Joan’s Boomer Blog

I recently took a 6 week fitness and nutrition class called Mind Body Blast and really enjoyed it. To sum it up, it’s an engaging online class with Luci Gabel, a national exercise physiologist and wellness consultant. It’s like having your own nutrition consultant and fitness trainer on-the-go. Mind Body Blast is a small step approach, where you tackle one change to your diet and exercise program each week, working until you’ve built a healthy living change that will lasts.

Mind Body Blast is not a specific diet (no fads), it’s a program that simply hones in on healthy habit changes for lasting results. Luci guides you through the course through a series of tools: podcast videos, MP3 recordings, homework, tip sheets, and a community forum to share your progress, struggles, and successes to get support from your classmates. But most of all, you get to work with Luci one-on-one via emails and phone calls to meet your health, fitness and nutrition goals.

I lost eight pounds and an inch each from my waist and hips over the course of the six weeks. I have read a lot on health and nutrition and thoroughly endorse Luci’s methods, which can help you to become healthier in the long run. You don’t just lose weight and then gain it back like you do on many “diets,” you actually acquire the tools to continue living a healthier life long after the class is over.

Luci Gabel is offering a special discount on Mind Body Blast exclusively to my readers. The class is normally $169 for 6 weeks, for Luci is offering a promotional rate of $109 if you mention this discount code, “boomerblog2012″ when you sign up here: Mind Body Blast. The next class starts January 16th, perfect timing for those New Year’s resolutions.

If you are thinking about signing up, or would like to learn more about the class, you can use Luci’s contact form and mention the same code and she can give you a free 15 minute phone call to evaluate your goals, describe the class, and see if it sounds like a good match for you. Don’t worry, there’s no strong, pushy sales tactics here. Luci is just a nice person who’s offering a phone call to our readers to chat. Sometimes it’s helpful to hear a reassuring voice at the other end of the line who wants to help you to be your best self for 2012!

I am currently reading a book which made me really stop and think about my priorities in life. The book is The Power of Self-Healing: Unlock Your Natural Healing Potential in 21 Days!, which is a great book, by the way, and one I plan to review soon. However, what I wanted to talk about is one exercise in this book which can help you figure what your priorities in life are, and whether or not you’re doing anything to reach them.

The Power of Self-Healing by Frabrizio Mancini is all about daily activities you can easily do to unleash your body’s true healing potential. I’ve read many books on self-healing and the information Frank puts in his book covers many areas of daily living. He even includes the power of qigong and tai chi, which makes him tops on my list!

So here is Frank’s exercise, which will hopefully make you think about the priorities in your life and whether or not you are doing anything to reach important goals.

Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.

In the left column, write down your top 3 priorities in your life, 3 things you want to attract into your life, whether it has to do with health, career, relationships, retirement, whatever.

In the right column, make another list of everything you do in a 24 hour period.

Compare these two lists. Do your actions on a daily basis support the priorities you’ve laid out for yourself?

This was an eye-opening exercise for me. I tell myself my number one goal is to heal my body of some of the health issues I have and create better health for myself as I get older. I know what I need to do to achieve this, yet my daily activities don’t match what I say my priority is in my life.

As part of achieving better health, my goals within that are making time for my qigong exercises which will help to heal my body. Yet, am I doing these every day? Actually, no. In fact, lately I’ve been busy and even skipping yoga classes, which are also aimed at keeping my arthritis pains from side-lining me later in life. What I need to do is spend less time on the computer and more time on my health if I truly want to reach my goals.

Getting older isn’t for sissies, I’ve read. However, I know that how well we age, whether or not we are healthy and active into old age, is about 90% within our own control, if not more. Day by day, we make choices about how to spend our time, what we eat and how we think. These daily choices take us down the road to health and healing or they take us away from that healthy, balanced self and toward debilitating illnesses like arthritis, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cataracts and eye diseases, and all the other supposed plagues of old age.

Years ago, I sold Mary Kaye products. Many Mary Kaye representatives are quite successful and in their seminars they told us to get up each morning and ask ourselves “What one thing can I do today to make my business successful?” Once you focus on that one thing, you go out and do it and you end up reaching your goal. This exercise might just let you know if you are taking the actions you need to take to reach important goals in your life.

I used this exercise to see where I am with matching my priority of health and healing with the realities of how I spend my time. However, you can use it for any goals you might be trying to reach.

