High Quality of Life Category
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
Shopping online can be quite a time-saver. You don’t have to get the kids or yourself ready—just plop in front of your computer in your pajamas with a cup of coffee and this season’s shopping list.
Online shopping will also help you save on money. You can often find great deals, like-new or new items for nearly fifty-percent off at stores like amazon.com and auction sites such as ebay.com. If you don’t like the price at one site, check out another. Sometimes you can even e-mail individual vendors and let them know you saw an item cheaper somewhere else and do some haggling to cut down on the price tag. You’ll also benefit from the fact that, unlike shopping around at the mall or a real-life store, you won’t find yourself tempted to buy other items not on your list just because they’re on sale or because they caught your eye as you were walking by.
Another benefit of shopping online is that you’ll be able to find items which are not sold at your favorite retailers or which are sold at extraordinarily high prices due to the fact that they’re special-ordered. That’s why I shop online for special gluten-free foods. Similarly, you’ll be able to find special items or things that are sold out at your local retailer. Can’t find that rug in blue anymore? Order it online.
Of course, there’s nothing like a fun trip to the mall or your favorite retailers, especially around the holidays. However, like more and more baby boomers are doing these days, check out online shopping before hitting the malls the next time you go shopping!
Tina Turbin
Tags: Advice, Baby Boomers, Being a Mom, Children, helpful tips, internet, moms, online shopping, shopping, tina turbin
Posted in Advice, Author, Baby Boomers, Being a Mom, Children, High Quality of Life, Managing Life, Organize, Uncategorized, Women's Issues | 24 Comments »
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
Other research suggests the health benefits of social support. One study, published in the journal Cancer, followed 61 women with advanced ovarian cancer. The women with lots of social support had much lower levels of a protein linked to more aggressive types of cancer, and higher levels of a protein that boosted the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
In 1989, David Spiegel, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, published an influential paper in Lancet, showing that women with breast cancer who participated in a support group lived twice as long as those who didn’t and reported much less pain. Sheldon Cohen, PhD, a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has shown that strong social support helps people cope with stress. Other studies have demonstrated that less connected people tend to die sooner after having a heart attack than people with a strong social network and that having a large social network may even reduce chances of catching a cold, even though you’re probably exposed to more viruses when spending lots of time with others.
“Friends help you face adverse events,” Dr. Sheldon Cohen says. “They provide material aid, emotional support, and information that helps you deal with the stressors. There may be broader effects as well. Friends encourage you to take better care of yourself. And people with wider social networks are higher in self-esteem, and they feel they have more control over their lives.”
Take advantage of these findings by increasing your social network! There are plenty of people out there to strike up a friendship with and plenty of health benefits to look forward to as your friendships blossom.
Tina Turbin
Tags: Advice, Friendship, girlfriends, Health, tina turbin, Tina Turbin researcher, Women's Health
Posted in Advice, Baby Boomers, Being a Mom, Friendship, Health, High Quality of Life, Managing Life, Motherhood, Natural Alternatives, Relationships, Women's Health, Women's Issues | 26 Comments »
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Now what? Studies show how important it is to have goals and show a direct link between writing your goals down and achieving success. Making goals comes easily to mothers, as they are impelled by the natural desire to help their children thrive. From getting the kids ready for school in the mornings to building their college funds, the objectives were clear and you clearly wanted them.
What would you like to do now? Come up with one or more goals, and you will have something to serve as a foundation for your hard work and dedication in this new life after mom-hood. You know you are strong and capable—you successfully raised a child, after all! It’s time to put that energy now toward something else, perhaps something you’ve always wanted to do since childhood. Whether it’s arts and crafts, volunteer work, or learning Chinese, it’s important to have something to work toward, whatever it is.
After mom-hood, I blossomed more than ever as a woman, launching a children’s book series, researching and illuminating important health issues such as celiac disease, and participating in humanitarian efforts such as improving children’s literacy. These are things that make me who I am, just as being a mother will always make up who I am. The satisfaction from meeting your own personal goals is a gift every mother deserves to give herself.
Tina Turbin
Tags: Baby Boomers, Goals, life after mom-hood, quality of life, tina turbin, Tina Turbin researcher, women, women's issues
Posted in Advice, Baby Boomers, Being a Mom, Goals, High Quality of Life, Managing Life, Motherhood, Organize, Women's Issues | 30 Comments »
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
What should you look for in a good friend whose companionship will bring health and happiness to you instead of just raising your blood pressure? There are a few things you should ask yourself before befriending someone. First of all, make sure to choose a friend who has positive things to say to you. Every once in a while, a good friend may need to tell you something that might be tough to hear—“hard truths”—but these remarks should be very infrequent and you should generally walk away after spending time with them feeling better about yourself.
Also, look for friends who are living life in a responsible manner. Otherwise, the stress of their own lives due to their bad habits and poor decisions will surely stress you out. Nobody is perfect, but avoid befriending people who are making bad life decisions such as abusing drugs, having extramarital affairs, and engaging in criminal activity, for instance. Every once in a while, a good friend may make a bad decision; this doesn’t mean you should abandon the friendship, but help them instead. However, my best advice is that if you meet someone and find right off the bat that his life is out of control, it’s best to refer him to help and save your energy for friends who are overall positively contributing to society.
Having lots of friends can boost your immune system, help you survive longer after a heart attack, fight serious illnesses such as cancer, and increase your life span. With such positive advantages, you should make sure to increase your number of friends, but also keep in mind the importance of avoiding stressful, low-quality friendship and seeking out positive companionship.
