My name is Catherine Morgan, I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. This is a blog about women's issues, health & wellness, and inspirational thoughts. If you like this blog, you will love BlogHer.com where I am also a contributing editor.
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Find out all the places I blog at Catherine Blogs.
Four Tips To A Long Life — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
I was surfing the health and wellness news trying to decide what to post on tonight, and I came across this Reuters article… Four Health Changes Can Prolong Life 14 Years. Who wouldn’t want to prolong their life by 14 years?
So, would you make a “resolution” to make four lifestyle changes, if it would increase your life by 14 years? Better than a New Years Resolution, this would be a “Life Resolution”.
What are the four changes to a longer life?
1) Stop Smoking
2) Eat Five Servings of Fruits and Vegetables a Day
3) Exercise
4) Limit Alcohol Consumption
The lifestyle change with the biggest benefit was giving up smoking, which led to an 80 percent improvement in health, the study found. This was followed by eating fruits and vegetables. Moderate drinking and keeping active brought the same benefits…
Well, that seems pretty simple. While we’re on the subject, why not surf around for some other ways to live longer?
There are few things that cause you more stress and worry than your weight. If you gained a few pounds over the holidays, don’t panic…..yet. According to an article (reprinted below) about a study published last November, people who are a little overweight actually live longer.
Could you live longer if you walked faster? Apparently so…
New research following 500 older people for nearly a decade found quicker walkers were less likely to die. Nine years after initial gait speed was measured, 77 percent of slow walkers had died, compared to only 50 percent of medium speed and 27 percent of fast walkers.
As our population ages, our society is finally recognizing that old age is a gift. Despite some of the negative images in the media, it really is possible to embrace our elderhood as a creative and spiritual journey.
People who have aged successfully share common characteristics.
There is no question that most of our lifestyle choices are what will determine whether we age in good physical and mental health or fall prey to sickness and disability. Although it may be a cliché, moderation is the key in everything. By practicing moderation and following these ten tips, you too can be a “long-liver” and, more importantly, enjoy your elder hood in the process.
It’s the last day of 2007, and I thought I would do this post on some of the hot topics from BlogHer Health and Wellness. So, in no particular order, here is what I think are the top ten. — read the full post at BlogHer.
Are you making significant life decisions from a place of fear or anger? Most of us do. When we make choices and respond to people and situations in our life, in reaction to fearful and angry emotions, we are choosing unhappiness. From the little responses and decisions in our life, right up to the big ones.
You can read this full post at my new blog - CatherineBlogs.com (my first attempt at a blog with ads), I’d love to know what you think. Thanks. And, don’t worry…I still plan on continuing my blogging here and at all my other blogs.
Hi everyone. I was honored to be asked to write a guest post for Life Learning Today, and this is what I came up with.
Catherine’s Top Three Tips For Healthy Living
1. You are what you eat, and it is never too late to start eating healthy. Every day, try your very best to put healthy foods and plenty of water into your body. When you have a choice between something healthy and something not healthy, go with the healthy choice. But, don’t be too hard on yourself on the days you fall back into old habits. There is no rule that says, to be healthy you have to be perfect. Even if you are eating healthy 50% of the time, that is still better than none of the time.
If you are one to never go for the healthy choice, then start today with a commitment to eat one thing that is good for you (just one thing that you would normally not eat), and do that for a week. After a week, start eating two things that are good for you, and so on, and so on. Before you know it, you’ll be eating healthy half the time…And that’s a great start.
You can start today, loving yourself and your family enough to stop poisoning your body with unhealthy foods. Heart disease is the number one killer in our country. And 80% of heart disease is due to eating an unhealthy diet that leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Start today, and take a bite in the right direction…Your heart will thank you.
PISCO, Peru - The death toll rose to 450 on Thursday in the magnitude-8 earthquake that devastated cities of adobe and brick in Peru’s southern desert. Survivors wearing blankets walked like ghosts through the ruins.
