As I get older I find I have more and more aches and pains and I try to will them away, but that doesn’t always work for me and over the years I have tried many things like crystals, stones, and copper bracelets. If you can name it I probably used it along with a lot of positive thinking and if you believe something will work then it very possibly could and will.

Don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about because I know you’re just like me looking for a cure for something, maybe a natural cure. I know I’ve tried so many things and they just haven’t worked because maybe I didn’t really believe it even though I wanted to. The mind has so much power and  energy and I totally like to see the positive energy work over the negative.

I have seen things work when I was young because my Mother  told me they did and I believed. I have a long scar on my thumb because I stuck it under her knife and she filled it with sugar and stuck a butter knife down the back of my neck my thumb stopped bleeding very quickly and eventually healed without stitches, but I still have the scar. There are a lot of old home remedies that work.

There has been so much talk over the years about magnetic bracelets and necklaces and even magnetic padding for your bed to help with back pains and other illnesses which I totally want. My poor old body needs all of that magnetic energy because of all the abuse over the years. If you have any electronic implanted medical devices like a pacemaker, defibrillator or insulin pump you shouldn’t use magnetic energy though.

Everyone should always check with their doctor before trying anything new.

I hate to admit this, but I am not a huge water drinker. It’s recommended to drink at least 8-12 eight ounce glasses a day and I never manage to get my quota even though I do get water from food also and other liquids. It’s reported that a healthy adult kidney can process at least 15 liters a day, that’s a lot of processing.

I learned the hard way that you should never drink a lot of water at one time you should spread it out through out the day. I was feeling bad a few years ago and Bill told me I was getting dehydrated and that I should drink as much water as possible so what did I do? I stood at the sink and downed so many glasses of water that I actually felt like I was going to burst.

I never knew that drinking water could make you sick, but it can kill you if you drink too much too quickly, it’s called water intoxication and it can cause hyponatremia which is an imbalance of the salts in the blood or electrolytes that can occur when an excessive amount of  water accumulates in the body at a higher rate than it can be excreted this can have a dire effect.

I never knew any of this until I made myself deathly ill and I swelled up like a balloon, it was horrible, but I did learn later how lucky I was because it can cause  brain damage, as well as death, oh wait now I know what’s wrong with my brain sometimes. Our bodies need at least 3 quarts of fluid a day give or take depending on circumstances, but not all at once.

I also add some sea salt to my water now so I don’t run the risk of ever overdosing on water again and causing the electrolytes to become diluted. If you want to find out more simply do a search I should probably read more about it myself, but I don’t ever plan to overload my body with all that water at one time ever again, sometimes even too much of a good thing can hurt you.

I wish I could say that I am a health nut, but sadly all I can attest to is that I’m just a nut. I eat healthier than when I was young, but I’m not a fanatic. I love junk food and when I eat at Subway I convince myself that I’m eating healthy of course when I eat a Whopper from Burger King I really have to do some convincing.

My other unhealthy choices happen to be deep fried foods especially wing dings, but since I eat the celery and use vegetable oil I convince myself that it’s healthy also. They always taste better when I order them at a restaurant and I know it’s because they use those big fryers so they taste better than when I do them at home.

So yesterday we went to Target and guess what I bought? You got it right I bought a T-Fal deep fryer which is so cool and I wasted no time using it as you can tell by the basket and my wing dings were great. I never had any luck with those electric frying pans or even those small deep fryers, but this is great and it’s easy to take apart and strain the oil.

You just need to make sure you keep the level of oil where it’s suppose to be and change it after 8 to 12 uses. Now I can have all those great appetizers at home and they’ll taste just like the ones in the restaurant, like onion rings, fried zucchini, cheese sticks and I can’t wait to see how my fried chicken turns out in this.

We normally use the rotisserie and I know that is much healthier, but sometimes we get hungry for fried chicken, but our cast iron skillet doesn’t fry the way it’s suppose to. We basically eat very healthy, but sometimes I like to feel decadent and splurge because I see no reason to deny myself certain eating pleasures.

I love surfing food blogs and checking out different recipes, but lately I must be hitting blogs from other countries because I don’t recognise any of the items that are being used and if it’s not recognizable then I don’t eat it. I really hate to cook even though I earned a wage cooking because I make too big of a mess although I do try to clean as I go.

I always hated draining those huge deep fryers at work because I always burned myself, but you have to keep them clean and you don’t want to fry fish in your oil because everything will taste fishy afterwards. Well at least now I’ll look forward to preparing a few things because I picked up quite a few useful food ideas working in the restaurant industry, I just hope my T-Fal cooker holds up.

