding Dr. LaPuma through Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks site (see the article Sites To Know : 101 Cookbooks), I find myself visiting ChefMDoften. I get the weekly recipes in my Inbox. I’ve looked at all the video clips and searched inside his latest book, The Big Book Of Culinary Medicine.The Table of Contents knocked my socks off. If there’s a healthy food you’ve wondered about, it’s in here. Now, learn the best way to use it to reap its fullest benefit.
Read moreMeet The Family
September 8, 2008
This link to Shutterfly came my way. You can create your own photo website. It’s easy to do, takes very little time, and it’s free.
In organizing my photos, I thought I’d introduce you to my family.
This is a photo of my sister Sonja, taken in her computer’s PhotoBooth.
Sonja
Mother of 10 year old twins, superb chocolatier, school teaching assistant. Sonja edits the articles in this blog and transforms them from something that made sense to me, into something that could make sense to someone else. Sometimes, she tells me they make no sense at all. She unwinds in her kayak.
Sonja in her kayak.
You met Sonja’s husband, Xavier, in the article The Beauty And Power Of HDR Photographs. Xavier is a fabulous chef, trained in his native France. Presently, he teaches cooking at a college in his town. He Loves His Computer, so we relate on many levels. Besides his cooking skills, his claim to fame inside the family stems from his impressive skills as a travel agent. He’s also the only one of the men who will spend any kind of time at Value Village.
Xavier at the VV.
Here he is on YouTube, for an interview of his school and teaching practices.
My brother Patrick is a father of three whose first words to you on the phone are “Are the tops of the trees moving?”. If they are, it means there’s enough wind to keep a windsurfer afloat. He’s also an expert sailor. His computer is almost physically attached to his body, except when he’s on water.
Patrick Mason
Patrick is the co-owner of Social Media 404. We all know that the social networks provide anyone with an idea or a product to sell with a huge potential market or following. But how do you incorporate that into your daily activity? So you have a Facebook profile or a MySpace page? Should you also be tweeting over at Twitter? Do you belong at LinkedIn? And once you’ve identified your spot, how do you manage the conversation? Patrick, along with his partner John Sheridan, work with individuals and corporations to customize the answers to those question for each application.
Here is Patrick’s beautiful wife, Holly.
Holly
A born hostess, Holly loves to entertain and will never feed you on paper plates. She is famous for her to-truly-die-for brownies and her ability to entertain 20 people in style with an hour’s notice. Holly is mother to her 3 kids, a speech therapist, and tries to fit in her 15 minutes of deep relaxation each day without looking at the clock the entire time. When she asks Patrick how she looks, he will only and invariably answer “As beautiful as the day I married you”. Very wise answer. And I know he really means it.
You met my Mum in the article My Mother Died. Here she is when my parents were married. Does anyone think Patrick and my Dad resemble one another?
My parents in 1960.
And this is my Dad. We made pie for the first time this summer. Here we are, the proud parents of our first pie.
Me and my Dad and our pie.
It was pretty good, though the crust was a little thick. It took us a few tries to figure out how to roll the thing out, with Sonja feeding us tips by phone. Although Apple doesn’t know this, my Dad is their greatest ambassador. He loves his iMac, has tons of pictures in iPhoto, and uses iChat to show us the piece of clothing most recently left behind by his grandchildren, so the parents can identify its rightful owner. Obviously, computer addiction is a genetic trait that his children are similarly afflicted with.
This is my husband Bill on the day we got married.
Bill Scaman
It was October 31, 1992. Bill is a farmer in his heart. He understands the soil, moisture, and the cycle of the seasons in ways he can’t really articulate. I’ve stopped asking what “When the ground is fit” actually means. Small things annoy him… small parts, small cars, small challenges, small risks… . He’s a modern farmer who can work huge acreage with enormous machines, and produce crop yields that are shocking. Other loves include good red wine, BBQ, and TV because he falls asleep almost instantly. He’s had his children sitting on his head to watch Barney because he’s taking up the whole couch, and dripping Popsicle juice down his neck, and he won’t wake up. Turn off the TV or say the word “overflow” anywhere in the house, and he’ll be up like a shot.
-->This link to Shutterfly came my way. You can create your own photo website. It’s easy to do, takes very little time, and it’s free.
In organizing my photos, I thought I’d introduce you to my family.
Top 100 Women’s Health Blogs
August 19, 2008
Health and time … what woman doesn’t relate? These are two of the biggest concerns and interests in the lives of so many women. What if someone could hand you a list of terrific sites about every aspect of health and well-being over 40? It would save you hours and bring something greatly valuable to your life.
Kelly emailed recently to tell me that AGT had been included in Nursing School Search’s list of Top 100 Women’s Health Blogs. I’m sincerely honored.
I am also grateful to have that list because it has done the legwork for all of us. I’ve spent a lot of time at Google Blog Search and other blog directories looking for a list like that one, but been discouraged by the sheer number of results and not finding sites that I felt were written with me in mind.
This list is compiled precisely for women over 40. The topics include nutrition with 11 great blogs, exercise with 10, as well as physical and mental well-being, blogs discussing infertility, pregnancy, and child-rearing, and just being fabulous over 40.
On behalf of all of us, thank you, Kelly!
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Health and time … what woman doesn’t relate? These are two of the biggest concerns and interests in the lives of so many women. What if someone could hand you a list of terrific sites about every aspect of health and well-being over 40? It would save you hours and bring something greatly valuable to your life.
Read moreSites To Know : 101 Cookbooks
July 24, 2008
This site is a blog born of Heidi Swanson’s decision to stop buying cookbooks and explore some of the other recipes in all her books. I think we can all relate.
But listen to the focus of her book, SuperNatural Cooking : natural oils, natural sweeteners and alternatives, uncommon grains, cooking with color.These recipes are remarkable for being delicious and supernaturally healthy.This is how to eat to feel clean, light, and strong.
Sites To Know : Jacquie Lawson E-Cards
June 21, 2008
These are said to be the most elegant e-cards on the web, and they are. These cards are unique and remarkable.
The first card that I saw, indeed that many people saw, was the Christmas card with Jacquie’s dog, Chudleigh. The card is called Christmas Cottage. Chudleigh now has a wide selection of cards and his own about page , as you will see .
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A Greener Tea
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