If you’d like to read a comprehensive book on daily actions you can take to create optimum health and heal your body, no matter what your health issue is, I’d highly recommend The Power of Self-Healing: Unlock Your Natural Healing Potential in 21 Days! by Frabrizio Mancini. If you’d like to take charge of your health and create a better future for yourself, this is the book for you.

Do your daily activities carry you closer to your goals, or further away?

My thanks to Hay House for providing an advance copy of this book for review.

Annual Medicare Enrollment is less than a month away and my guest contritubutor Ross Blair, President and CEO of Plan Prescriber, Inc. has some important information on what you should know in choosing a Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plan.

By Ross Blair, CEO of Plan Prescriber

The health reform law has made some important changes to Medicare that go into effect in 2012. Whether you’re approaching age 65 or already enrolled in Medicare, the annual enrollment period (AEP) for next year’s Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans is right around the corner – and it’s starting a month earlier.

Before 2012 begins, we’ve outlined the six most important things people on Medicare should know to ensure they pick the best Medicare Advantage or prescription drug coverage for their specific needs.

There are new Medicare annual enrollment dates. Generally, most Medicare beneficiaries can change a Medicare Advantage plan or stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan only once per year during Medicare’s annual enrollment period (AEP). The dates for AEP changed this year, and run from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 in 2011. And, if you want to switch from a supplement plan to an Advantage plan, the AEP is a good time to make that switch.

But, the new AEP does not effect when you can enroll in a Medicare supplement plan, because these plans have an initial enrollment period that starts in the first six months after you enroll in Medicare Part B and are 65 or older. You can enroll in any supplement plan during that time and not be declined. But, if you wait until those six months are over, your application could be declined.

Make way for baby boomers qualifying for “Original Medicare” at age 65. This year, baby boomers begin turning 65, which means more people will be enrolling in Medicare this year than in the past. All of these new enrollees will put more stress on Medicare enrollment experts. When you combine this influx of new customers with the new enrollment dates, people who wait until the last minute could be putting themselves at risk of running out of time or not getting the help they need to review their coverage and make changes, if necessary. It’s a good idea to make a plan and review your coverage options for 2012 early.

“Newbies” be aware of deductibles, coinsurance, out-of-pocket limits and prescription drugs. If you’re new to Medicare, it’s important to know that both parts of Original Medicare (A and B) have deductibles. And, the deductibles are not tied to a calendar year like they are with traditional health insurance. Instead, they’re tied to a 90-day benefit period, with some exceptions. The Medicare Part B benefit also includes coinsurance after you meet your deductible. With coinsurance, Medicare pays a percentage of each bill (typically between 20 percent and 45 percent depending on the service) and you pay the rest. Original Medicare also has no limits on the amount you could pay out of your own pocket for covered medical services each year. And, Original Medicare does not cover the cost of most prescription drugs.

It’s critical to compare drug coverage: A 2011 PlanPrescriber.com report looked at 25,000 user sessions on its website during the 2011 annual enrollment period (between Nov. 15, 2010, and Dec 31, 2010), where customers entered their zip code, their existing Medicare prescription drug plan or Medicare Advantage drug plan and the names, dosages and frequency of any prescription drugs they were taking, if any. The site’s prescription drug plan comparison tool found that, on average, a user could save more than $500 per year – more than $40 per month - by reviewing their options and changing their prescription drug plan. Don’t miss this important step heading into 2012.

You can fill in Medicare’s gaps: People concerned about some of the gaps in original Medicare have the option to enroll in insurance products regulated by the government but provided by private companies. These are products designed specifically to fill some of the different gaps in Medicare. They include: Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plans, which cover the cost of most prescription drugs; Medicare supplement plans, which cover portions of the deductibles, coinsurance and out-of-pocket costs not covered by original Medicare; and Medicare Advantage plans, which bundle together the Part D drug benefit with some additional coverage for deductibles, coinsurance and out-of-pocket costs. Each type of supplemental coverage has different guidelines for when you can enroll, change and cancel your coverage.

Get “star power” in 2012. The Affordable Care Act (health reform) requires a star rating system to be used for Medicare Advantage plans, beginning in 2012. Plans get a rating of 1 to 5, with a 5-star rating equating to an “Excellent Performance,” and a 1-star rating equating to a “Poor Performance.” According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2011 out of 523 plans nationwide, only three received an overall rating of 5, and 74 received an overall rating 4 or 4.5 stars. Heading into 2012 the hope is that more plans will achieve this high 5-star rating. If you’re lucky enough to have access to a 5-star plan, consider it as an option for your coverage. One benefit of a 5-star plan is that you can enroll in it any time, even outside of Medicare’s annual enrollment period.

