Guest Bloggers – Page 31 – Disney Leadership Keynote Speaker

Water, By Guest Blogger Lorie Sheffer

As we age, we lose our sensation of thirst. I was surprised to learn that, but trust that it’s true, as the information came from a nephrologist. Dehydration is all too common among the elderly, and it can have devastating affects. One of the reasons older folks become dehydrated is because they don’t feel thirsty, and when they do drink they don’t drink nearly as much. Sometimes not wanting to get up to use the bathroom during the night is another reason they tend not to want to drink enough water.

Our bodies are about 60%-70% water. In fact, our brains are closer to 90% water. If we feel the thirst sensation, we are already slightly dehydrated. Often times when we are feeling fatigued it is because we are in need of water. Dehydration can also be the cause of headaches. In fact, that is really what a hangover is.

As we age, we are less able to distinguish the difference between thirst and hunger. Often times we will eat a snack, when all we really needed was a glass of water. If saving those calories isn’t enough to make us want to pour a beverage, then maybe pain reduction is. Drinking more water can mean less muscle and joint pain. One time I complained about how difficult it was for the technicians to find a vein when I go for those early morning, after 12-hour fast, blood tests. My son suggested I try drinking a full glass of water before heading to the lab. Sure enough, it worked!

Since we loose that sensation of thirst as we age, and we as mid-lifers are aging, then maybe getting into the habit of drinking more water would be something we should start to work on now. In fact, as we work on breaking those bad habits, replacing them with good habits would make things easier. Replacing that afternoon candy bar with a tall glass of iced green tea would seem as if we weren’t depriving ourselves, but rather swapping treats. A tall icy glass of water with a few slices of cucumber is surprisingly refreshing. If it’s chilly outside, then a pot of tea, made the British way with loose tea in a pretty teapot, can seem like a luxury. At least if we have to have that cookie we can have it the old fashioned way, with a big glass of cold low fat milk. If we really do just want to eat a snack, then at least we can make it something that has a high water content, like watermelon or other juicy fruit.

Out of all of the things on our “should do” list, drinking more water or liquids is one of the easiest. No excuses.

ZZZZZZzzzzzz……, By Guest Blogger Lorie Sheffer

In today’s world, lack of sleep is almost like a badge of honor. People proudly declare their ability to function on much less than the recommended 8 hours, as if this somehow makes them less lazy than the rest of us. If we are up all night it adds to the martyrdom of the overworked and underappreciated.

In an effort to keep this post from reaching epic lengths, I suggest that Googling the phrase “lack of sleep” will lead to you some very interesting information on the effects of sleep deprivation. An example of one thing I learned is this; Driving while sleep deprived can actually make you less safe than driving while intoxicated. Not many people would think that driving under the influence of alcohol is a good idea, and yet they will drive under the influence of sleep deprivation.

We live in a culture that doesn’t place much value on sleep. Jeff told me of his summer job working at a paper mill. He worked the dreaded swing shift, which consisted of 7AM-3PM, then a week of 11PM-7AM, followed by 3PM-11AM. 7 days a week, all summer long. (DUDE! No WONDER we didn’t see much of you at the pool!) My son is a first year medical resident, and his hours are not much different than Jeff’s were at that paper mill. He will work several weeks of night shifts, followed by a weekend of days, then a week of night shift, followed by a weekend of days. It’s difficult to become acclimated when the hours are so irregular. In his case, he resorts to blacking out the windows of his guest room during the day, and puts a priority on getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night.

Sleep is restorative. It is when the body repairs itself. The harmful physical effects of lack of sleep are very real. We NEED to sleep. It keeps us more clear- headed, our moods more even, and it even helps our appearance. And yet so many of us don’t make it a priority. Yes, it is important to exercise. Yes, it is important to be productive in our lives. But we are much better able to do that with the proper rest. During a particularly stressful period of my life, I wound up so run down from lack of sleep that I ended up in my doctor’s office. One of the first things he asked me was how much sleep I was getting. I told him that I didn’t have a choice but to wake up with the 6AM alarm. He reminded me that even if waking time wasn’t within my control, bedtime was. I said that I tried really hard to force myself to relax and sleep, and he came back with something that was so logical and so basic that it kind of shocked me. He said we can’t force ourselves to sleep; we must ALLOW ourselves to sleep.

It’s A New Year, By Guest Blogger Lorie Sheffer

It’s a new year. Well, almost. This year I am making small changes that shouldn’t be that difficult to implement, but will have big payoffs for my mental and physical health. For anyone who reads these Mid Life posts, maybe some of my small changes will be ones you can try as well.

I hate to eat in the morning. Always have. Coffee is about all I can stand. Even though I always cooked breakfast for my family, I rarely ate any of it. I know this isn’t healthy, but until recent years it didn’t seem to matter. I know I am not alone in this, because I know many people who view a travel mug of coffee as breakfast. It’s not.

Over the past year, I noticed a lack of energy and sometimes a dull headache in the early afternoon. Not feeling hungry, I didn’t link it to the fact that I hadn’t eaten all day. Not that I am one to not eat; I just happen to start feeding myself after, say, 4 PM. Then one day the TV was on as background noise to my cleaning the bedroom. A doctor was on, saying that you should feel hungry in the morning. If you don’t then it probably means you aren’t used to eating breakfast. Your body doesn’t know the difference between starving and stupid eating habits, so your metabolism slows down in an effort to hang on to those calories. Humm…… when I thought about that it dawned on me that if I skipped breakfast I didn’t feel hungry all day, but on days when I did eat something I was hungry by lunch time. I also notice that on those rare days when I eat before late afternoon I have more energy.

