I don’t feel like I’m 76 years old and people tell me that I don’t look that old either. But here’s the best part: I’m happy, fulfilled and passionate about my newly created life as a writer. After only six years, I’ve produced six books.

What’s the point of this bragging bonanza? If we are going to live longer as predicted by the longevity gurus, we also want to live well! What’s the point of being 95 and unable to function?
I believe that our lifestyle and attitude have a lot to do with living well as we age. I know that I harp about being overweight, but folks, look around you the next time you are in a doctor’s office. How many people are there that are overweight versus how many that are at their best weight for their bone structure, height and age? If you are overweight, don’t use the excuse that you have big bones or that everyone in your family is over weight so it must be genetic.

In a July 13th Wall Street Journal article, the headline was “Eating to Live or Living to Eat.” It describes two types of people. Those who eat to live are homeostatic. Those who live to eat are hedonic eaters. Hedonic eaters don’t listen to their body’s built-in mechanism that regulates hunger.

For example, if lunch is over and you feel full at the sight of dessert, homeostatic eaters say, no thanks. But hedonic eaters don’t listen to their body’s built-in mechanism that regulates hunger. Not surprisingly, they are more likely to be obese.

The scientists who are conducting this research developed a “Power-of-Food” gauge to determine how vulnerable we are to hedonic eating. They can even tell through brain scans that Hedonic eaters have stronger reactions to images of food than non-obese people.

So the question is, if you think you are a hedonic eater, what are you going to do about it?

One thing you can do is change your diet. Studies have found that a diet of sweet, high-fat foods can indeed blunt the body’s built-in fullness signals. However, some studies suggest the best way to do this is by having a very controlled lifestyle with restrained food intake and exercise.

Knowing what kind of eater you are and why you are eating is also important so you can limit yourself from eating on impulse.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

It isn’t a secret that obesity often has deadly consequences. We’re all aware that there is an increased risk of diabetes as well as heart disease. But the bad news doesn’t end there. Obesity now costs 17 percent of the total health bill amounting to at least $2,800 more per year for an obese person.

The actual cost of obesity may be as high as $8,000 for women because they may earn less in the workplace than their “slim sisters.” (more)

While growing up on a farm in southern Indiana, I don’t recall ever hearing the word “retire.” Farmers just kept on until they dropped. Well, that isn’t exactly the truth-there was often a son who took over the actual farming while Dad and Mom continued to live out their days in their old farm home.

Nowadays, retirement is on everyone’s lips if they are heading into their 60s. Recently an article from US News listed the seven secrets of a happy (more)

Have you or a loved one ever had to deal with a medical crisis? Lucky you, if you haven’t. Most of us older citizens have had this experience.

Mine was when my husband awakened me early one morning to tell me that he was suffering severe chest pains. He was already dressed and told me that he was driving himself to the emergency room.

We all know that the ONLY way to handle this situation is to call 911. Never, under any (more)