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Joan’s Boomer Blog

Helping Boomers Find Wealth, Health and Happiness in the Second Half of Life

Archive for the ‘Book Reviews’ Category

Book Review: The Healing Code by Dr. Alex Lloyd

Posted by JE Jones on Jul-1-2010

he Healing Code by Dr. Alex Lloyd seems to be everywhere lately. Any book promising to help heal the source of any health, relationship or success issue was a book I had to read. The

Order your copy today!

The Healing Code is a new book by Dr. Lloyd and Dr. Ben Johnson which presents their astonishingly effective 6 minute healing code process which, according to those who use it daily, is nothing short of miraculous.

As I near age 60, every trip to the doctor seems to bring hints of health issues to come. I’ve had a strange tingling sensation throughout my body for the past 3 years which no medical person has been able to help me with. I am literally never sick, but recently contracted a severe case of bronchitis. A chest xray showed “chronic bronchitis” and thinning of the bones. Joy, Joy!

I currently take no medications of any sort. The nurse at the clinic I go to said I was her first patient who, at may age, didn’t have a bagful of pills. I can see though, that in future, medical doctors are going to do their best to convince me I need drugs to survive.

The Healing Code by Alex Lloyd fits into the alternative medicine category and offers a totally unique system of healing code points that have never been used before now. It’s different acupuncture, EFT, or other methods you may have tried.

How does this healing code process work? Using it eliminates the negative emotions and thoughts that are holding you back from success, health, or whatever you want in life. Once you eliminate these negatives, you body can heal, you are free live a creative, abundant life. And you don’t even have to know exactly what these issues are for the system to work.

The process can also help with many issues. It can help you achieve goals you have, find success and fulfillment in many areas of your life.  Doing this simple 6 minute healing code process daily is a powerful technique to build your immune system, help you with any health or relationship issue, eliminate stress, or become more successful and abundant.

One thing I really appreciated about The Healing Code is that once you purchase your copy on Amazon, you can register it on The Healing Code Book website. Once you’ve done this, you receive free gifts and a detailed test which will personalize the healing code process for you and help you define what you should work on with the practice. There is also an informative newsletter that goes along with the registration if you want one.

The Healing Code also offers extensive information on:

The Seven Secrets of Life, Health, Prosperity

A Ten second technique to eliminate daily stress

The heart Issues Finder, that personalized test I mentioned which helps you identify your own source issues.

The Healing Code by Dr. Alex Lloyd and Dr. Ben Johnson is something new and different to help you heal the issues in your life, whether they are to do with health, money, relationships or any issue that is holding you back from being all you can be in your life. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Whatever issues you have in your life, you owe it to yourself to try this simple process.

Order your own copy today from Amazon and see what The Healing Codes can do for you.


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Jeff Yeager’s Guide to Ultimate Cheapskate Living

Posted by JE Jones on Jun-22-2010


Being called a cheapskate used to be an insult but now guides to cheapskate living are some of the most

The Ultimate Cheapskate by Jeff Yeager

The Ultimate Cheapskate by Jeff Yeager

popular money saving books published. Voluntary simplicity has become a lifestyle to be proud of and Jeff Yeager’s The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less is one of the most useful books on cheapskate living that I’ve come across.

If you’re interested in downsizing, saving money and learning to embrace the voluntary simplicity lifestyle, Jeff Yeager’s book about becoming the Ultimate Cheapskate yourself, can be a wise investment.

Do you get enjoyment from buying “things?” Do you tend to buy as an emotional choice? Perhaps you’re stuck in a good paying, but unfulfilling job and buy things, telling yourself “Why not buy stuff? I earn it?” Do you have large credit card debt and were wishing you had none? The Ultimate Cheapskate can help!

I’ve been following the advice of Jeff Yeager for nearly 30 days and I’ve found that many of the purchases I made before were not things I really needed. I love to shop and I pride myself on finding the best prices but when you embrace voluntary simplicity, you learn that it is possible to spend zero money in a week, that being debt free brings more enjoyment than buying things and that being free of “things” brings freedom and fulfillment to your life.