Ross Blair is President and CEO of Plan Prescriber, Inc. , a leading provider of comparison tools and educational materials for Medicare-related insurance products.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has neither reviewed nor endorsed the information provided by PlanPrescriber.

When I was a kid in the 50’s, if you wore glasses, you were called “four eyes.” In the 60’s though, glasses

Reading glasses from Optx2020

became a fashion statement. Watch the original Woodstock movie again and you’ll see lots of those little round hippie glasses in evidence. Think Janis Joplin and John Lennon. Now that we’re all getting older, those glasses perched on our nose are less likely to be a fashion statement and more likely to be a necessity for reading the morning newspaper.

Recently I had the opportunity to try reading glasses from Optx2020.com and I really liked their comfort. The half eye, plastic frames are ultra light and easy to wear, plus I have three different colors so I could wear a pair to match pretty much any outfit I have.

Optx2020 offers lots of different styles but this particular set is a 3-Pair ValuPac, with three different colors of frames. If you’re in the habit of leaving your reading glasses laying around in different rooms of the house, this option would be great for you too! I now have reading glasses beside my bed for nighttime reading, beside my chair in the living room so I can do my knitting in the evening, and a pair in the kitchen where I read the newspaper or magazines.

Optx2020 has been around since 1989 and offers a 30-Day Guarantee and Limited Lifetime Warranty on their reading glasses. The value pack of reading glasses even comes with free shipping! You can also find other styles on their website, including metal frames, full eye shape, rimless or semi-rimless, flexible metal frames and more.

The prices for these reading glasses are very reasonable as well. Plus, you can get a special 25% off at checkout by using the promo code “BOOMER25”.

This page explains how to order your reading glasses, plus tips on keeping your eyes healthy.

If you’re in the market for reading glasses, and what baby boomer isn’t, check out Optx2020.com. You can also visit their Facebook page  - Facebook.com/Optx2020. Here you’ll find lots of great information about topics to do with your eyes.

Don’t forget your annual eye exam too. Your optometrist can check your eyes for signs of diabetes, cataracts, macular degeneration or other eye conditions, while making sure you have the latest prescription.

If you aren’t getting pain relief from medications, even over-the-counter remedies, have you ever thought

Pain Relief Meditations

about trying methods of natural pain relief? Baby Boomers and seniors know a lot about chronic pain first hand. By the time we reach our 50’s, the aches and pains start to add up. Our back hurts with the slightest exertion, our knees hurt when we get up from the couch, our joints ache. Some of us even have more than these normal amounts of chronic pain that comes with aging, due to arthritis or other painful conditions or injuries from our youth.

If you have tried medications and are fearful of their side effects or just aren’t getting the relief you want, natural pain relief could be the answer. If natural remedies can’t entirely alleviate the pain, they can make you feel 70 to 90% better, depending on how much time and effort you are willing to put in.

In part one of my series on natural pain relief, I’ll talk about exercise and meditation programs you can easily set up to help you feel better. In part two, I’ll talk about supplements and diet changes which may help your chronic pain. Part three will deal with how to motivate yourself to make these important healthy living changes.

Natural pain relief requires consistent action and commitment on your part. You don’t get to just pop a pill and watch your chronic pain to vanish. Sometimes you have to try several different remedies or methods and sometimes you need a combination of several to diminish chronic pain but think about this: Taking medications masks the pain and the symptoms of whatever you have but natural pain relief methods not only help decrease pain, they actually help your body to heal itself. Depending on how much time and effort you are willing to put in, many supposedly chronic conditions can be overcome and healed.

Yes, you’re going to hear me talk again about things like exercise, yoga, qi gong and meditation (but I’ll give you tools to check out so you can get started easily) but if you dedicate yourself to a natural pain releif program, not only will your pain be less but your stress levels will go down, along with cholesterol and blood pressure, sleep will improve, energy levels will rise and overall health will get better. You might even lose weight.

Can any medication promise you that level of improvement?

I know something about chronic pain because I have small fiber neuropathy which causes tingling, numbness and sometimes sharp pin prick like pains. Because two different neurologists offered me no pain relief except to take what I consider to be, dangerous drugs, I went on a search for something natural. Have these pain relief methods taken away the neuropathy? No, but they have made it better (my osteoarthritis and joint pain is much better too) and overall I think I’m healthier than before I started exercising and meditating.

