Healthy Boomer Lifestyles

Eating Well To Reduce Stress In Midlife

When you are worried about your finances, health or relationship you can feel overwhelmed and completely stressed out.  Your nutrition and health are often taken for granted.  We tend to eat poorly and grab quick, unhealthy foods when we are stressed or overwhelmed.  Not only is nutrition sacrificed, stress hormones release high amounts of insulin, resulting in stored fat and weight gain. 

Obviously, avoiding stress will solve this, but is not always possible in today’s world.  When we are overwhelmed, the best thing to do is to simplify as much as you can and to prioritize.  Health should be a top priority during stressful times. 

These tips and suggestions can help you simplify your nutrition by eating healthy, convenient foods.

•  Drinkable yogurt's meet nearly 20% of our protein requirements, are good sources of fiber and calcium, and are perfect snacks to grab on the go.

• Stock your purse, briefcase, backpack or car with bags of mixed nuts and dried fruit for a quick snack that is full of healthy, cholesterol-lowering fats, fiber, and iron, and also tastes great and has staying power.

• If you can, anticipate busy times and pre-cook healthy meals that you can portion into separate meals, refrigerate and reheat for a healthy dinner.

• Choose fast-food restaurants such as burrito places and fresh markets that offer healthier alternatives.  Avoid fried foods that are high in trans fats and choose baked or grilled options such as a grilled chicken sandwich and a side salad. \

• Avoid empty calories in candy, sodas, sweet teas and energy drinks.  Stock your workplace, kitchen and or your car with easy-to-eat foods listed below. 

Convenient, healthy foods are:

• Fruits that don’t need preparation such as apples, bananas, plums, peaches and grapes 

• Veggies such as baby carrots, edamame (baby soy beans), celery sticks, radishes, cherry or grape tomatoes and pre-packaged salads

• Drinkable and regular yogurt

• Trail mixes

• Nuts (almonds and walnuts pack the most health benefits)

• Low-fat microwave popcorn

• Nature’s Valley granola bars (avoid high-sugar “granola bars”)

• Dried fruit

• Instant oatmeal packets (just add hot water from your office’s coffee area)

• Pretzels with peanut butter already in them

• Water, water, water! 

To learn more about staying healthy in midlife go to www.healthylivingandbalance.com.

Recommended Reading to Assist Midlife Transition

Marianne Williamson, Embracing the New Midlife: The Age of Miracle.

Midlife is not a crisis; it’s a time of rebirth. In our ability to rethink our lives lies our greatest power to change them. What we have called “middle age” need not be seen as a turning point toward death. It can be viewed as a magical turning point toward life as we’ve never known it, if we allow ourselves the power of an independent imagination—thought-forms that don’t flow in a perfunctory manner from ancient assumptions merely handed down to us, but rather flower into new archetypal images of a humanity just getting started at 45 or 50. Click here to order.

Gail Sheehy, Understanding Men's Passages: Discovering the New Map of Men's Lives

The years after 40 offer men a "second adulthood," declares Sheehy, a chance to reinvent themselves. But first they must shift from competing to connecting, from incessant striving for external rewards to a quest for inner fulfillment through meaningful pursuits, after determining what they really want of the second half of their lives. In a constructive, enlightening guide to self-discovery for men and their partners, the author of Passages and New Passages uses 100 male interviewees, case histories and medical and psychological research to probe men's feelings about death, spiritual hollowness, empty nest syndrome, separation anxieties, their envy of their empowered working wives, pre-retirement jitters and waning sexual potency. Click here to order.

Hello! Are You Listening to Your Life?

Hello, Are You Listening to Your Life?

--Are you yearning to make change in your life but find it overwhelming?
--Do you continue to work at a job that drains your very soul?
--Are you fearful of doing what you most desire to do?

Listen you will be told what to do.

There is always a particular moment when you clearly know you need to change your life. That desire for change is like a grain of sand in a shoe, imperceptible at first but grinding away until it becomes the only thing you notice. Your instinct is to dismiss the feelings. Saying, “I can tough this out “or “it could be worse”.

Often we find it easier to recognize the emotions and feeling of others but nearly impossible to recognize our own needs and yearnings. Why is this?