In America, we are bombarded with commercials just about every minute of the day. We are convinced by smart marketers that if we buy their product we will be happier and more fulfilled. If you become an ultimate cheapskate like Jeff Yeager, you can find that not spending money brings even more fulfillment - your quality of life will increase, rather than decrease with each dollar you don’t spend. Plus the book is written in a humorous, lively style that makes it a pleasure to read.

If you’re looking for ways to be happier by spending less money, whether because you’re forced to or because you see it as a better option in life, then The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less can help you live in voluntary simplicity in a totally painless way. Order through Amazon for less than $10, plus the order qualifies for free shipping. What a cheapskate deal!

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Joan’s Boomer Blog - Joining the Green Smoothie Revolution

Recently my husband and I joined the Green Smoothie Revolution and I wanted to blog about how Green Smoothies can help baby boomers. Many people I’ve met who are passionate about Green Smoothies are young mothers who want to improve their family’s nutrition. Boomers and seniors like me are concerned with healthy aging - maintaining optimal health as we get older. We are experiencing health issues such as arthritis, high cholesterol and maybe diabetes.Maybe we don’t maintain our weight as easily as we used to.

As we age, our bodies don’t take in and use nutrients this they did, leaving us vulnerable to a lowered immune system and results of aging. Can green smoothies help us aging boomers get more out of life?

Why Drink Green Smoothies?

What is your normal daily diet? Do you eat processed foods (foods that come in a package and are full of unpronounceable ingredients?) Do you eat lots of cooked foods, with maybe a small salad for dinner to get your “greens?” Do you have health issues?

Believe me, the health issues are intimately tied to you daily diet. Green smoothies can offer whole, raw veggies like broccoli, kale, Swiss Chard, and mustard greens. You can even throw beet and carrot greens in to your green smoothie recipe so you waste less food. AND these foods are uncooked which is important because cooking often destroys many of the nutrients in our veggies.

Since the foods are blended, the super nutrition is more readily available to your body to increase energy, boost your immune system, help you lose weight and be healthier. Green Smoothies are quick and convenient too, once you get your foods and a powerful blender. They keep for up to 48 hours in the frig so you can make them ahead of time.

Since I decided to start making Green Smoothies for my husband and me, I wanted to blog about the experience, offering recipes and tips to get you started and to let you know what Green Smoothies can do for healthy aging.

Many of my friends already are green smoothie converts. They’ve told me they experience:

  • more energy
  • improved digestion, including more regular bowel movements and soft stools
  • fewer cravings for sugar and processed foods
  • improved, more stable moods
  • weight loss - an average of over 17lbs!
  • increased desire to exercise (couldn’t we all use that!)

Others report less pain from arthritis, improved sex drive, less stress, shinier hair, stronger fingernails and smoother, clearer skin tone. All this after only 30 days on green smoothies!

How Much Green Smoothie Do You Need to Drink?

Optimum consumption is about one quart a day, four or more days per week but you can start with less.

Green smoothies are a lifestyle change. I’m going to start growing sprouts, making kefir, growing spinach and making lots of dietary changes. Check back in coming days to see how the green smoothie revolution is working out for this baby boomer.

Once I decided to embark on the Green Smoothie lifestyle, my next step was to research blenders. Green smoothies do require more power than your average smoothie blender. I look at all of them, read reports and asked friends who are already making green smoothies. Find out tomorrow which blender met the challenge.

More Green Smoothie Information and Recipes

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Easy Ways to Jumpstart Your Metabolism

Posted by JE Jones on Mar-21-2010



Boost Your Metabolism with these Easy Tips

As we get older, our metabolism slows, which is one reason we gain weight as we age. You can speed up your metabolism, however, by following some simple tips.

Our metabolism is the rate at which our bodies burn calories and a slower metabolism means that weight creeps up on us as we age. Weight gain as we age leaves us vulnerable to supposed “old age” diseases like heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, arthritis and more. Speeding up our metabolism is the key to keeping our weight down.

So how can you speed up your metabolism?

Hate to say it but exercise, of course, is the number one way to speed up metabolism. Not only does your metabolism speed up during exercise but for several hours after a cardio workout - so you get double the increase in your fat burning if you exercise. Plus, muscle burn more calories than fat so having more lean muscle increases metabolism too.

