Make sure that you and your spouse have individual as well as common goals. Just as you personally can feel lost without knowing what your purpose is or having something worthwhile to pursue in life, so can your relationship suffer without goals to strive toward. Name your goals for how much money you’d like to retire with and vacations you’d like to take together, for example. In making these goals, your imagination is the limit!
First, remember that it’s never too late to start. No matter your age or your fitness level, you can get started now and soon see your work pay off. Remember, though, to check with your doctor before starting an exercise regime if you’re currently experiencing any health conditions such as high blood pressure.
Start off gently. In your first workouts, remember you’re a beginner and don’t overdo it. Start off by warming up and stretching every time you exercise, and gently cool off after each work out as well.
Find what works for you. What really gets you going? Do you like to go for a jog with the dogs and reflect upon your day, or do you prefer competitive games with others such as one-on-one basketball? There are a variety of ways to get exercise, and every woman is different—going to the gym, doing laps in your pool, or working out to DVDs. Discovering the ways you love to get active can be lots of fun.
Studies show that keeping variety in your exercise is the key to keeping your body challenged and keeping you interested in working out. How would you like to eat the same thing for dinner every night? Exercise isn’t very different.
Make sure to have a high-protein snack of about 200 calories before your workout in order to stay energized, and drink water before, during, and after your workout. Taking your multi-vitamin and supplements such as calcium and magnesium will deliver to the body the nutrients it needs for exercise. A healthy diet and exercise go hand in hand.
With the above tips, soon you’ll be enjoying a regular exercise regimen just like I do—as well as the incredible benefits such as increased happiness, more energy, and improved self-esteem.
Tina Turbin
In order to keep your marriage strong, I recommend using a positive attitude in your relationship. Treating your spouse how you would like to be treated is generally the way to shape your attitude. Put a stop to blame and criticism and start paying attention to your partner’s good points and compliment these strengths. You will get more of what you support with positive remarks. You’ll often find a debate will go much more smoothly when you refrain from criticism and stay positive in how you approach the subject. For example, if you need to iron out a financial disagreement, begin by telling your partner that you know how hard he works to make money and or how skilled he is with managing finances. When he tells you his standpoint, make an effort to understand where he’s coming from and tell him that you see what he is saying. Maybe he’s right, after all. Just by being respectful and positive, you may find your spouse will be much more agreeable to compromising with you or will adopt your suggestion altogether.
Related to being more positive in the way you interact with your partner, be sure to adopt a positive frame of mind about your marriage in general. What is that you really love about your partner? It could be how hard he works at his business or even something like how he still gives you his pickle at lunchtime when you go out for sandwiches, showing his thoughtfulness and how well he knows you and your love for pickles. You’ll find that you’ll start seeing him doing right more often than before because you’ll be tuned to seeing his strong points.
Tina Turbin
You know what a difference it makes when you’re well-rested. How much sleep you get can make or break your day and also your health. However, sometimes no matter how early you hit the hay, getting a restful sleep can be tough, especially as you age. There have been times when healthy sleep eluded me, but luckily I’ve learned a few things about how to get a healthy sleep naturally, and now I’m happy to say that it is rare that I don’t catch a solid night of peaceful sleep.
About 70 million Americans experience sleep problems ranging from chronic sleep disorders to sporadic sleep troubles. Studies show that just one night of insufficient sleep can affect memory, productivity, and even the ability y to carry on a regular conversation. As a writer, researcher, and humanitarian, with several radio interviews a week, I can’t afford to not be at my mental peak, and chances are you can’t either. Long-term sleep deprivation can have serious effects such as higher risk for high blood pressure, depression, heart attack, decreased immunity, obesity, and diabetes. As you can see, getting enough sleep should be as much a part of your health regimen as eating well and exercising are!
Tina Turbin
Women often approach me with the question of how I’ve been able to enjoy so much success in my professional life as a children’s author and researcher as well as in my personal life as a mother and wife. I attribute my enriched life to my personal goal setting, a fundamental activity which is the basis of everything I do.