By midlife, after years of loss, comprise, denial, and fear we loose track of our “true self” and the dreams we had. We often struggle, letting go of what does not serve our highest needs.

The ego has great difficulty letting go of anything and will defend itself with great intensity. The truth is we must let go of who we are in order to become who we want to be. Gregory Levoy, author of Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic life says, “Sometimes we hear the calling but fear what will be demanded of us if we respond to the ‘call’.”

Our lives speak through our actions and reactions, our intuitions and instincts, our feelings and our words. If we can learn to listen, read our own responses, we will receive the guidance we need.

You must slow down to hear the “calling”, as to why you need to change your career, leave or start a relationship, go back to school, move to another part of the country, have a child or sell your house and travel.

Wake-up calls come in many ways to point us toward action.
They include:
--A dream that keeps coming back.
--A symptom in your body that reoccurs
--A song you hear that seems to be just for you
--A call from someone you need to hear from
--A book that falls into your lap
--An  emotional issue that keeps reappearing
--A letter or a phone call to do volunteer work

These wake-up calls stimulate your intuition; encourage you to ask deeper questions and to seek the answers. This process is a gateway into the deepest layers of your soul.

Some people do listen to the message, take the risk, and change their lives!

As we move into a new year, we all are being moved to a higher frequency. This shift will call upon each one of us to become more attuned and sensitive to our soul’s purpose. You will be shedding old stuck beliefs that are no longer working and releasing old wounds and resentments, so that you can step into you authentic power. When will you begin the journey that will take you there?

Life Strategies for Making Changes in Life and Work

Joyce's live presentation will give you Five Practical Strategies that will help you immediately make permanent change in your life and work.  Get clarity, take on new direction and take action on what you've been putting off for years.  Complete with lecture handout and exercises to help you answer the critical question: "How do I make lasting change in my life".  Read more about what you will learn here http://www.healthylivingandbalance.com/life_strategies.php

Finding and Living Your Authentic Life: Embracing Your Soul’s Calling in Midlife

Finding and Living Your Authentic Life: Embracing Your Soul’s Calling in Midlife
A one-day workshop with Carolyn Dott, PhD and Joyce Dillon, RN, MN on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Atlanta,GA. Don’t miss this transformational program. Click here for more information. Early Bird Discount ends March 5, 2008.

Boomers There’s Never Been a Better Time to Live a Healthy, Balanced Life

You Didn’t Get This Far to Go Quietly into the Night. Push through Your Limits and Embrace Your True Potential!

Life is filled with joyful moments, but by now you’ve probably had your share of serious reality. You may even begin asking questions like these:

• How can I take charge of my health?
• How can I cope with sudden life change?
• How can I find time for my own needs?
• How can I connect deeply with others?
• How can I fulfill my life purpose?

 The first step toward enjoying a healthy, balanced life is to determine where you are now and what to do about it. Rate each area from 1-10 (10 the highest satisfaction).

That’s easy, right? Next you get clear on how you want to move forward. What’s next for you? What direction do you want to head your life? What life do you want to create?

 The good news is you don’t have to answer those questions by yourself.

 One of the most important shifts you can make is to realize that success is not a one man show. When you reach out and get the structure and guidance you need you can bust through limiting beliefs. That means you can get on with your life and the first place to start is deciding where you are right now.

 HERE ARE SOME NEXT STEPS:

• Schedule a free coaching consultation (Jan 14-Feb1) at www.healthylivingandbalance.com.
• Sign up for our free monthly Boomer-Living in the 21^st Century at jjdillon@mindspring.com
• Purchase a copy of   Simplify Your Life, and discover how to bring more happiness into your      life by taking things you don’t want out of it.
• Develop your own mind-body program to decrease stress and create more balance The Best of Stress Management.
• Get a buddy and set up a weekly call to support each other in making change.

                Create the Best Year of Your Life.

Welcome from Joyce Dillon

Welcome, everyone. I am so excited about starting a blog that celebrates and shares ideas and experiences about how to live an awake, conscious, healthy, and empowered life.

