The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Baby boomers springing forward into spring

The legislature in my state is debating whether to get rid of day light savings time. Arguments include it doesn’t save energy, some people have health effects, and it costs money due to reduced productivity.

For me, my opinion is to keep daylight savings time. I like the increased daylight in the evening. And, while it takes me a couple of weeks to go through the time change, I don’t notice it after that.

Whether daylight savings time or standard time, baby boomers keep on writing. Last week’s articles include:

• Whether baby boomers are leaving the world a better place than they found it.
• The benefits of taking walking tours.
• The challenges of replacing an old TV set.
• The ups and downs of quitting jobs in Connecticut and moving to Florida.
• How to buy a winter coat.

Carol Cassara of Heart·Mind·Soul writes about these articles on the Best of Boomer Blogs #587. Click here to get the links to these articles. And be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2018, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Micromotivators: The guardrails for healthy behavior

By Louis Bezich, Health Care Executive and Author of “Crack the Code”

Guest blogger

What exactly are micromotivators and how do they help people sustain healthy behavior?

Micromotivators are those tiny strategies, feelings, and approaches that keep you on track every day, the guardrails of healthy behavior.

How can micromotivators help us baby boomers get and stay healthy at this stage of our lives?

5 ways that walking outdoors improves your strength

Photo: Unsplash

By Cloe Matheson, Writer

Guest Blogger

The exercise of walking has often fallen by the wayside, shadowed by popular Crossfit enthusiasts and hill runners. However, these days, a daily stroll outside is returning to its rightful place on top of the workout hierarchy.

Walking outdoors is an excellent exercise choice for people who haven’t had time to train hard, are recovering from an injury, or are just starting out on their fitness journey – but also boasts amazing strengthening benefits for the body and mind.

Would you like to feel stronger than you ever have and lower your risks common health problems by up to 40 percent? Discover the following reasons why you should start hitting the pavement on a good old walk.

Boomers offer tips for living

Baby boomers are interested in variety of topics ranging from enjoying retirement to health to fitness. Boomers don’t take life lying down. They’re out there doing things even if they’re just watching the sunset. No matter what, they’re staying active, taking charge of their mental and physical health, and living their best lives.

Rebecca Forstadt-Olkowski of Baby Boomster reports this week’s tips from boomer bloggers. They include:

Boomer bloggers inspired by end-of-summer activities and transitions

It’s hard to believe we now speak of summer – not the official astronomical season but our human timetable – in the past tense.

In my community, the Harbor Day celebration on Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer. This year, the weather was beautiful, as you can see from the photo above. Some years, I’m taking photos in the cold, wind, and rain.

• Tips for how to buy a used car on Labor Day weekend, which also are useful anytime.

• A guide for self-improvement during September, which is Self-Improvement Month.

• The fashion rules we grew up with, including don’t wear white after Labor Day.

Cybex is recalling weight-lifting equipment due to injury hazards

Cybex is recalling about 15,000 Cybex Smith Press plate-loaded weight-lifting equipment.

The weight bar can fall, posing serious injury hazards to the user.

The firm has received 27 reports of injuries, including serious injuries of paralysis and spinal fracture.

This recall involves the Cybex Smith Press model 5340, manufactured and distributed from 1989 through 1993, and model 5341, manufactured and distributed from 1993 through 2009. The models have a weight bar seated between two parallel vertical tracks on latch pins. The weight bar can be moved up and down to perform upper body and lower body exercises.

Are you in an ‘in between’ spot?

Tom Sightings of Sightings Over Sixty says he’s in an "in between" spot. Summer’s almost over, but fall hasn’t yet begun. His children and grandchildren are getting ready to go back to school, and he’s preparing to tutor kids and teach a foreign policy course at the senior center. And, although he just got back from Cape Cod, and he’s already starting to look forward to a trip to South Carolina.

Sightings says perhaps we all are in an "in between" spot.

He reports our boomer blogging group is writing about:

• Nabisco uncaging the animals on the front of the Animal Crackers box.
• Creative websites to inspire you.
• The best gear for a hike when you’re over 60.
• The recipe for healthy bones.
• A new global study that that finds that no amount of alcohol is safe.
• The benefits of hypnotherapy and the power of belief.
• How liminal space, where we feel uncomfortable but hyperaware, occurs at transitions in our lives.

Sightings reports on these articles in the Best of Boomer Blogs #561. Click here to get the links. And, be sure to join the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2018, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Baby boomers muse about travel, food, and enjoying life

It’s summer, and the boomer bloggers in our group are enjoying life and taking it easy – except for Sue Loncaric who lives in Australia. She’s enjoying the middle of winter.

Rebecca Forstadt-Olkowski, our reporter this week, just came back from a trip to the Canadian Rockies where she and her daughter hiked 6.5 miles around Lake Louise. Forstadt-Olkowski said it's an extraordinarily beautiful area with lakes the color of pure turquoise.

She wasn’t the only one traveling. Another boomer blogger is visiting Cape Cod, while a third is touring Alaska.

Other boomer bloggers are writing about chain restaurant food with high calories, salt, and sugar; how creativity helps memory loss; how to give words that really comfort; and thoughts on Muhammed Ali’s famous quote “I am the greatest.”

Forstadt-Olkowski of Baby Boomster writes about these articles on the Best of boomer Blogs #557. Click here to get the links to the articles. And, be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2018, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

The worst chain restaurant meals for 2018

 

The Cheesecake Factory Breakfast Burrito

The Cheesecake Factory’s Breakfast Burrito is the “winner” of the 2018 Xtreme Eating Award for the Worst Way to Start the Day. It’s the nutritional equivalent of seven Sausage McMuffins from McDonald’s. The burrito is one of two Cheesecake Factory items among the awards issued for 2018 by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group.

The Breakfast Burrito is a “warm tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, chicken chorizo, cheese, crispy potatoes, avocado, peppers and onions, over spicy ranchero sauce” that is served with sour cream, salsa, and black beans, according to The Cheesecake Factory. The meal has more than a day’s worth of calories, 2,730; two days’ worth of sodium, 4,630 milligrams; and more than three days’ worth of saturated fat, 73 grams.

“Long gone are the days when a big restaurant meal was an occasional splurge,” said Lindsay Moyer, senior nutritionist for the center. “Americans are eating out more than ever before. So when restaurant chains are serving up 2,000 calories or more on a single plate, it’s easy to see why people continue to struggle with overweight, obesity, and diet-related diseases.”

Baby boomer bloggers share their wisdom

It’s that time again. Boomers bloggers share useful information, wisdom, and just plain interesting thoughts.

Boomers are writing about how to save money on prescription drugs, aging, how bad experiences can turn into good, thriving in life, starting a business overseas, the truth about taxes, how to go through the stages of a job loss, the virtues of tap dancing, and how to face mortality.

Carol Cassara of Heart•Mind•Soul reports on these articles for the Best of Boomer Blogs #542. To get the links, click here. And, be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2018, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist