LIFE COACHING

I'll take my research with some olive oil

I will always be grateful that I grew up in a European family. My mother didn't actually like cooking but she prepared a tasty meal. Meals were balanced, vegetables fresh, desserts small and candy a treat. Daily life, traumas and conversation centered around fresh ground coffee, cups of tea, or a glass of wine. I have continued many of those lifestyle custom and today as I live with a diabetic husband any adjustments to my meal planning or cooking methods has been minimal.

A busy schedule and coaching practice have forced me to make some lifestyle adjustments, usually around time management. I now plan meals and shop for groceries a week at a time. The planning allows me to see at a glance whether I have a healthy balance of meals and on any given morning all I do is check my list and take out whatever I need for the evenings meal. I can also asses what time I need to start dinner.

I have also learnt to analyze food labels, as I quickly discovered sugars and fats come in varied deceptive phrases. All this ensures that I save time and money & that we enjoy healthy meals and yes, desserts.

Unfortunately, trying to do the right things for our bodies especially as women over 40 is getting nothing short of confusing. Here are some findings announced in the past two weeks. "Low-fat diets do not clearly reduce the risk for heart disease, breast cancer or colon cancer; hormone therapy is not dangerous for the hearts of younger menopausal women and may actually be protective; and calcium and Vitamin D supplements do not appear to offer the strong protection against broken bones and colon cancer that had been thought."

There is no doubt that every company especially in the pharmaceutical sector are trying to cash in on all the phases of the female baby boomer's lifestyle and health. We are a cohort that have shaken up & changed every decade that we've been part of. Even now in 2007 the establishment still isn't sure what to do with us.

We know that it is not our mother's midlife. We are healthier and more active. We work longer, make career changes at 65, seek adventure in other countries, fix our own plumbing problems and demand that menopause not be treated as an illness but as a life phase. We also want to be given safe choices and unbiased research results.

So, what can you do?

• Recognize what you can change and control in your lifestyle
• Consult with professionals; dieticians, doctors, personal trainers, coaches
• Don't embrace any particular diet, exercise program, vitamin or prescription to the extreme. With the help of professional guidelines and good research keep your decisions balance.
• Find peace with who you really are. This is the time to stop trying for the perfect dress size and the face that you had twenty years ago.

In the long run a healthy, happy woman is one who maintains a balanced lifestyle, follows her instincts and recognizes the importance of getting back to the basics.