Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The Baby Boomer’s To Do List



Now that you have the necessary information, get moving on implementing each one of the changes that we’ve covered here.  Here’s a checklist to help you to find those rewards now.

ü     Improve your diet today.  Develop an eating plan that helps to promote longevity and health.  Detach from eating for emotional support.  Reaffirm your connection with a long life instead.
ü     Start to move.  The exercise regimen that includes strength training, aerobic exercise and flexibility training will improve virtually any health condition you may be in.
ü     Improve your brain power.  Include stimulating activities into your life daily to encourage your brain to keep growing and expanding instead of shutting down.
ü     Take the time to consider supplementation and hormone changes that can ultimately encourage your body to live longer, healthier as well as to look amazing while you do it.
ü     Get your finances in order.
ü     Improve your lifestyle by cutting out the bad including the silent killer that stress is.


Conclusion

Your life is changing.  You’re entering a new chapter.  But, the Baby Boomer has nothing to worry about.  With the information that you have here, you’ll be able to live longer and love doing it, too. 

There is no doubt that there are many things to do.  And, its going to be hard to give up all of those foods that you love and have to get to the gym three times a week.  But, the benefits of doing so far outweigh the benefits you’ll get by not making the changes.

You will have a longer life, a healthier life and a life that is going to provide you with the ability to be happy and surrounded by people that you love.  Those are the things that the Baby Boomer can begin to look forward to when they make these life changing decisions.

One of the most important things to keep doing, too, is to keep looking for new ways to improve and new pieces of information that can possibly extend your life or improve your life even further.  Science today is ever capable of providing you with the tools to make this happen.  Now, it’s in your hands to make the decision to live a longer, healthier, and more prosperous life.

Lifestyle Changes For The Baby Boomer



One of the most difficult things for the Baby Boomer to change is that of his lifestyle.  That’s why we’ve left it until now.  You knew it was coming.  You have to give up drinking, smoking and all of those other things that are ripping apart your health and well being.  We don’t have to tell you those things, but if you don’t do them, nothing you’ve learned here is going to prolong your life any more than they will shorten it.

But, lifestyle changes don’t have to be for the bad.  There are actually many small things that you can do to improve the overall quality and health of your life without having to give up the things you love.

On the other hand, there are those things that you do have to take into consideration and repair.  You do have to set your priorities straight and you do have to make sure that your health becomes the most important thing in the world to you.  That’s no short order.

And, we’ll start with the hardest yet most important one of all.


Stress

Baby Boomers are known for the stress that they are under on a constant basis.  Challenge is something that many of you live for.  In fact, more than 40 percent of the Baby Boomer generation will continue to work not for the money but for the mental stimulation and challenge that it provides to them.

Nevertheless, stress can be detrimental to your overall well being.  In fact, it will shorten your life span if you don’t do something about it right now. 

Why does stress play such an important role in your life?  There are a number of reasons why, but when it comes to what stress does to your body physically, the evidence is in.

Stress is known as the silent killer because it affects virtually every part of your body.  Not only does it cause trauma to your brain, but it will cause muscles and joints to become injured, organs to not work as well and allows your body to remain open to illness.

In addition, it helps you to age faster.  Because stress increases the amount of cortisol that your body produces, you age faster.  Cortisol is an element that actually increases the speed at which you age.  The longer and more severe the stress is, the more damage it does to you.

The good news is that most of the damage that comes from stress can be repaired and even elevated.  But, this does mean that you need to make some lifestyle changes now to make that happen for you.

For starters, stressful situations like work environments that are negative or cause you to remain in a state of stress are not good for you and should be changed.  Although you may not believe that you can do this, the stress you face there will shorten your lifespan and worsen your health in the short and long term.

Here are some ways that you can reduce stress even when you can’t leave the job behind.

·        Physical activity will help to reduce stress.  Going for a walk, playing a sport, and even the exercise that you get in your Baby Boomer exercise regimen will all help you.  By pumping oxygen rich blood throughout your stressed muscles, you improve the overall function of them and therefore help your body to relax.

·        Mental relaxation can also help.  Learn how to do yoga (remember it’s great for stretching too!) or you can learn to meditate.  You can also find other quiet activities that can help to relax you.

·        Take on a new learning experience.  Learn how to do karate, meet new people and expand your knowledge base through reading.  Finding these things to do will encourage your brain to work more successfully and it will encourage stress relief.

·        Do things that you enjoy.  Getting a massage will help to melt away stress.  Go for a walk or go swimming.  Spend time with family and friends just playing a game.  These small things make a considerable difference in stress reduction.

But, stress isn’t all that you need to take into consideration when it comes to lifestyle changes.

Those Habits

As mentioned, those habits that are bad for you, such as smoking, drinking alcohol and illegal substances should not be done.  The sooner that you stop doing so, the better it can be.  The good news is that some of the damage from smoking will repair itself on its own.  But, alcohol damage won’t be so lucky. 

Even if you need a cigarette to relax, the bottom line is that smoking and drinking will lead to cancers of the lungs, brain cell deterioration and much more.  The circulatory system alone suffers greatly at these risks.

There are many helpful groups available today, that your doctor can help you to find that can help you to make these changes so that they aren’t too hard to do or too taxing on your daily life.

Positive Attitude

Be happy.  In short, improving your mood and giving yourself more opportunities to be positive can also help to increase your longevity and help you to remain healthy, longer.  Although doctors don’t fully understand why, many patients that that face life threatening conditions that have a positive attitude going in are the ones that actually pull through.  Even in the worst of situations, having this full of life, positive mental attitude can pull you through when even medicine can fail.

To stay positive, you should do things that you enjoy.  Since most Baby Boomers are still working, that means cutting back those hours a bit and enjoying a picnic in the park, relaxing after dinner and just enjoying the peace of the afternoon.  Catch a nap, call and talk to a friend for an hour about nothing and even spend the day laughing and carrying on.

Doing things that you enjoy doing is beneficial to your overall health.  As we mentioned earlier, it helps to stimulate the brain.  But, it also helps to improve your quality of life.  Let’s face it, nothing that you learned here can be beneficial to you if your quality of life is minimized in any way. 

Getting through the difficult times is hard to do and still stay positive.  Some find the hope and help they need in religion, while others seek out answers in science.  Even still, many just look at the benefits and blessings they have now and hope they continue for a long time in coming.

Doing whatever it takes to improve your lifestyle will ultimately lead you to a lifestyle that is positive and overall beneficial to your goal of a long, prosperous lifestyle.

The Baby Boomer And Money


One of the largest worries that a baby boomer has to deal with is the financial aspect of life.  It may seem strange to include the money aspect of your life in this e-book, but the Baby Boomer needs to take into account the financial obstacles that they are beginning to experience.

Many baby boomers are already seeing the financial crunch as they watch their parents struggle to pay the bills.  Some of them are seeing that their parent’s homes are being reverse mortgaged to pay them something back so that they can actually afford daily life.  Even worse, should they need long term health care and end of life care, they aren’t sure of just how that’s going to be paid for.

But, there is a problem.  The Baby Boomer generation is also the generation that changed the world with their care free attitude.  They started their lives in a post war period that was quite prosperous, didn’t have to worry about saving because many of the years have been economically beneficial to them.  And, now, most baby boomers don’t have the funds that will allow them to retire.

Baby boomers liked to spend, and they spent more than any other generation before them.  They also liked to mortgage real estate, run up credit cards and even have started more businesses than any other generation.

What does all of this mean to you, though?

As a Baby Boomer, is it incredibly important for you to invest the time and money into looking at your financial situation.

The first thing you need to address is how long you’ll be working.  Many Baby Boomers plan to work longer.  Since this generation has aged well to this point, they are expected to live longer.  But, that doesn’t mean that they will be leaving their jobs at the standard age of 65 which is what Social Security allows them to do.

Instead, many of them, more than half, will continue to work longer.  Some will retire only to work part time, start their own business or work without pay.  The smallest percentage of Baby Boomers plans to never work again after they retire.

The question is, what can you financially do?

Many of your parents didn’t spend their time determining just how expensive it will be to afford health care and even more so the cost of living that is today.  For that reason, many more are living off of Social Security, help from family and even elderly care services. 

But, you don’t have to find yourself in this position.  Here are some tips that can help you to get your finances in order so that you can work or not work at your leisure when you reach your retirement.

·        Savings. The largest component of being able to live well after you retire is the money that you have in the bank.  Of course, if you haven’t started saving at this point, you still should be considering it.  The payments that will come in from Social Security are likely to be quite low in comparison to the lifestyles that most Baby Boomers live today. 
·        Spending.  Many Baby Boomers like to spend.  But, now is the time to reel that in some so that you can afford to spend longer into your future.
·        Determine what pension, 401k or other type of investment you have and manage it.  It will be incredibly important for you to learn how these funds are doing.  As you approach retirement, you’ll need to readjust the funds to be more conservative so that you don’t lose it all.
·        Invest wisely.  Although there is plenty of time to invest and see a nice return, it is also something that should mean more risk to you now.  You’ll want to do the research needed and work on your risk tolerance to determine the best opportunity for you.

The Key To Success

Since each financial outlook is different from one Baby Boomer to the next, one of the most beneficial tasks that you can take on is to find a financial advisor.  While we have talked a lot about the things that you can do to improve your life’s longevity, you need someone that can financially make that possible.  A skilled financial advisor will provide you with the knowledge to make the right decisions, ultimately.

They can help you to determine how to spend, invest and save your funds.  They can help to develop a strategy that will allow you to fund the lifestyle that you are living today well into the future.  Working with you, they will help you to find out what things you can do differently now, so that the financial reward comes later.

What You Need To Plan For

What you may not realize is just what you need to plan for.  With the longevity that you’ll get from being healthy, you will need funds that will take you through your entire life.  If you have a lifestyle that you are comfortable with right now, you’ll want to maintain that in the coming years as well.  With financial advice, that can happen.

In addition to this, more and more people are looking at traveling, exploring the world and enjoying the luxuries that life has to offer.  With this also comes an added cost.  While these things are excellent tools to keep your mind stimulated and your body healthy, you’ll need to be able to afford them.

In addition, there is health care to consider.  With the rising costs of just stepping foot into a doctor’s office, it is becoming increasingly important to find a way to afford this too.  The risk of counting on insurance companies or government funded medical care is quite limiting and can often place you where you don’t want to be.

Even still, many Baby Boomers still have homes to pay off that are mortgaged at least one time.  This means that you’ll need to be able to make enough to use this money wisely.  While there are options like reverse mortgages that allow you to be paid a sum of your home’s value each month, this comes at a high price and may not be the right decision for your needs.

Beyond anything else, the Baby Boomer generation is one that likes to set life at their own pace and likes to do things their own way.  Having changed the world, you may just need some extra funds to make that continue, too.

If you are a Baby Boomer, it is time now to make the decisions regarding your finances for the future.  If you don’t make these critical decisions now, then the funds won’t be there when you need them.

Invest your time and money into a solid, trusted financial advisor that you can work one on one with.  Learn what they can offer to you and find out just what it is that you can expect from them.  With the dedication of these individuals, you will quickly find your place in the financial lifestyle you want to live.

The Baby Boomer must address money concerns now, while they are healthy and while they have the time to make changes.  To live a prosperous life, you need to manage the financial aspect of it as well as the health aspects.

Yet, this doesn’t have to be difficult with the right people by your side to make it happen.

The Baby Boomer’s Brain



Your brain is one of the most important things for you to take into consideration in any health regimen.  For the Baby Boomer, it is even more vitally important to care for your brain.

Today, the number of Alzheimer’s patients is quickly on the rise.  There are numerous situations in which people are forced to realize that the years are slipping by and they no longer can keep a grasp on time. 

There is no doubt that over time your brain is going decrease in function.  You are going to lose some of its function over time.  But, when that happens is what you should be worrying about.

With the right tools and planning, you can delay significantly these reductions.  In some cases, you can even minimize the extent to which they happen to you.  The good news is that the things that you can do to keep the mind stimulated and functioning correctly are things that are easy to do and even can be enjoyable.

There are a number of things you can do, actually, each of them offering their own benefit.  Here are some.

Learning

Learning is one of the very best things you can do to your brain.  As you age, many stop doing new things and looking for new areas of the world to explore.  That is what starts the shut down of the brain.  Because you aren’t using it as much, especially for new things, you aren’t making it function as much as it needs to. 

When you keep your brain functioning, you encourage it to continue to be active.  On the other hand, if you don’t, you lose the necessary functions that you need. 

Some ideas here include taking a new class, learning to do something that you enjoy such as a new hobby, and even learning history.  You can take courses at your local community college or start a discussion group about the books that you are reading.  Learn to plan a new instrument.  Learn to cook like a professional. 

Stay Socially Active

Another thing that you need to do to help keep your brain healthy is to stay in the social scene.  Involving yourself with others and keeping yourself part of the group helps your brain to function well beyond what it normally would.

If you become someone that lives alone, talks to no one and simply does the same things day in and day out, there is little hope that your brain will stay stimulated.  But, encouraging your brain through relationship building, stimulation from others and just being with other people can help to keep your own brain active. 