Yoga for People Over 50

Yoga and Pain Relief-Chronic pain may be caused by many different things and yoga addresses and improves pretty much all of them.

Arthritis pain is caused by swelling and inflammation of joints and yoga stretches and nourishes painful joints using gentle, flowing movements which don’t further injure you. If you have a specific type of pain due to an injury or overuse, such as back or knee pain, of overall pain such as fibromyalgia, it’s easy to find a book, cd or yoga class to address your problem.

Chronic pain is also made worse by stress, fear, and the mind/body connection. Yoga helps ease stress and calms your mind so you actually feel less pain.

Although taking a yoga class is the best way to learn proper yoga techniques, it’s possible to get started with a book or cd, especially if you just want to know more about how yoga can heal your chronic pain. Here is just one recommendation to help you. You’ll find dozens more at places like Amazon.

Kelly McGonigal, PhD, Author of Yoga for Pain Relief: Simple Practices to Calm Your Mind & Heal Your Chronic Pain (Whole Body Healing), explains this connection in an interview here.

Yoga is one of the best overall forms of exercise for those over 50 because if you don’t have any type of chronic pain now, chances are you will in the future. The more flexible you can keep your joint, the better your balance is, the more calm and peaceful you feel, the less pain you will have.

QiGong for Natural Pain Relief and Healing

In China, qigong exercises are actually prescribed by medical practioners and have been performed for health and healing in China for thousands of years. Qigong is gentle and flowing and helps increase circulation and flexibility, as well as being very calming for your mind. I start every day with 30 minutes of qigong, which energizes me for the entire day. Qigong is a form of moving meditation, just like tai chi but in tai chi, you perform a specific set of movements in a routine. Qigong exercises are often integrated into a tai chi class as a warm up but you can also find classes or purchase cd’s about just qigong.

Unlike tai chi, it’s easy to learn qigong movements from a cd. If you want to learn tai chi, I’d recommend finding a good instructor at your local YMCA or Recreation Center, as the form and etticute is difficult to learn on your own.

I took a 6 week class on qigong and then I purchased a few cd’s to learn more. My favorite’s are:

Qi Gong for Self-Healing by Lee Holden, who also has other qigong cd’s. For instance, if you have back pain specifically, he has a cd with exercises for that.

Another qigong program I really like is Qigong Beginning Practice by Garri Garripoli.

Both of these cd’s have wonderful exercises, which once you learn them, can be done anyplace, anytime, with no special equipment.

Heal Your Body Meditations by Glenn Harrold

Healing Meditations for Pain Relief - Numerous studies been done on meditation for pain relief and meditation has been shown to be as effective as medication in many cases.

If you think meditation is difficult or “new age,” think about this. Meditation is simply sitting quietly and clearing your mind. Focusing on each breath helps if you need something to focus on. You can also play soothing music. Giving your mind a break from the ceaseless chatter of every day life reduces stress and chronic pain. It also helps lower blood pressure, improves sleep and overall health.

If you think you can’t meditate, try sitting quiety with your eyes closed for just 5 minutes at a time. Put on some calming music, get comfortable, sit back and close your eyes. Take deep breathes and concentrate on releasing tension from different parts of your body in turn.

That’s all there is to meditation. Start with a few minutes and build up to 20 or 30 minutes a day.

Once you practice this for a couple weeks, you may find that you want to breathe deeply and focus on relaxing your muscles at different times during the day, expecailly during stressful situations.

Here are some healing meditation resources to get you started:

Heal Your Body Hypnotherapy meditations by Glenn Harrold. Glenn Harrold has several hypnosis cd’s for improving sleep, financial abundance, energy and more. I have several of his sessions on my ipod and use them often when I’m falling asleep at night.

Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief: Guided Practices for Reclaiming Your Body and Your Life

Many people have found success using The Healing Code by Dr. Alex Lloyd. Read my review of this book here.

The Healing Code: 6 Minutes to Heal the Source of Your Health, Success, or Relationship Issue

Deep Breathing is also very relaxting and meditative, which helps to ease chronic pain. Deep breathing is something that can be done anyplace, anytime.

Here are a couple of simple deep breathing techniques from Path2HealthyLiving.com.

These are just some of the natural pain relief methods you can try. You may think it will be difficult to stick to a program like this but it’s all a matter of priorities. Do you want to heal your body naturally and help reduce chronic pain and stress or do you want to make excuses and end up feeling much worse a year or two from now?

The choice is up to you.

This guest post on whether or not diet and exercise is enough to fight heart disease or if we should also consider prescription drugs was written by Ross Blair, President and CEO of Plan Prescriber, a leading provider of comparison tools and educational materials for Medicare-related insurance products.

America has a big problem with heart disease — both in terms of the number of people with the condition and how they treat it, or fail to do so. One in six Americans dies from heart disease and many baby boomers will eventually grapple with treatment. That begs the question: what’s the best way to fight back against this deadly killer? Diet and exercise? More prescription drugs?

This question is particularly important for baby boomers because their decisions about their lifestyles and prescription drug use will impact their personal health, and our nation’s fiscal health.

While baby boomers are the first generation to grow up exercising, they’re not immune to cardiovascular diseases, which cost the United States about $475 billion in 2009, according the American Heart Association. That figure includes the cost of medications, physician and hospital care, and lost worker productivity. The cost of a lower quality life and lives that are lost are incalculable.

Nobody likes taking costly medications. And, many people think we should spend less money on drugs to prevent heart diseases and focus instead on improving people’s diet and exercise. There’s plenty of research to show that behavior changes can ward off high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Is Diet and Exercise Enough?

The fact is that lifestyle changes are incredibly important, but they aren’t always enough. As the CEO of a company that helps people research Medicare prescription drug plans based on their utilization of benefits and services, I follow this issue closely. I can tell you with confidence that following your doctor’s prescribed drug regimen plays a critical role in fighting heart disease and reducing health care spending. Consider these facts published in a 2008 article in The Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy:

Approximately 125,000 Americans die annually (342 people every day) due to poor medication adherence (not taking their prescribed medication);

Ten to 25 percent of hospital and nursing home admissions are caused by the inability of patients to take their medications as prescribed and directed;

The estimated annual cost of patients not taking their medications as prescribed is close to $290 billion;

The rates of non-adherence to prescription medication therapy have remained stagnant over the past three decades, and recent reviews have shown that as many as 40 percent of patients still do not adhere to their treatment regimens, and up to 20 percent of all new prescriptions go unfilled.

Why Don’t More Patient’s Take Their Medications as Prescribed by Their Doctor?

Taking the prescriptions your doctor prescribes can help stave off hospitalizations and death. But, it’s clear many patients don’t follow their doctors’ orders. Why? Researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that the cost is one big deterrent.

A 2011 Mayo Clinic study published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, found that, 46 percent of patients who did a poor job following their prescribed drug regimen, said they stopped taking or filling prescriptions because of cost; and 23 percent acknowledged skipping doses to save money. The majority (77 percent) of patients in the study were eligible for Medicare.

The findings are not surprising, considering household budgets are strained and prescription drug prices are rising. The patents of several popular brand-name drugs used to treat heart disease have either expired recently or will in the next couple of years. This will increase the availability of lower-cost generic forms of Lipitor®, which became generic in late 2010, and Plavix®, which will become generic in May 2012.

What Can Medicare Beneficiaries Do to Make Prescription Drugs More Affordable?

Selecting the right Medicare drug coverage may drastically reduce your out-of-pocket costs. Medicare beneficiaries have access to Medicare Part D drug plans, which are offered through stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) or Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans (MAPDs).

Comparing drug plans can be overwhelming, but there are online tools at www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan and www.planprescriber.com that can help simplify the process. People who struggle to pay for their prescription drugs, may qualify for the Extra Help/Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) program. Find information at http://www.ssa.gov/prescriptionhelp/.

Most drug plans have monthly premiums, deductibles, copayments and co-insurance. But, you could spend less on overall medical bills if you take prescribed medications that help you avoid E.R. visits. A 2011 CVS Caremark study found that patients who took their prescribed medications could each save the health care system approximately $7,800 per year.

Exercising more, eating right and following your doctor’s prescribed drug regimen can help you fight heart disease. Finding an affordable prescription drug plan makes it easier to take your prescribed medications. Researching prescription drug coverage online could save you money and help save your life.

Ross Blair is President and CEO of Plan Prescriber, Inc.

Medicare has neither reviewed nor endorsed the information provided in this article.