Drink water - a well hydrated body runs more smoothly and burns calories for efficiently.

Drink more green tea. Green tea not only offers health benefits but also increases metabolism.

Try Deep Breathing - Deep Breathing is one very easy way to boost metabolism. Read Jumpstart Your Metabolism: How To Lose Weight By Changing The Way You Breathe for some easy tips on deep breathing. Most of us only breath shallowly, not using all of our lung capacity. Deep breathing not only helps boost metabolism but increases energy and good health and relieves stress.

Add these metabolism boosting spices to your daily diet.

Spices like cayenne, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon all boost metabolism. Adding them to your daily diet also helps protect your body from diseases like cancer. Turmeric is also good for inflammation leading to arthritis, ginger is good for nausea and indigestion and cinnamon helps lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. So far as is known, there are no adverse effects to adding these spices to your diet either.

Other Recommended Reading on boosting your metabolism:

Read more about superfoods which help boost metabolism.

Read Ultrametabolism: A Simple Plan for Automatic Weightloss by Dr. Mark Hyman

UltraMetabolism Recipes - 200 Recipes to boost metabolism

WebMd - Make the Most of Your Metabolism

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Who is John Galt? Get Your T Shirt & Bumper Sticker Today

Who is John Galt? This is the opening line of Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged and throughout the book, this question is asked and that question is being asked again today when we could use a  John Galt. I read Atlas Shrugged many years ago and over those years, it has popped into my head hundreds of times. What’s funny is that I’ve begun seeing “Who is John Galt?” bumper stickers and t shirts popping up too.

Written in 1957, Atlas Shrugged asks the question “What if all the creative minds went on strike?” As socialism and socialistic ideas destroyed people and society, it stole people’s will to take care of themselves and turned them into users, always demanding more from those providing it. The individual capitalist, the businessman is used to support the rotten system but reviled and hated at the same time.  John Galt steps in and persuades the thinkers, the businessmen and the doers to just leave and let the system fall so they can step back in and rebuild it.

Ayn Rand grew up in Russia during the Revolution and saw the rise of Communism there. Her books, like Atlas Shrugged, the Fountainhead and We the Living, all grew out of her experiences and her belief in Capitolism. If you haven’t read Atlas Shrugged, I’d highly recommend it. See if you can find parallels to our life today.

The first time I saw a “Who is John Galt” bumper sticker, I couldn’t help thinking how relevant that question is today. My next thought was “I want a John Galt bumper sticker AND a John Galt t shirt.” Strangely enough, a good friend of mine sent me a link to the John Galt Gift Store.

This website offers John Galt t shirts, John Galt bumper stickers and anything John Galt, as well as memorabilia for other Ayn Rand books such as the Fountainhead and We the Living. You can get a Reardon Steel t shirt or a Howard Roark t shirt.

Reading all the quotes on the t shirts and bumper stickers, brought back memories of what I liked about Ayn Rand’s books. My daughter is an architect so she’s getting a Howard Roark t shirt that says, “The question is not who is going to let me, but who is going to stop me.”

If you remember John Galt, check out the John Galt Gift Store.

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Anti Aging Review - Younger Next Year

Posted by JE Jones on Jan-26-2010


Anti Aging Review - Younger Next Year

I bought the book, Younger Next Year for Women Live Like You’re 50 - Strong, Fit, Sexy - Until You’re 80 and Beyond -

Younger Next Year
Younger Next Year

about 3 years ago and it is by far the most motivating book on diet and exercise that I’ve ever read. I read it cover to cover in a few sittings and made some antiaging fitness changes to my life.

After reading Younger Next Year, I joined the YMCA and started taking fitness classes and I increased my daily walk to one hour, using a wrist watch heart monitor to track my heart rate. I lost 15 pounds and went from a size 10 to a size 8. I was thrilled!

However, like anything else, I found myself slipping. I still go to the Y and have started taking yoga classes too but I decided to get out Younger Next Year and re-read it for more anti aging motivation.