Goal setting is the bridge between your vision of your ideal future and actually living your ideal future. When you set goals right, you are actually taking the first step in turning your vision into a reality, motivating you and allowing you to take the practical steps in your life necessary to achieve your dreams. Goal setting techniques are used by top-level athletes, successful businessmen, and high achievers in all fields, giving them short-term motivation and long-term vision. With goal setting, your dreams are attainable.
Tina Turbin
Boomers these days are looking to strengthen their heart with regular cardiovascular exercise while avoiding the wear and tear on joints that such exercise can cause. The answer is to look for low-impact exercise that works the heart while at the same time preserving your joints. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends 3-5 days of cardio for about 30-60 minutes. A regular routine of cardio exercise has many benefits, such as weight loss, stronger heart and lungs, increased bone density, reduced stress, and reduced risk of heart disease, some cancers, and depression and anxiety. It also boosts mood, reduces stress, improves the quality of sleep, and increases energy, among other advantages. With so many benefits, no wonder why so many boomers are getting into a regular routine of cardio exercise!
It’s important, however, to choose low-impact exercise which is gentler on the joints, especially if you suffer from arthritis. Low impact doesn’t mean low intensity, though. Low-impact exercise can be quite intense when you increase the energy in your moves. Luckily, there are a variety of low-impact choices available for boomers to choose from.
Tina Turbin
You’ve probably heard me talking about the health and longevity benefits of volunteering. Now people are asking me how to get started. First, volunteer at a local organization doing something you enjoy that you feel is important to the community. Studies show that people who volunteer at two or more organizations have a forty-four percent lower death rate than those who don’t volunteer at all. These results are comparable to the effects of exercising four times a week. Not only are you helping others, but also, just as in exercise, you’re boosting your body’s immune system with your good works. As someone who cares passionately about women’s issues, family issues, and children’s issues such as kids misdiagnosed or children’s literacy, it wasn’t hard to find several organizations to work with. Find something you care about, whether it’s reading to children or elderly care, and you’ll be able to find work which will bring you a high level of satisfaction. In no time, you’ll find yourself actively involved in activities that will improve your health and will help others!
Tina Turbin
A passionate literacy advocate, I was alarmed by the literacy statistic among the deaf, and now I’ve begun raising support for education for deaf children. Upon the release of my Danny the Dragon DREAMS, the proceeds of my Danny the Dragon DVD, which features a signed reading of the book for deaf children, will be donated to the local deaf children’s school, Blossom’s Montessori School for the Deaf in Clearwater, Florida. I’m very happy that I’m able to do something to improve deaf education!
Tina Turbin
Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does—television, that is. One of the best decisions I made years ago for myself and for my family was to cut down on television drastically. At first this may seem like a daunting task, but with a few simple tips, parents find it’s much easier than they suspected it would be.
First of all, there is the matter of reducing the amount of TV your family watches to just a few shows a week. In order to do this, I recommend a family meeting to discuss your goals as a family and as individuals. Then take an honest look at what everyone is getting out of television. Everyone will agree that they should watch less TV and spend more time pursuing their own goals. With a meeting like this, your kids and spouse will be much more likely to go along with their new lifestyle of less TV because they’ll understand the reason behind it.
I highly recommend implementing a service such as TiVo ® to help keep TV watching to a minimum. After deciding on the reasons for watching less TV, each family member can decide on a handful of shows to watch together as a family, plus a personal favorite or two, to watch only during designated watching times—Friday nights or Sunday afternoons, for example.
Finally, come up with stimulating alternatives. Take the kids to the library or play board games. Have larger, longer family dinners at the table. Keeping everyone busy will get their minds off this missing element in their lives. I highly recommend using this time to get the kids to strengthen their reading skills and develop a strong interest in reading. Soon you might find that your family—gasp!—may prefer reading over watching TV.
Tina Turbin
A trend that has taken off among baby boomers is foregoing malls and shopping centers in favor of online stores. In my busy work as an author, researcher, and humanitarian, as well as a mother, I find that shopping online is an invaluable, convenient tool in saving money and time and in obtaining hard-to-find items. You should give it a try as an alternative or addition to your regular shopping.
Tina Turbin