Plavix is a registered trademark of sanofi-aventis.
Lipitor is a registered trademark of Pfizer, Inc.

I’ve been doing water aerobics for about 3 years at my local YMCA and water workout equipment, like the products made by Aquajogger, have become very popular as people discover the benefits of exercising in the pool. In doing water aerobics, you get a good aerobic workout for your heart and lungs but the exercise is non-weight bearing and so very easy on your joints. Using water resistance gear like the Aquajogger buoyancy belt or the DeltaBells, which are like foam dumb bells, help you burn more calories, build more muscle and increase the benefits of the time you spend in the pool.

My water aerobics class at the Y covers all age groups, from an 84-year-old woman to kids working out with mom or grandma for the summer vacation. Both men and women love water aerobics, especially when it’s hot outside.

Water offers 12 times the resistance of air so just exercising in the water offers a great workout. The health benefits of water aerobics include:

• Helping you to lose weight and tone up muscles
• Improving balance and flexibility
• Improving core strength which also helps balance and posture, plus gives you a flatter stomach!
• Helping ease arthritis and joint pain-important for us boomers
• Keeping your heart and lungs in top shape
• Helping you train for sports or maintain fitness
• Helping to slow the effects of aging through balanced exercise

Water aerobics is especially beneficial for those suffering from health issues like arthritis, fibromyalgia or MS. In fact, there is a special class at our Y for those with physical problems. Water aerobics is also a great exercise for pregnant women (but check with your doctor first).

I recently started using the Aquajogger Buoyancy Belt because it helped to support my lower back and abdominal muscles and offered increased resistance for my hour workout. I also used the DeltaBells, which are great for working on that flab under the arms, and the AquaRunners, which fit on your feet like water shoes. With the AquaRunners, you can jog in the water and increase your cardiovascular benefits, plus it really works the leg muscles.

All of the Aquajogger equipment was made of extremely comfortable and durable foam and the cost is very reasonable. A workout DVD and a workout guide book came with the set of equipment and described exercises to do.

Most of the exercises are easy, like the cross country skiing in the water, running, twisting from side to side for the waist, and doing jumping jacks, but the resistance offered by the water and the Aquajogger gear made for a terrific workout.

Water aerobics is a great exercise if you’re a baby boomer and looking for something that tones, trims and helps your joints at the same time. Once you hit midlife, usually jogging on dry land is out because of knee and hip issues (who wants a knee replacement by age 50?). The benefits of water aerobics pretty much cover all the workout bases for boomers and seniors without being hard on your body at the same time.

If you’d like more information on the Aquajogger products, visit their website at www.Aquajogger.com

A new Harvard study about potatoes making us fat was recently reported in the Wall Street Journal. It said too that the National Potato Council had no comment as of yet. If you just read the headline, you’d think skipping that baked potato will help you stay slim and if everyone reads only the headline, then the potato will soon have the same bad rap that eggs got several years ago. Skipping potatoes will become the cure-all for obesity in the US.

Read further, however, and you see it isn’t ALL potatoes, but French fries and potato chips that are the culprits. Really! Who didn’t know that eating chips and French fries packs on empty calories (if you would even consider a McDonald’s fry to be a real potato, which I don’t). Filling yourself with fries and chips is giving your body no nutrition to work with so it all goes right to the waistline.

The truth is white potatoes are high on the glycemic index, which means

which means eating a potato raises your blood sugar faster than eating, say some spinach. Spinach is a 15 on the glycemic index, while a boiled potato is 56. However, a sweet potato, at 54, is considered “low” on the glycemic index and many studies will tell you to eat a sweet potato and not a white potato.

If you’d like to read more about the glycemic index, click here.

The thing about these “studies” is that, if you simply read the headlines, which many people do, you don’t get the full story. Chips and French Fries are not only made up of potatoes, they contain salt and trans fats. Too much salt in the diet raises blood pressure and artificially produced trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils have been shown, by other “studies,” to contribute to heart disease. (but even here there is more to the story as naturally occurring transfat in beef and dairy products is not shown to be harmful. CLA, in fact has been shown to decrease belly fat and is found in higher amounts in grass fed beef vs commercially raised beef).

Confused yet?

To me, the very best advice is still to eat more fruits and veggies, exercise and avoid sugar and processed foods, such as chips and fries, or anything that comes out of a box. Stick to whole foods and the less processed the better. An occasional potato or egg or even a chip won’t ruin your health but the key is moderation.