In addition, most people love to be around others and that in itself can be a blessing to the brain.  Doing things that you love improves your overall well being.

Stay Physically Active

We’ve talked a lot about the need for physical activity but it is also important for your brain as well as the rest of your body.  Because physical exercise stimulates circulation in your body, you’ll actually be adding the circulation of blood to the brain.  What’s more is that if your body is physically active, your mind will be more likely to be physically active as well. 

Doing the exercise regimens that are included here will help the Baby Boomer in body as well as in mind. 


Brain Food

The nutrients that are required for your health and well being are also important for your brain.  It is essential that your body gets the right amount of nutrients for brain stimulation and health.  One of the most important elements in that are Omega 3 fatty acids.  These can be found heavily in fish or you can take them in supplemental form.

These nutrients are essential for the health of your brain.  When you are developing the right supplement for your Baby Boomer body, it should include supplements for your Baby Boomer brain, too.

Keeping your brain active is very important to your overall well being.  Without taking in these considerations, you put your brain at risk for becoming ill and functioning less optimally.  As you can see, though, this is one of the most prosperous and easy parts of the Baby Boomer’s lifestyle that can be changed for the better!

Supplementing And Hormones



As a combination of the diet and exercise regimens of the Baby Boomer, it is also important to take into consideration supplementation and your body’s hormones, both of which are critical at preserving the body’s health and longevity.

You may ask why you need to add supplements to your diet when you have just started on a healthy diet that’s been described here.  The reason for this is really unfortunate for most.

Even with a healthy diet that is filled with just the nutrients from healthy food, you are still not getting all of the nutrients that you need to maintain optimal health.  This is due to several key things including the way that your food is grown. For example, the way that your food is farmed has allowed for the soil to be depleted for many of the nutrients that you need.  Many of these nutrients can actually help you to improve the longevity of your life.

Supplementation is needed for other reasons as well.  Here are some examples of why you need to add the right nutrients to your diet now.

·        Pesticides and herbicides are commonly used to help keep bugs off of the foods that are grown.  While you think that this is a good thing, it still causes problems for the production of nutrients in the soil.
·        The soil itself is often not even authentic soil!  Some of the most modern farms are using synthetic types of soil which allow for faster and longer growing seasons that produce more products that’s also good looking.
·        With genetic mutation, scientists of have developed fruits and vegetables (not to mention virtually any other type of food that you eat) products that are genetically altered enough to produce the perfect specimen every time.  The nutrients get left out.

As you can see, there are many reasons that the foods you eat don’t have the nutrients that are needed to increase the longevity and health of your life.  Still, you should also realize that even when you do get the right foods, you still have so many other factors that play a role in the way your body uses them.  The sugars that you eat, the fats, and the high amounts of sodium cause the real nutrients to get lost in the mix.  Your body doesn’t get a chance to bring them in.

When you don’t get the right types and amounts of nutrients, your body will break down faster with the onset of degenerative diseases.  In fact, some studies have shown that with the proper nutrients you can die early.  As you know, we are working on keeping you healthy, longer and supplementation can take us there.

What Do You Need In Supplements?

As we mentioned, it is quite important to insure that you are eating a healthy diet, like the Baby Boomer diet that we’ve described.  But, in addition to that, supplementing your diet with the right vitamins and minerals will also be important. 

Here are some things to remember about supplements in regards to what you should be consuming.

Select supplements that are right for your body.  This should take into consideration your age, sex and your current health situation.  Remember, you need to insure that the supplements you take will help improve the rate at which you are aging.

Antioxidants are an important part of the supplement that you take.  Find one that offers a high amount of antioxidants which help to remove free radicals from your body. They help to deter diseases like heart disease and cancer.  In addition, they help each of your organs to work better.  Antioxidants also help to stimulate natural growth hormones to be released throughout your body.

You also want the supplement that you select to provide you with the necessary nutrients to help keep your organs running at the highest level.  You want a product that will keep problems like heart disease at bay as well as Alzheimer’s disease.

Mood benefiting products are also important.  You want a product that will help to relieve stress and improving your general state of well being.

The supplement that you take should also promote a healthy sex drive in both men and women.  Not only is that something that you will want to have working optimually, but it also helps to secrete hormones that are necessary for health in the long term.

Look for a supplement that provides cellular rejuvenation.  This means that the product will help in the restructure and repair of the cells of your body.  You want the supplement to be able to promote this well being in each of the cells of your body.