If you’re over 40 this can be the best time of your life! You finally get to live life on your terms…

But many people over 40 are struggling with issues like these:

· Finding a deeper sense of direction or purpose

· Fitness, Aging and health matters

· Relocating to an area to live a simpler lifestyle

· Unhealthy life choices

· Stress, and Insomnia

· Career change, empty-nesting, retirement

· Divorce or unhappy relationships

· Managing aging parents, children or grandparents

· Worry, anxiety and depression

  Financial issues and realities

Are you struggling with any of these issues?  If so, let’s figure out how to change them.

This blog has been created to help boomers get clear, make change, and create the ideal life and lifestyle they have always dreamed about but have yet to attain.

If you want to comment on what I write, you are welcome to do so. I’d love to know what you think, and to have your ideas about what you’d like me to write about.

Until the next time…..

HEALTHY LIVING BOOMER EXPERT TO HOST COSTA RICA RETREAT

Baby Boomers are blowing the lid off the concept of what it’s like to grow old. With so many professional and personal opportunities to explore and expand, Boomer women are reshaping what “middle age” looks and feels like. For many, “50” feels more like the Indy 500. But somewhere, at some point, before they blow an engine, women have to get off the fast track to refuel, refocus, and then get back on course.

Joyce Dillon, R.N., M.N., owner of Healthy Living and Balance and a Boomer expert, is like the “crew captain” who ensures you’re properly tuned up, balanced and fueled to stay ahead of the game.

“Baby Boomer women, in particular, are making major transitions in their careers, relationships, health concerns, and lifestyles – and they have no intention to slow down and grow old. Fifty is the new fifty, so these women keep packing on the responsibilities – and the adventures – with aplomb,” Dillon says. “Yet few have the kinds of support they need to make transitions with clarity and joy rather than stress.”

She offers women that much-needed support and the benefit of her lifelong transformative teaching experience as host of The Awaken to Life Empowerment Retreat, November 7th-November 14th, 2008 at the El Cafetal Inn, in Atenas, Costa Rica.

The package includes all retreat activities, accommodations for seven days and seven nights at El Cafetal Inn, admission to all afternoon activities, all breakfasts and three dinners at El Cafetal Inn, and transportation to and from the airport and retreat activities.

Dillon adds, “Women have claimed a high degree of power and, along with its advantages, we find our days and nights packed with responsibilities. Few women can find the time and privacy to go within and reconnect to what’s truly meaningful for them. The Awaken to Life Empowerment Retreat is designed especially for such women, to help them relax, refocus, rejuvenate and recommit to the incredible life path that is possible for all of us with just a little help,” she says.

Though relaxing, the retreat promises a challenging and supportive program, including structured group activities on clarifying what you want for your life, preparing for the changes you seek, sharing your meaningful life stories, awakening your inner awareness, and creating a blueprint for the next steps in your life.

Retreat participant, Pam Cook, says, “The best part for me was becoming part of a group of women that accepted, listened and supported me to live my authentic life.”

“The advantages of our retreat over a local workshop are immense,” says Dillon, “starting with the essential element of separating from day-to-day responsibilities long enough, and getting the right kinds of support and coaching, to go deeply within, truly relax, and reconnect with what really matters.”

Dillon, a master’s prepared nurse, certified life and wellness coach, and transformative educator, brings twenty-five years of clinical experience and extensive training in mind-body medicine, meditation, energy medicine and transformational work. She dedicates her life to helping individuals and groups live a more empowered, healthy and conscious life. She has worked with individuals and organizations, including such major organizations as Kellogg, Subaru, Protein Technology, and The Carter Presidential Center.

Founded in 1998 by Dillon, the company Healthy Living and Balance: A Center for Conscious Living, offers a full-range of preventive, wellness and life enhancement programs, and courses and private sessions that promote health, healing and inner balance. The Healthy Living and Balance wellness approach is based on holistic, mind-body principles of change that combine the wisdom of ancient traditions with western contemporary medical approaches to address the totality of a person’s body, mind and spirit. For more information about The Awaken to Life Empowerment Retreat, visit: www.lifeempowermentretreats.com or call Joyce Dillon, 404-881-1322.

For more information about the company, visit: www.healthylivingandbalance.com.