Dust-covered dead were pulled out and laid in rows in the streets, or beneath bloodstained sheets at damaged hospitals and morgues. Doctors struggled to help more than 1,500 injured, including hundreds who waited on cots in the open air, fearing more aftershocks would send the structures crashing down.
Destruction was centered in Peru’s southern desert, at the oasis city of Ica and the nearby port of Pisco, about 125 miles southeast of the capital, Lima.
The United Nations said the death toll was expected to rise beyond the 450 reported by Peru. — read full article
Hi everyone, I’m back from the BlogHer conference in Chicago. And, it was GREAT. My plan is to write a whole post about the conference, the people, the experience…and more. However, I have been extremely ill since I have been home (I’m certain I picked-up something on the plane, I always do).
I decided to re-post “Finding Empowerment Through Adversity”, from back in January when I first began blogging. Many of the bloggers I talked with in Chicago, seemed to have similar stories of hardships that were the catalyst to their personal empowerment, and brought them to blogging.
A few years ago, I was feeling alone. Despite my supportive family and a strong network of friends, diabetes was something I dealt with privately, the lone diabetic floating along in a sea of healthy people.
“It can’t be just me,” I said to myself as I tested my blood sugar and saw a number completely out of range, despite my healthy lunch and my calculated insulin doses.
“It can’t be just me,” I murmured as my insulin pump tubing caught on the doorknob and tugged at the infusion set.
“It can’t be just me,” as the tears of frustration pooled up in my eyes after reading the letter from my doctor stating that my A1c was, once again, over 7%.
The other day my mother received a phone call from her friend, “Louise.” She said to my mother, “Have you heard?”
“No. Heard what?”
“I have a lover!” she unabashedly announced.
All this might not be so shocking, except for the fact that Louise is 94 years old!
She went on to explain how after moving into her assisted living community, she met a 90 year old man, who we’ll call “Leonard.” Leonard is twice widowed and Louise is widowed after 60 years of marriage.
I was thinking about women I’ve known and come to admire. Sure, there are the ones we read about from history and hear about in the news. Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, Joan of Arc, Amelia Earhart, Isabella Bird and Melinda Gates are among women who enter my mind. Yet, who among the women you know truly motivate and inspire you? What is it about certain women that cause you to feel good inside?
More proof that women are attempting to live up to a standard that doesn’t exits. SHAME ON YOU REDBOOK.
How can women and young girls ever feel good about their own appearance, when magazines like this are continuing to perpetuate a false image for them?
This is just WRONG! REDBOOK disrespects it’s readers and women everywhere with this type of action and attempt at deception. Women are beautiful…What REDBOOK has done is UGLY.
NEWS FLASH to REDBOOK: Women have curves, women have freckles, women have laugh lines, and women are beautiful just the way they are! STOP THE DECEPTION!!!!
YOU CAN SEE THE COMPARISON PICTURE AT JEZEBEL, THEY DID A GREAT JOB WITH IT.
Dieting and Weight Loss — It’s all about eating healthy foods, not starvation. — by Catherine Morgan
Successful dieting and weight loss comes from one thing, and it’s not a bottle or a book. Being successful at weight loss takes only one step…A commitment to eating healthy foods. Here are several posts I have done on the subject of dieting and eating healthy, and also many links to other bloggers blogging on the same subject.
Not too long ago, I did a post on BlogHers living, coping and blogging with chronic illness. At that time I hadn’t included BlogHers blogging with cancer, although I do agree that cancer is becoming more and more a chronic illness.
Cancer is in the news a lot these days. Elizabeth Edwards’ breast cancer, Fred Thompson’s lymphoma, Tony Snow’s prostate cancer are a few that made the headlines. But what’s most interesting about these reports is that they all are about cancer survivorship and not about cancer deaths. Cancer has become a chronic illness and in most cases the diagnosis is no longer a notice of imminent death. Rather it is the beginning of a long-term treatment process with remissions and exacerbations over many years. And with new treatments being developed with novel mechanisms of action, the odds are that this trend towards chronicity will continue. More cancers will become chronic illnesses and those that are chronic will take longer and longer to show their worst sides. — read full article
Many of our BlogHers are blogging about how they are living with the diagnosis of cancer. Below are a few that I came across while surfing through the BlogHer Health & Wellness Blogrolls.
