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The Science Behind the Longevity Diet

Do you sometimes wonder about the science behind the dozens of diets out there screaming “pick me, pick me”?? Dr. Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California Los Angeles and author of The Longevity Diet,  has based his studies and recommended Longevity Diet on his comprehensive Five Pillars of Longevity – and if this isn’t science enough for you… So…

Perfumes + Paint = Pollution?!

Who knew!! Those perfumes you’ve been spraying or the room you just painted contribute as much to air pollution as your car emissions! That’s a pretty bold statement, but on February 15, 2018, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) reported the results of  a study they commissioned to investigate the amount of VOC’s (Volatile Chemical Compounds) in the air released by products…

Why So Many Diets Fail

  Thinking about going on a diet and wondering which one? There are vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, low calorie, low fat, low carbohydrate, medical, detox and crash diet categories broken down into over 90 different diets. And those are just the ones covered on Wikipedia! With so many, why do so many diets fail? According to the Pritikin Longevity Center, 95% fail and most people regain their weight…

Juventology? What the heck is that??! I read the term in a Blue Zone post the other day in conjunction with their interview of Valter Longo PhD, author of The Longevity Diet, and found it intriguing. It’s the concept of focusing on why and how we stay young rather than why we grow old and is a refreshing “glass half full” way of approaching the subject of aging in general. The opposite of…

There are tips galore on working smarter: taking regular breaks from your computer, better organization, prioritizing, delegating, ergonomically effective work stations and more. But how about putting more fun and even play into your workday? Play? Now that’s a novel thought. Sort of a glass half full concept – I mean, is work supposed to be fun? How many hours a day do you spend at your job –…

The Real Killer Sugars and where They’re Hiding Out

  Please don’t tell me that you’re an average American! If you are, that means you consume an average of 22 teaspoons of sugar a day – mainly from sodas, candy, cereals and yeast breads. And please, please tell me that you haven’t been supersizing your soft drinks or sneaking a Snickers bar! Fact: USDA recommends a limit of 10 teaspoons (40 grams) of added sugar a day and 1 tsp = 4 grams or 16…

Oh Those Girl Scout Cookies!

Girl Scout cookies?? Yes…Girl Scout Cookies! Or in my case, Girl Guide Cookies made in Canada, to be exact. I just bought two boxes from two adorable 7 year olds, brought them home and found that after wheat flour, the second main ingredient is sugar.  And a little further down – in addition to the sugar – they’ve added corn syrup! Calories, Calories, Calories Eat two cookies – chocolate or…

Stair Way to a Heavenly Body

A stairway connects things and places. It’s something that is both practical and symbolic – you go up and down a stairway to get from one level to the next – physically and often emotionally, even philosophically. Practically Speaking But what do you do when faced with the option of taking the stairs or riding the elevator? You go to the gym and lift weights, go for a jog or run, power walk for…

5 Reasons to Take Time Out

Taking time out can be a powerful thing. Depending on your reasons – fatigue, overload, boredom, following a new passion, fill in your _____! The main thing is that it can have amazing benefits and even more amazing results. Here are 5 reasons to Take Time Out:  Refocus. Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees as the old saying goes. Stepping away from whatever it is that caused you to…

Really? On the road…again?? It was a scant year ago that we made the leap from home ownership to renting and the learning curve has been steep.

Suffice it to say that moving out of the home we had hoped – only a year ago – would be a long-term situation was the only option available to us for a variety of reasons. And we learned that renting through a property management company as opposed to the…

Take Time to Breath Easy

Stop right there! Now take an easy, deep breath in through your nose… nice and deep, down into your belly. Hold it for a few seconds and then expel by blowing through your pursed lips. Do it a couple of times and see if you notice a shift in your focus and feel a little more relaxed. Question: how often today did you stop to think about this most basic human function?

The first thing we do as we…

Nature vs. Nurture or Both

Nature vs. Nurture is a question that’s been around for as long as I can remember!

The Human Genome Project, completed in 2003 by scientists from many countries, attempted to answer this question. They identified around 20,500 genes and 3 billion base pairs in our DNA, yet were left with more questions than when they started…what triggers the process that turns a cell into a heart cell or…

Communicating Through Listening? You bet!

If you think communicating is all about talking, think again. How often do you catch yourself thinking of what to say next before the person you’re talking to has even finished his or her thought? How often do you focus intently and listen to what’s being said? Effective listening is as important as what is being said.

The problem is that staying with your “Partner” (friend, colleague, spouse,…

On the Move vs. Moving!

For a person who is always on the move, you’d think that moving – relocating from one house to another – would be a snap!

After all, in my lifetime, counting any move from one house to the next, I have moved a grand total of 43 times – 24 times before I married as the daughter of a professional military “officer and a gentleman” and 19 times as the wife of a hotelier.

Moving has usually…

Moving Through Life

Eat Your Way to Health

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