Some things which aren’t technically good for us make life worth living. My 83-year-old mother eats ice cream every night. She says, “I know I probably shouldn’t eat this ice cream but what if I died in my sleep? Would it really matter that I’d eaten it?”

Now, my mom is healthy and spry for an 83-year-old. She gardens every day and watches her diet in all other ways, but to her, that ice cream makes life worth living.

I guess our health pretty much comes down to daily decisions that we make about what we eat, if we go for that walk or not, if we sit around and watch tv and eat chips every night. Being conscious of those daily decisions and choosing the right ones for us can keep us healthy well into our elder years. The opposite is also true. Make unhealthy decisions on a daily basis and your body will make you pay for that abuse with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and all other manner of nasty things.

What health decisions are you making today?

If you want to know more about healthy eating, sign up for Eating For Energy - Free email course Raw Foods 101

I’ve been learning tai chi for about eight months and I thought it was time to give an update on how I’m doing with it.

First, What is Tai Chi?

Tai Chi is a form of moving meditation, made up of slow, gentle, flowing movements which require focus, concentration and patience to perform. Tai chi began in China as a form of exercise for martial artists and each movement in Tai chi relates to a martial arts theory or posture. The benefits of tai chi include stretching all major joints and muscles, but gently, which makes it excellent for seniors. Tai chi isn’t only low impact, if done properly, it is NO impact.

Tai chi postures open up the flow of chi, or life force energy. Improving the flow of chi is thought to increase health and longevity, quiet the mind and reduce stress. Tai chi practice improves lung health because each movement involves one deep breath - “One movement, one breath,” as my tai chi instructor says many times in each class.

Over time, a daily tai chi practice will improve balance and muscle strength as well.

So, what has Tai chi done for me?

One thing I’ve discovered is that learning tai chi is addictive! I started out going to one class weekly at the local YMCA. Our instructor, Terry, is extremely knowledgeable and very precise. We practice the same movements over and over so we can learn them from the inside out, basically. According to Terry, in China those learning tai chi would do just one simple movement over and over for a month or more, until they had internalized it.

Back to the addicting part. I started getting up 30 minutes early to do my own daily practice. Then I added a Sunday advanced class about 3 weeks ago. Another newby in the class and I found someone from the class who has studied with Terry for 8 years and is willing to meet with us for two hours on Fridays, plus about an hour or so before each class.

So what am I gaining from all these tai chi sessions? Since tai chi is all about letting go of tension in the body, I find that I am not holding my muscles tightly wound like I used to. I think this is something most of us do without even thinking about it. We just live all tensed up.

Try this. Sit in a chair like you normally would. Then close your eyes, take a very slow, deep in breath. Let it out slowly. As you let out your breath, focus on releasing all tension in your body. Just watch it flow away and melt into the chair. This relaxed feeling is how tai chi teaches you to feel, not only when you’re practicing, but all the time. Once you release that tension, it’s hard to feel stressed about anything.

Releasing tension also helps me to sleep more soundly at night, which is a wonderful thing. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had many nights where I just keep waking up, unable to really fall deeply asleep. Since I started learning tai chi, I only very rarely have a night like that.

Although tai chi provides a gentle stretch to muscles, the more you do it, the more deeply you stretch so my muscles and joints feel much better. Close attention is paid in class to doing each movement the correct way so that no strain is put on the body. I know my yoga teacher always says yoga is not about being in pain but still, I think everyone finds themselves stretching a little beyond the painful point and holding a little longer than is comfortable, just to challenge themselves.

In tai chi, “Muscle strength has not yet been invented,” Terry says. He is constantly telling us to stop trying so hard, stop pushing, stop forcing. Tai chi is about letting go. In weightlifting, you want to do as many reps as possible to build strength and muscle. In tai chi, it is never about how many of given postures you do, it’s about how many you do with understanding.

Since tai chi focuses on moving from your center, balance improves. Movements are slow and flowing so patience, focus and coordination improve.

Since I began as a person who had trouble knowing right from left and certainly couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Tai chi is teaching me to get out of the mind and stop thinking about how to move my hands and feet together.

Another thing I’ve noticed is improved leg strength. Although I’ve been practicing yoga for about 2 years and taking other classes at the Y for probably 4 years, tai chi has really built up the strength in my legs. The reason is that you practice with knees slightly bent which builds muscle strength from the bone outward.

