50plus Life Design

Mental decline is not inevitable!

Have you ever worried about losing your faculties as you age?

  Do you consider that mental decline is inevitable and dread the onset of dementia?  Certainly you will not be alone in your worries because the subject is in the media constantly.  However, whereas the media and scientists have focused on the probability of decline, a recent study has focused on how we can curtail it or even reverse it by very simple means. 

A study involving the observation of 2,500 people as they passed through their seventies and eighties was carried out and the participants were put through a series of memory tests over an eight year period.
 
The tests revealed that 50% of the participants were experiencing memory decline expected for their age and 16% were experiencing a major decline.  However 30% of the participants were experiencing no decline at all and in fact, some of them were showing signs of actual improvement.

It’s never too late to start working out

It has been shown time and time again that you can regain not just muscle strength but bone density late in life by doing a little weight bearing exercise.  You may not want to become a late-life body builder like our heroine below, but you can certainly increase your likelihood of remaining healthy and independent for much longer.  See the end of this article for tips on how to begin your fitness journey.  In the meantime, enjoy our story …

Fourteen years ago, when Marjorie Newlin was 72, her neighborhood supermarket had 50-pound bags of kitty litter on sale. Without anyone to help her carry the bags back to her house, she struggled mightily under the load. Never a particularly athletic woman, but staunchly independent, she decided that she had to do something about her deteriorating physical capabilities.

New Year Resolutions : Reflective thoughts

It’s turned midnight on January 4th and I’ve just finished ploughing through the last few days’ received e-mails to ensure I’ve answered everyone’s good wishes or enquiries and whilst lounging here with my lap top I’ve had a flash of inspiration about the one New Year Resolution I shall make and keep every year without fail.

At this time of change and fresh starts and clean slates it’s really important to recognise what’s been sabotaging my efforts to make changes in my life up to now.  So my resolution is to reflect on the year gone by and look for patterns of behaviour that are automatic but which do not serve me.  I shall no doubt discover limiting beliefs ... they must be there or life would be hunky dory in every respect and it’s not.  There are improvements to be made and some of them have been waiting an awfully long time.  Why?  Because I’ve been holding myself back with excuses, fears and procrastination.

So, "I, Bee Milbourn, resolve to reflect each year-end on the patterns of thought and action that have prevented me from being all I can be and I resolve to do whatever it takes to change those patterns for the better."

What about you?  What do you see when you look back over your year?  Are you doing the same old thing over and over again but expecting a different result?

I hope not ... but do think about it.

Best wishes
Bee

New Year Thoughts on Last Orders at the Café Royal

It came as a shock last week when I heard on the news that the famous Café Royal in London’s Regent Street was closing its doors forever.

What’s more the shock itself came as a surprise in its own right because it had the feeling of a bereavement – not the black debilitating grief that takes hold when we lose a close friend or loved one, but the regret that we feel when we hear of the passing of a distant aunt or uncle who we once loved but have neglected for years.

A sense of loss like a door closing firmly and forever.

 ‘The Café’ was the start of my real working life, first as a chef in the hot sweaty subterranean cellars, briefly even deeper down in the icy wine cellars where thousands of excellent vintage wines waited patiently for their maturity. Eventually I rose to the dizzy heights of a penguin suited  Banqueting Manager. 

Does Smoking really affect your Sex Life?

Does smoking affect your sex life?

Lets face it Boys and Girls, when you come to our age sex can be a great experience. We’ve had the opportunity to learn so much about what gives our partner pleasure, shyness is usually yesterday’s issue and we probably have more time and fewer interruptions. So it’s not fair that just when the ducks are all in a row – grrrrrrrrrrrrr  we still have the desire but all too often seem to have lost the ability.

Lots of things affect that of course but if you or your partner smoke you would be right to assume that smoking is something which hugely affects one's sex life. In fact, several recent studies have looked at exactly this question in regard to male impotence at all ages and found that there’s a link between smoking and difficulties having an erection.

Re-Inventing yourself to beat the Credit Crunch!

One thing is constant and certain in our lives – and that’s change! 

The current economic market has brought about some harsh realities in lost jobs; shorter hours; smaller pensions and increasing prices.  Are you going to wallow in doom and gloom or are you going to re-invent yourself to bring about a new prosperity?

It seems life has required me to re-invent myself every few years for a different role and the current recession has encouraged me to expand my portfolio even further.

I’ve been a, student, garden designer, teacher, home make-over consultant,  mother, wife, divorcee, hypnotherapist, stop smoking consultant, neuro linguistic trainer,  psychotherapist, inspirational speaker, life coach, consultant … and now a network-marketer.

I thought that I would reach some magic time around my mid 50s when my finances and circumstances would allow me to sit back and smell the chocolate ....  well, I'm nearly there. 

LIFE GETS IN THE WAY

John Lennon has oft been quoted as saying “Life’s what happens while you’re busy making other plans”

This has been the way with Tony and I lately and it has stopped us chatting with you as regularly as we would like.

Many over 50's have the same sort of distractions to deal with.

My Mum and Dad have been poorly and live over 80 miles away.  Tony’s Mum is 85 and recently had a fall which fractured her hip.  She hated being in hospital and was very traumatised.  When she was eventually discharged she was very confused and it has taken weeks to help her settle back into her own home.  Tony has put up ‘grab bars’ and re-arranged furniture, removed rugs and other dangers, organised easy ways for her to do everything and talked with Age Concern and Social Services to get the necessary help for her.  She is beginning to settle back in but hates strangers coming into her home.

Book of the Month Winner, Where are you?

We love to inspire you with a new book each month.  It's free!  No charge!  No catch!  But where are you my winners?

Every month I pick a winner at random from the names on our subscription list and I write to that person telling them they've won ... nothing happens.  I don't receive a reply and they don't receive their book. 

This is happening with our current book "The Virgin Green Guide".  I've tried two subscribers so far and .... I shall write to another tomorrow if I haven't heard from them.

Why might this happen?

Well if you haven't put our e-mail info@thelifedesignstudio on your "Safe Senders'" list my good news might go straight into your SPAM box.

So please make sure you can receive our e-mails or your winnings might just go to someone else!!

Wishing you health, wealth and happiness ... plus oodles of inspiration

Bee

Is Laughter the Best Medicine? | How to Keep that heart attack at bay

When was the last time you had a really good laugh?  Do you laugh every day?  Once a week ... a month?  There's lots of evidence to prove how good laughter is for our health and wellbeing.

Where do you Start?

Where do you start if you're out of practice with laughter?  Where can you find inspiration?  Often in our 50s we've got to a stage in our lives where the kids have grown up, the grandchildren are not on the scene yet and life can be a bit serious.

GROW OLD DISGRACEFULLY : PHOTO COMPETITION

What a wonderful idea!   Here is your inspiration to let your hair down and have some serious fun!

I found this competition on Mature Times Online and there are loads of other competitions there too for books, CDs and holidays, so do pay it a visit and take your pick.

Here’s the official competition blurb for you ...

To celebrate the United Nations Day of Older Persons on 1st October, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is launching a photographic competition to showcase the digital photographic skills of older people.  The theme for the photographs will be “Growing old disgracefully”.