Most women dread getting old and do everything in their power to stop the aging process. Many resort to cosmetic procedures to keep that youthful look, but not everyone can afford botox and surgeries so we make do with anti aging creams and potions and they may help some, but not everyone has the same results. Then we have to contend with menopause and lower hormone levels that add extra fat to our bodies. 

There’s so much information that can be found online about menopause and why we gain that extra weight and of course the main culprit is the lower hormone levels like estrogen which is the female sex hormone and when we go through menopause it stops us from ovulating. The body then tries to find other ways to get the estrogen supply and one way is through fat cells. Lower progesterone levels can cause water retention and bloating for some.

My poor old body has changed so much and I have always dreaded this time of life because I knew if I didn’t take hormone replacements that my body would be trying to convert calories into fat so it could get the estrogen it needs. The bad news is that fat cells aren’t as effective in burning calories so since I have slowed down and I’m not as active my metabolism is much slower.

Also when the testosterone hormone level goes down the body can’t produce as much lean muscle mass from the calories that are consumed and in turn there’s a gradual loss of muscle. Fat cells don’t burn as many calories as the muscle cells so the metabolism then slows down and burns calories much slower. Also the androgen levels (male sex hormone) usually increase causing that middle age spread around the abdomen.

Stress and developing insulin resistance will also make the body produce more fat cells during menopause. There is much literature that can be obtained from your doctor about all the changes that go on in your body. I know many people try using the synthetic or herbal remedies out there and some even swear by them. I have tried a few, but I really can’t say that they helped. Soy products I haven’t tried because I really don’t know if I can stand the smell or taste.

I am woman hear me roar, yep when I turned menopausal that’s definitely when I started roaring. Some women that I have spoke with have had very minor symptoms with menopause and others seem to have them all. I personally haven’t suffered many of the long list that I have read about on some of the forums, but I’ve had my share and I’ll certainly be much happier when it’s over.

There is a history of strokes and heart attacks in my family so I am always looking for information and St. Jude Medical sponsors a site called Heart Library. They have a lot of interactive video’s where patients tell their stories and you can even submit your own plus videos where the doctors explain all about the heart and all kinds of diseases of the heart.

I think you’ll find these video’s are easy to understand and they use language that isn’t over your head. ICD, is a implantable cardioverter defibrillator and I watched and learned all about how it works and why it’s used in cardiac arrest patients. These are very well made video’s and you will learn a lot of information I highly recommend them.

If you know someone that needs more information be sure to tell them about the site above I’m sure they’ll thank-you for it.

There seems to be a huge problem with depression in the elderly and it’s hard to believe that the National Institute of Health says that at least 35 million seniors in America over the age of 65 suffer from depression and at least 2 million from major depression. Many people believe that depression is a natural part of aging, but is that really true? As far as I can see there is nothing natural or normal about depression and no one should have to suffer.

It’s reported that more women at any age has more bouts with depression than men, but I think that’s because men simply haven’t been encouraged to show they have problems and it makes them appear weak if they do. Men have a harder time sharing than women do, but if you know the signs to look out for then you can easily tell when depression is present. I know when I was being treated for depression the women always out numbered the men. It seems depression for men is something to keep silent about.

As we get older it does seem that there are more unique circumstances to concern ourselves with because of numerous health issues that occur from aging, chronic pain and for many loss of independence. Our seniors from the generation they grew up in were taught to take it like a man and keep your personal issues to yourself and weren’t encouraged to talk about their feelings so as we all know many of the older seniors feel very uncomfortable doing so.

There is a wide assumption held that the aging process naturally causes a person to slow down, which in many cases it does, but just because your aging doesn’t mean you should lose interest in activities that once gave you joy. Many things can cause bouts of depression like prescription medications, declining financial situations, self-image issues brought on by surgery or disease. Feeling like you’ve lost your purpose in life because your children are grown.

Many feel because they no longer hold down a job that they have nothing left to contribute and these things can increase the risk of depression in seniors. Many doctors that treat the older seniors tend to concentrate on physical ailments and don’t always see the signs of depression that they might be suffering from like loneliness and feelings of hopelessness especially if they have lost their companion of decades.

Thank goodness the Baby Boomers are staying more active unlike our older seniors who were taught to keep it all inside, even despite the raging depression among the older seniors you will still see a majority that stay active and enjoy their lives up into their 70’s and 80’s and despite what health officials tell us we are living a lot longer these days and there is no reason that our elders should suffer depression because they feel isolated and alone.

We should all practise a few acts of random kindness toward our older generation. Make a point to say a few kind words to that old lady that has a house full of cats or that mean old grumpy man that never has any family or visitors around, you may be surprised at how much a little kindness could make such a big difference in another human life especially if they are elderly and feel isolated and alone.