Authors Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry S. Lodge, MD, advocate exercise and lots of it to ward off the effects of aging and decay. As they say, aging is mandatory in life but decaying is not! Seventy percent (or even more according to some experts) of how well we age is due to our own lifestyle choices! Think of that! Would you like to be energetic, mentally alert and healthy until you die? Even if you die at 100 years of age? I believe if you follow the Younger Next Year program, you can achieve that goal of a healthy old age.

If you’re over age 50, then fitness after 50 is essential! Either move or rot, as the authors tell us. There is lots of great advice in this book too on how to eat - not dieting to lose weight either - that gives lots of motivation to drop the “crap” that is not good for us and our health.

This book really changed many things in my life - changes I’ve stuck with, like the exercise classes. I have to admit I did let a few pounds creep up over the past year so I’m back to the program. I truly believe that eating a good diet and exercising are the key to anti-aging health. I am approaching 60 this year and my heart, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar are ultra-healthy. I feel energetic and mentally alert.

To keep me motivated to do a little more, I purchased a pedometer to count my 10,000 steps a day. If you hit the treadmill for about 45 minutes a day, you have no trouble getting your steps in either.

If you’re looking for motivation on your quest for fitness after 50, then I highly recommend Younger Next Year to help you along.

There is also a Younger Next Year for Men and a Younger Next Year Journal: Start Now and Live the Promise Day-by-Day too.

More information on the Younger Next Year program and to join their community.

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Excuses Begone in the New Year!

Posted by JE Jones on Jan-2-2010



I watched Wayne Dyer on the PBS station talking about his new book, Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits. This 3 hour presentation was a perfect way to begin my new year. Manyu Baby Boomers have excuses for not achieving their goals based on age. Are you using any of these excuses for not creating a better life:

  • It will take too long - At my age, I don’t have time!
  • It will be too late to change now
  • I’ve always been this way
  • It’s too risky to try at may age

Louise Hay wrote her first inspirational book at age 61. Wayne Dyer himself is in his late 60’s and still speaking, writing and motivating people. What is too old anyway? As for being too late - do you plan to die tomorrow? If you don’t, then it’s never too late to live a better life for whatever years you have left?

I think seniors especially need to read Excuses Begone. You may have spent your entire life making excuses for not achieving what you want in life and by now, after multiple failures in life, you believe it’s not possible to change now and live a better life.

What do you want to achieve in the new year? Do you have a medical issue you want to heal? Do you want to retire? Do you want to volunteer more and work less? Would you like to lose weight, write a book, have a more loving relationship with your family? All these things are possible if you get rid of the excuses that have been holding you back.

In his book, Wayne Dyer goes over the 18 most common excuses, sent to him by his readers, people like you. He goes over each one and helps you look at the excuse, and your thoughts about it, in an entirely new way. Using this new perspective, Dyer offers a plan for you to over come the excuses and achieve whatever goals you may have.

One of Wayne Dyer’s books, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, literally changed my life, helping me to be happier and have more loving relationships in my life. That was the first of his books that I read and since then, I’ve read all the others. They’ve helped me to set out a plan for my life and achieve what I think is important for my happiness.

The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Make your first step reading Excuses Begone and you can then lay out a blueprint for the rest of your journey to the life you’d really like to live. At our age, we don’t have a single day to waste on excuses!

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Support Your RV Lifestyle - Book Review

Posted by JE Jones on Dec-29-2009



Want to retire and live the RV lifestyle? Full time RVing can be a rewarding way to spend retirement,

Support Your RV Lifestyle by Jaimie Hall

Support Your RV Lifestyle by Jaimie Hall

filled with fun and adventure. My husband and I are planning for full time RV living as soon as he retires in a year or so. Although people of all ages would love to live the RV life, retirees and others also need to make money on the road. Believe it or not, there are many ways to so this.

When we began our search for ways to support full time RVing, I purchased Jaimie Hall’s book Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider’s Guide to Working on the Road, 2nd Edition I highly recommend this book at a great RV lifestyle resource. Jaimie interviewed full time RVers for over 10 years and put together their tips and advice for working on the road.