I walk my dogs every day and I have to admit that about a year ago I was experiencing some muscle weakness episodes at times when I was walking. Also, if I would get up from a chair after sitting for a long period, my legs would get a weak feeling and my muscles would ache until I’d walked a few steps. It occurred to me the other day that I never have those feelings anymore at all. My legs feel very strong.

I’ve written in my blog before about suffering from some form of neuropathy. Who knows what kind because the neurologist certainly can’t tell me. Anyway, I’ve suffered a full body tingling sensation that was constant for about 5 years. Since doing tai chi on a daily basis, plus qigong, which is another form of energy exercise, my tingling has diminished and not only that, I find I’m not really thinking about it.

The tingling used to bother me every minute of the day, plus I’d suffer from restless leg syndrome and leg pain in the evenings and at night. Now I go through entire days and never notice any of this at all. I think focusing on the tingling was causing stress and the stress was making it worse. I also like to think that opening up the energy channels so the chi can flow freely has reduced any neuropathy symptoms.

If you’re interested in aging well, and who isn’t, give some thought to finding a tai chi class near you. Most YMCAs and senior centers offer tai chi classes, or you can find one at many martial arts studios too. I have several tai chi cd’s and you can learn basic postures from those as well. Qigong exercises are easy to learn and help you reduce stress and learn the flowing, meditative aspects of tai chi.

Here are some of the cd’s I’ve found helpful for getting started:

Tai Chi For Daily Practice by David Dorian Ross. Also available to “rent” for 7 days for just $2.99.

T’ai Chi Beginning Practice also by David Dorian Ross.

Qigong Beginning Practice. This 2 cd set includes a television production done for PBS on qigong by Garri Garapoli. My husband and I do these exercises 2-3 times a week and once you learn them, you can do a few every time you have a few moments and want to loosen up.

Garri Garapoli and his wife, Daisy Lee Garapoli, have several dvd’s out, including Qi Gong for Cleansing, which are all very good.

There are dozens of tai chi and qigong dvd’s out, but these are my favorites.

Don’t expect to learn everything at once when doing either tai chi or qigong. Even learning one movement and practicing that every day is giving you benefits. Find a few exercises you like and do them every day and see what happens. You might just get addicted!

Learn more about tai chi and qigong on WebMd

I’ve mentioned my friend Tom Grimes, who has a health coaching business, in past articles. Yesterday I received an email from Tom and asked his permission to share it with you. Tom’s good friend has spent the past few weeks in the hospital with complications directly related to obesity and diabetes. As Tom told me, this wasn’t one of his many success stories but it does give food for thought as we contemplate how our daily lifestyle choices affect our health.

Tom says, “I have been thinking about writing this email for several days. Actually, over the past 23 days I have been sitting daily in the ICU waiting room of Santa Rosa’s Memorial Hospital.

Someone very close to me, Nancy, has been hospitalized with a serious illnesses that is the direct result of obesity. A friend described Nancy as being “one sick puppy.” That is a very good description of her right now.

Unfortunately what Nancy is experiencing is becoming more and more common. In the U.S. 300,000 people die every year from the issues obesity and that figure does not include the millions who are experiencing a decrease in their quality of life.

Even though Nancy watched me lose weight and even lost some herself, she neglected to change her habits to maintain the weight she lost and her sugars went out of control by her food choices she was making.

So many times we wait and ignore or put off for another day which is exactly what Nancy was doing. I’m sure you know people who are making the same mistake that Nancy made. Perhaps you are too.

For several months I have been sending you my Healthy Habits eNewletter. 20 to 25 percent of the people I send it to click on the front page. A handful read one or more of the articles. I understand completely. However, now I’m challenging you. Check out the Healthy Habits eNewsletter in your inbox and share it with someone (click on Send to Friend) you know who may be struggling with their weight, energy or health. One doesn’t have to believe that it will work, you just have to follow the plan and it works. Why not give it a try before it is too late for you or your loved ones.

Please, also say a prayer for Nancy as she goes through this long recovery process.”

We do send Nancy our prayers, Tom.

If you would like to subscribe to Tom’s Healthy Habits monthly newsletter, click here for more information.

In the meantime, consider what you are eating today. Did you go for a daily walk? Did you spend some time doing something you truly enjoy, free from worry and stress? All of these are choices you make about how you are living your life. Each daily choice adds up to a life lived and each choice helps decide whether or not you end up like Nancy or whether you active, energetic, and healthy every day of your life.