Tina Turbin
Tags: Aging, anti-aging, Baby Boomers, Friendship, girlfriends, Health, tina turbin, Women's Health
Posted in Advice, Baby Boomers, Friendship, Health, High Quality of Life, Managing Life, Natural Alternatives, Relationships, Women's Health, Women's Issues | 27 Comments »
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
There are so many reasons to dramatically cut down on television or to cut it out altogether. You’ll find in the end that your children will be much more likely to become avid readers and, as a result, perform better in school and in life. Instead of acting out the drama and degradation on popular TV, your kids will demonstrate the values you seek to pass on to them. You’ll also find your own productivity will increase, and oftentimes, a marriage will be sparked back to life by eliminating television. It may be a challenge at first to get used to your new lifestyle, but soon the benefits will be so rewarding that you’ll be too busy enjoying your higher quality of life that you won’t even think about the absence of television in it.
Tina Turbin
Tags: Advice, Family, family time, parenting, Parents, television, tina turbin
Posted in Advice, Author, Being a Mom, Children, Family, High Quality of Life, Motherhood, Parents | 33 Comments »
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
Writing your goals down on paper (or on your computer in this computer age) is essential.
A recent study was conducted recently to find what made Harvard’s most successful graduates so successful. It turns out that the common denominator among these prosperous alumni was writing down their goals. Luckily, you don’t need a degree from Harvard to do that!
Tina Turbin
Tags: goal setting, Goals, higher quality of life, personal goals, quality of life, research, tina turbin, Tina Turbin researcher, writing
Posted in Advice, Author, Goals, High Quality of Life, Managing Life, Organize, Women's Issues | 31 Comments »
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
Start looking at the glass half-full! Keeping oneself in a good mood is likely to stretch your life span. Studies show that people with a positive way of looking at things—even just regarding the aging process—can increase their life span by seven years. Stress and negativity can lead to overall bad health, affecting the heart, immune system, and endocrine system. Choose whatever healthy mood-boosters you know work for you—such as reading a good book, baking cookies, or taking a relaxing bath.
Tags: Advice, Baby Boomers, Health, immune system, mood-boosting, relaxation, stress, tina turbin, Women's Health
Posted in Advice, Author, Baby Boomers, Exercise, Friendship, Health, High Quality of Life, Managing Life, Natural Alternatives, Women's Health | 32 Comments »
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
Having friends certainly makes you feel good. Now studies are showing that they may in fact be good for you! According to a recent Australian study, there’s evidence that friends may actually help your life last longer.
The study, which was conducted by the Centre for Ageing Studies at Flinders University, followed about 1500 older people for 10 years and found that those with a large network of friends were outliving those with the fewest friends by 22 percent. By contrast, close relationships with children and relatives had almost no effect on longevity. Lynne C. Giles, one of the researchers, emphasized that family ties are important; they just seem to have little effect on longevity.
So why is this? Good friends are there to discourage you from unhealthy behavior, such as excessive drinking and smoking, and to encourage a healthy lifestyle by supporting you in activities such as following a balanced diet and exercising. The companionship they offer is also important in fighting stress, depression, and low self-esteem, Their emotional support can back you up in taking healthy risks such as going back to school for a degree in a new field, opening a business, or having children, all of which can vastly improve the quality of life and thus decrease overall stress.
Tina Turbin
Tags: Aging, anti-aging, Baby Boomers, Friendship, girlfriends, Health, longevity, quality of life, tina turbin, Tina Turbin researcher, women, Women's Health, women's issues
Posted in Advice, Baby Boomers, Friendship, Health, High Quality of Life, Natural Alternatives, Relationships, Women's Health, Women's Issues | 29 Comments »
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
The National Sleep Foundation offers a few tips which I’ll pass along. First, make sure bedtime is a routine and relaxing affair; keep your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool. Make sure to exercise regularly, but make sure you don’t exercise in the evenings, as this can interfere with your ability to fall asleep. Next, avoid caffeine for at least eight hours and alcohol for a few hours before you go to sleep. You may not think your cola from dinner at five o’clock is disrupting your sleep at midnight; not only can it prevent you from falling asleep, but it can interrupt your sleep throughout the night. Finally, make your bedroom your bedroom, removing work, paperwork, computers, and the TV; by associating your bedroom only with sleep, you’ll find it much easier to get a good night’s sleep.
I truly believe that the quality of your sleep determines the quality of your waking life. Just as you can’t afford to not eat right and exercise, it’s imperative to handle any sleep problems you may be having.
Tina Turbin
Tags: Advice, Baby Boomers, diet, Exercise, Health, helpful tips, nutrition, sleep, tina turbin, Tina Turbin researcher, Women's Health
Posted in Advice, Baby Boomers, Being a Mom, Exercise, Health, High Quality of Life, Managing Life, Motherhood, Natural Alternatives, Women's Health, Women's Issues | 13 Comments »
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
Why is that couples report having the most fun with each other when they were dating? I strongly believe this is because when they’re dating, couples are constantly trying different activities together, putting time and effort into spending time together, and are generally creative about the relationship. Naturally, any relationship, marital or not, can get stale when you stop creating things to do together. You don’t necessarily have to plan a romantic island getaway. You can go out for ice cream, design a new kitchen together, or walk the dog together in the evenings and talk. If you were dating your spouse, what would you do with him? Ask yourself this question and go ahead and give it a try!
Tina Turbin
Tags: Advice, Baby Boomers, couples, helpful tips, marriage, relationship advice, Relationships, tina turbin
Posted in Advice, Author, Baby Boomers, Being a Mom, Family, High Quality of Life, Relationships | 11 Comments »