Your hair, nails and skin should also be aided by the supplement hat you take.  You want a product that will promote healthy skin cells and healthy, young looking nails and skin.

You should also look for the supplement to be a time released product as these generally are able to enter the body slowly and therefore are absorbed better into the body.  Other products that are water soluble simply get washed away.

Finally, take the time to find out what’s in the supplement.  You want to find a supplement that is as natural in composition as possible.  You should check to see if it has the Food and Drug Administration’s seal of approval, but that is not always available.

Take the time you need to compare the products that are on the market.  Instead of trying to find many supplements, each offering its own unique benefit, look for a supplement that features many of those that you need.  A good place to start is to take your list of needs to your local nutrionalist or to the health food store (you can shop for them online, too, of course!)  Have them help you to find the perfect supplement for your anti aging, health promotion.

Finally, when you get to the point of saying, “why am I doing this, again?”  Consider this.

In the standard American diet, it would be necessary for you to consume a 5000 calorie diet in order to get the nutrients that you need for optimum health and even then some of them would be left out!  Since the recommended diet is that of just 2000 calories (on the high side) you can see how this would be counter productive to your efforts.  Supplementation then, is a must.

A combination of healthy products is what you need to look for.  That means vitamins and minerals but also herbal products.  You’ll find that the more natural the product is, the more benefits it can provide to your overall health and well being.

Hormone Soup

The hormones that your body releases are very important to your well being.  As a Baby Boomer, you are likely already facing the depletion of the most important hormone in your body:  growth hormone.

Growth hormone is important for a number of reasons.  For one, it helps your body to grow and develop.  But, it also helps to rejuvenate and repair the damage to your cells.  In many ways, this growth hormone is responsible for the decline in your body over the years.  It is, in short, what makes you look aged.

Now, if you could increase the amount of growth hormone in your body, you could potentially slow the aging process.  In fact, those people that have the ability to live a life that has been riddled with all of the “bad stuff” and still somehow live to be 100 are tell tale signs of this.

You see, in most people, the growth hormone that is so important to our longevity begins to taper off at the age of just 25!  Each decade of your life, it will decrease yet another ten to fifteen percent leaving you with next to nothing.  But, those that do live to see 100 are often a part of a small group of people that have a gene that keeps the growth hormone working optimally in their body for long after the point were most turn off, so to speak.

But, just because you don’t have the ability to alter your genes doesn’t mean that you can’t help to keep growth hormone production happening in your body.  No, we don’t mean through artificial supplementation or any type of injections.  You can do this through natural and non side effect riddled ways.

If you did try to use an artificial type of supplementation of growth hormone, you would have to visit your doctor to get it.  In addition, the wrong about can actually cause very severe side effects, including the possibility of death.  Therefore, this is not the best way to get the growth hormone that is necessary for longevity.

You can, on the other hand, encourage your own glands to continue producing it.  By stimulating the pituitary gland, you can actually allow it to begin providing your body with the necessary release of this hormone again.  The type of product that you would use to make this happen is called secretagogues.  These are all natural products which mean that they are generally safe to use, with few to no side effects. 

Taking these supplements will help to provide you with some amazing benefits.  You’ll see improvements in you skin and in your hair first.  You may even begin to have a sex drive again.  By increasing your body’s excretions of other hormones such as DHEA, progesterone and testosterone, it can also help improve the health and well being of many aspects of your life.

Since your body requires hormones to help make things happen in your body, getting them to be balanced and secreted as they can be a wonderful thing for the rest of your body.  For example, just increasing the right hormones in women after menopause can delay or even avoid osteoporosis, heart disease and even help to fend off cancers and other health concerns that you may have.

As you can see, with the help of secretagogues, you can find the benefits of health and well being that you are seeking.  To find these products, you can talk to your local health store or you can look for them available on the web.  Whatever you do, don’t forget to include them in your diet and exercise regimen.

As you can see, the need for supplementation and for hormone stimulation is vitally important when it comes to maintaining your health for a longer period of time.

Although you may often be told that the things you do are what drive your age and how long you’ll be healthy.  But, there are factors that you can’t control such as the growth hormone and the foods that you eat not having enough of the nutrients your body needs.

But, you can also see how you can repair these elements by simply including supplements into your diet.  You’ll also find that it is easy to tackle these problems once you have the right products to take.

Yes, supplements may seem like a nuisance when you have to take them daily.  But, adding a pill a day, so to speak, can really help to keep your organs working correction, keep your skin from looking aged and it can give you the nutrients you need to live a long and happy life.  You definitely want that!