It’s possible to take your job with you using her recommendations and resources. First, you need to evaluate how much money you need to make, what sorts of qualifications you already have for making money on the road and setting goals for yourself.

Hall covers setting up your own business that you can take with you while RVing, like writing, or how to find jobs at campsites, state parks or through tourism bureaus or temporary or seasonal work for RVers. She even has a section on managing your RV expenses and lifestyle considerations which are taken from stories told to Hall by other RVers.

The resources for those who want to live the RV lifestyle are worth the price of the book. Get a complete listing of state parks and tourism offices, tax information, grocery shopping and budget work sheets, websites for job searches, budgeting, using computers on the road, how to do a job search for the type of job you want, how to get hired at parks or resorts and so much more! I refer to this book again and again in our planning.

Since I like to write, I am already planning an RV blog about our travels. If you’d like to make money blogging about your experiences or some aspect of the RV lifestyle, visit the The Niche Blogger - a terrific resource that I used to help me set up my five money-making blogs. The Niche Blogger is a subscription site but you can learn all you need to learn in about 3 months of the subscription. You can cancel at any time and keep reusing the information to set up more blogs.

Jaimie Hall also has a free ezine and blog about her RV lifestyle experiences.

At present, my husband and I are RV shopping and downsizing our possessions so we can hit the road in another year. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

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I love to get creative at holiday time and one way to be creative and save money too is to make my

Gifts from the Kitchen

Gifts from the Kitchen

own gifts from the kitchen. That also happens to be the name of one of my favorite books to use this time of year called. Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen

Here’s one of my favorite gifts to give from my kitchen - these Holiday Spiced Nuts. Everybody on my gift list loves them and they are also a hit at our annual family Christmas party. Seniors on your gift list will love the idea that you made this gift yourself.

Ingredients for Holiday Spiced Nuts

1 c whole almonds
1 c blanched peanuts
1 c sugar
1/4 c butter or margarine
1-1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (6 oz)
1/2 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp salt, if desired

Directions

Using a heavy skillet, cook all ingredients over medium heat, stirring frequently until sugar is melted and has turned a golden brown – about 15 minutes.

Stir to make sure all nuts are evenly coated, then spread them out on waxed paper and let them cool.

Break these holiday spiced nuts into clusters of 2 or 3 nuts each.

This recipe yields about 3 cups.

Wrap in food grade plastic and tie with a holiday ribbon and give as a gift or add to a foodie gift basket.

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Gift Ideas for Seniors - Yoga DVDs for Those Over 50

Posted by JE Jones on Sep-22-2009

A healthy gift idea for the baby boomer on your list is a yoga DVD put together especially for the over 50 crowd. I started out doing yoga years ago with Lilias Folan, who used to have an AM Yoga program on PBS. This AM and PM Workout for Seniors is terrific! It offers a complete routine to start and end the day and it’s gentle enough for those just starting out.

Regular use of the AM portion of the yoga workout for seniors will help to increase energy and vitality, increase flexibility and range of motion for joints, helps build a strong back and helps to clear the mind and improve balance. The PM portion is especially designed to help relax the body and promote sound sleep, as well as sooth tension held in the back, neck and shoulder muscles. It is also a wonderful total body stretch with helps increase flexibility.

After just a couple of weeks practicing this senior yoga, the body feels more relaxed, more balanced and more energetic.

Here are a couple more yoga DVD programs designed especially with seniors in mind.

offers gentle stretches to promote flexibility.

  • Candy you ate as a kid® Wax Lips, Candy Buttons, Wax Bottles, Candy Cigarettes and more fresh candies from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. This company sells lots of retro and nostalgic candy that will bring back lots of great memories for seniors on your gift list.


These great yoga gift ideas for seniors are all under $25. If you’d like to create a yoga gift basket, include a scented candle and an extra thick yoga matt. I switched to an extra thick matt and it made a wonderful difference in poses that required getting on my hands and knees.

With these yoga DVDs, it doesn’t matter if the gift recipient is a beginner at yoga or stretching. They were designed for the beginner in mind. Lilias also has other yoga DVD’s out as well for those who want a more extensive workout. Who knows? Your gift may be the start of a whole new healthy lifestyle for someone you love.

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