IS IT EVER TOO LATE TO FOLLOW OUR DREAMS? — by Catherine Morgan
With the pressures of daily life, do any of us really have time to think about our dreams? Do we even know what our dreams are? Kids know what their dreams are, just ask them…What do you want to be when you grow up? It is always such an easy answer for them. But once we do grow up, then what? Is is too late for us?
This is a post that I did for BlogHer last month on women and chronic illness, I think it is relevant here so I am posting it. If you are a women blogging about how you are living with chronic illness, I hope you will add your link to the many comments that are all already on this post at BlogHer.
BlogHers - Living, Coping, and Blogging with Chronic Illness
Millions of women suffer from chronic illness, and many of them courageously blog on how they are living and coping with their disease. Whether you suffer with chronic illness or you know someone who does, these BlogHers have much they can share with you.
Being sick is like being on a roller coaster — you can be up and hopeful one minute and down and doubtful the next. Your illness can take unexpected and unpredictable turns. One disease can dispose you to or give rise to another. This can be frightening as well as exasperating. Finding medication that works, being committed to following a good treatment plan and maintaining honest, direct and open communication with your healthcare providers takes time, energy and skill. But this is only part of the picture. Living with illness affects every part of your life and every significant relationship you have. — living with chronic illness
Whether you agreed with Cindy Sheehan or not, it is very sad that she has been beaten down the way she has. But Cindy showed all women that any of us can have a voice, and have our voice heard. I think that is a very important message. Only time will tell if women got this message, or instead got the message to keep their mouth shut. I for one hope we see more Cindy Sheehans.
TO: All Presidential Candidates And Their Campaign Managers.
REGARDING: A Political Strategy That Could Win The Election, While Regaining The Trust Of The American People.
FROM: A Mom Who Cares About America.
All this talk about the millions of dollars being raised by the Presidential candidates really got me thinking……Are these campaign managers really getting the most “bang” for their “buck”? And, is any of this money contributing to the overall welfare of the American people?
After just three months of fundraising, the candidates for president in 2008 have already raised more than $150 million. No presidential money chase has ever started so quickly. By some predictions, the eventual nominees will need to raise $500 million apiece to compete—a record sum. — see specific breakdown of each candidate
I think one of the best things about the age of the Internet, is how easy it is for us to make a difference when it comes to issues in politics. Contacting our state representatives, signing petitions, and having our voices heard has never been easier than it is NOW.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is helping women Take Action on important political issues. It’s as easy as point and click.
Let me tell you a little about some of the issues facing women today, that need your attention and action. — full post at BlogHer.
THE ONE THING WE NEED TO START DOING WHEN WE GO TO GET OUR YEARLY MAMMOGRAM. — by Catherine Morgan
We all know that we need to get our yearly mammogram. None of us “want” to get it, but we get it anyway because we know how important early detection is in the treatment of breast cancer. However, there is something that most of us don’t do when we go to get our mammogram that I think we should be doing, something that the doctors and technicians don’t tell us to do. I’ll warn you now…this may be hard for some.Let me start off by telling you that I had my mammogram recently, it was what they call a “diagnostic” mammogram, as opposed to the normal yearly “routine” mammogram. You get a diagnostic mammogram when they find something that doesn’t appear normal…At this point it is still more likely than not that you don’t have cancer, but it could turn out that you do. I know cancer is a scary word, but we really need to get over it. Cancer is not a four letter word that we can’t talk about, in fact we actually need to talk about it. Because, the more we talk about it, and the more we understand it…the less scary “it” will be. Like everything in life - Knowledge is power.
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