My New Year’s resolution #1 is this: Eat breakfast. I am going to have to see what I like and don’t like. I am going to start small, maybe a hard-boiled egg or some yogurt. My goal is to work my way towards a more healthy meal. Some days I find myself rushing out the door, and on those mornings I will at least have something portable to grab on the way out. Even if that is a Ziplok bag of Cheerios or a handful of dried fruit, I am going to eat something before noon. Not too big a goal, but one that has the potential to make me feel much better throughout the day.

Choose Your Battles, By Lorie Sheffer, Guest Blogger

As I look ahead at the New Year, I can’t help but glance over my shoulder in an effort to see if I have learned anything. I’m not one of those people who can set large resolutions. I know me, and it’s not going to happen. What works for me are those small changes that honestly do make a difference in the long run; the attainable goals. Not that they are easy, mind you.

My goal for last year was to try to laugh in the face of stress. I have so many serious things in my life that if I sweat the small stuff I can easily become overwhelmed. I think it’s called Choosing Your Battles. Not only have I done well, I have also discovered that those previously stressful situations can now provide some much needed comic relief.

I love to cook, but I hate shopping for food. I’m not entirely sure the employees of my regular grocery store are thrilled when they see my car pulling into the lot, either. In November I had the Unfortunate Clam Chowder Incident. Who knew that those new pop top soup cans fly open if the can is accidentally dropped onto the floor from the top shelf? Clean-up in aisle 5! Then there was the Christmas Eve Shrimp Tragedy. In an effort to try to learn new things, I went through the self-check aisle. All was well until I got to the large party platter of steamed shrimp at the bottom of my cart. The lid wasn’t on tight enough. Or something. When a party platter starts to flip, well, there’s no recovering. There was a time when these incidents would have pushed me over the edge. But no more! Now I find them to be hilarious. I even had to laugh last summer when I fell out of my sandals into the parking lot during a downpour. Sure I was soaked and my knee swelled up like a cantaloupe, but really…. Getting angry wouldn’t have provided me with cat-like reflexes, nor would it have suddenly turned me into a less klutzy person. It turns out that laughter really IS the best medicine. Another surprising side benefit to laughing off your mishaps is that people around you will seem to become less stressed as well.

What it all boils down to is this: You can be stuck in an embarrassing or stressful situation and you can freak out about it, or you can try to laugh about it; your choice. But either way, the situation will remain the same. I choose to laugh. Life is too short to worry about a few spilled shrimp (or 5 pounds of them!) at the bottom of a shopping cart.

Adapting, By Guest Blogger Lorie Sheffer

Photo: Lorie Sheffer, Baltimore Museum of Industry

The holiday season afforded me the chance to visit with two very special members of my family. The first visit was with Aunt Ruth, who will turn 101 in a few weeks. My second visit was with Aunt Betty. She will celebrate her 90^th birthday in March.

Both of these amazing ladies live at home, and both are almost shockingly fit, mentally and physically. What I most wanted to try to see was if there was some common link the two of them shared. Being from different sides of my family I knew there was no genetic link, so I reasoned there had to be something they were doing that was contributing to their longevity.

A sense of humor was one of the first things that jumped out when I spoke to my aunts. They also both like to get out of the house and remain active. Granted, Ruth’s exercise is going to watch her daughter’s aquatics therapy, but still; at 100 years old, getting out of the house, into the car, into the pool area and back requires some maneuvering. She enjoys going out to dinner, too. Ruth was stunned when an anonymous person paid for her and her daughter’s dinner. “We must have looked pathetic, her with her cane and me with my walker”, she chuckled. Aunt Betty, being almost 10 years Ruth’s junior, still drives her car and attends quite a few social functions. Her arthritic knees seem to be the only thing that slows her down. As a retired registered nurse, she takes great pride in the fact that she keeps up with medical news and reads monthly newsletters from several institutions of higher learning. She has never lost the desire to learn and to remain interested.

Perhaps what stands out the most about both of them is their ability not only to adapt to change, but the fact that they almost seem to thrive on it. Instead of moaning about what they can no longer do, they almost brag about figuring out new ways to do things. For example, Aunt Betty told me that while she can’t carry her laundry basket down the basement steps to the washer and dryer, she has figured out a new way. She puts her laundry into a pillow case and tosses it down, then goes down holding onto the railing. When it’s done, she carries the basket up a step at a time, placing the basket onto the steps in front of her as she goes. Aunt Ruth, who is tiny and can’t reach into her kitchen cupboards without the now-forbidden step stool, has also found a solution to her problem. She no longer uses the cupboards, and instead keeps the dishes and cups she needs on the counter where she can easily reach them. Neither of the ladies seems to be concerned about what they can no longer do the old way, and instead seem pretty darned happy with their ingenuity.

I suppose what these women have taught me is that there really is a sort of evolution to aging, and those who learn to accept and adapt will thrive and be happier than those who get stuck and refuse to change. Recently, they were sitting in a waiting room, someone asked Ruth’s daughter, “Are you sisters?” Ruth said to me, “I know it hurt Phyllis’s feelings, but I LOVED it! And hey…. I feel great. I don’t feel a day over 85 and I must not look it, either!” Then she laughed and slapped her thigh.