Staying Foxy After 40

Well, after doing much homework and searching on the net, I’ve learned a few things about women of a certain age and hormones. It seems that when women hit the peri-menopausal years, ovulation is a little scattered. This can cause chaos in the female body, leading to not enough progesterone. Problems include nightly insomnia, feelings of anxiety and depression and of course feeling like you’re 105 degrees in the middle of the night. I had no idea. The breast cysts were the wake-up call. Some women, like me I suspect, are naturally (although it doesn’t feel natural) estogen dominant. Combined with the changes brought on by erratic ovulation and voila…a recipe for disaster. I have been very pro-active and have been taking an anti-estogen supplement called Estrosense which includes some great things like DIM, green tea extract and Tumeric. After about 6 weeks of use, along with a serious decrease in caffeine and the recent additions of oil of primrose, vitamin e and some progesterone (natural) cream the breast cysts have shrunk by about 75%. Better still, no more night-time life-planning and worrying at 3 a.m. Apparently there is a large following of women who have discovered what their docs have not told them. Women need natural progesterone not more estrogen. I am feeling much better these days and greatly relieved after much prodding and poking not to have anything wrong with my girls other than the pesky now-disappearing cysts. Do the research for yourselves. The companies that make synthetic hormones that women unwilling take are much too powerful to tell your doctor what they need to know to effectively treat women. We don’t need more estogen. Just to get our hormones balanced so we can enjoy or forties and fifties without all of the needless suffering.  Happy Sunday to all.

Zoe

xxoo  

Well it isn’t much of a blog if you’re not bloggin it every few days, is it? Life sometimes, gets in the way…after a few months of full-time work, a few trips, a little health scare, and the contemplation of shutting my site down…I’m back for a few more rounds. The full-time work was a bit of a surprise and left me little time for such a luxery as navel-gazing or self-reflection. I think I’ve recovered from it and am back to my nice part-time schedule. Does anyone know how hard it is to work full-time? Leaves little time for such necessities as pedicures, exercise and other things we need to do to stay our beautiful selves. The trip at Christmas was a little disappointing with some very unusual cold weather. Nonetheless, if you’re the kinda girl who enjoys restaurants and hotels, it was all good. The unexpected full-time job fell in my lap in January and after dealing with a month of sweating over breast cysts (turned out to be nothing to worry about) I found myself on another little vacation, sans daughter. Hubby and I greatly enjoyed ourselves and the plus-40 degree humidex, plentiful sunshine, great meals and drinks all made it okay. So back to the breasts. I think that I know more about cysts of the breast than I cared to know. Not too nice of an experience, but at THIS age, not surprising either. As a coffee lover and herb-inbiber (with estogenic properties) and lots of full-time job stress, it shouldn’t have come as a big surprise. But it did. I’m taking care to do what I can now, and my right breast has nicely rid itself of the offensive pockets of fluid that HURT. The leftie is a little stubborn, but I have hope. After doing a little research I learned I was probably estrogen dominant most of my reproductive life. The phytoestrogens I took for a while didn’t provoke as I was taking such a small dose. As they seemed to help my PMS I kept taking them long after I realized they were not doing a whole lot to enhance my girls. After having a stressful few months working full-time, I upped my dose and added St. John’s Wort. And bam. Breast cysts. I’ve since gone off all of them and added some herbs designed to decrease estrogen (DIM). Cut back my coffee to one cup a day (ouch!) and have been eating even healthier than possible. All in all a scary experience. One that made me appeciate that it was NOT life-threatening. I read one of Suzanne Somers’  great books about anti-cancer diet and treatment. Good reading. And the trip away with hubby made it all seem like a bad dream AND reduced my stress. All in all, part of being a woman in her forties. Talk soon girls,

Zoe

xxoo

Like em or hate em, tatoos are everywhere. I have to admit I am not a fan of the tatoo, in particular on a woman. I am going to date myself here, and be in danger of being labeled sexist, but I was raised in an era when tatoos were for biker-chicks only, end of story. There is something harsh and unpleasant to me, about a woman with an ugly tatoo. As far as I’m concerned, most that I’ve seen fall into that category. If you want to make an impression, just pepper your body with tatoos and my impression will be “she’s tough”. I have a few friends that sport them, and I have expressed my opinion very diplomatically when asked. Not for me, never. And they are forever. Unless you can afford laser surgery and endure the treatments. I don’t find them the least bit sexy, no matter the choice or location. Of course this is only my opinion and I’m sure many other people feel differently. I am also not a fan of tatoos on men. Especially large ones that distract. Again, my impression…”tough”. And perhaps that’s what some people are aiming for. To me, anything we do to ourselves should enhance our natural beauty, not take away from it. Tatoos distract me from the person.

To the contrary, I find body-piercing can be sexy, if done tastefully. What I consider tasteful is of course again, my opinion. I don’t mind a nose stud, and I must confess, to a navel piercing that I got a few years ago. Both of these I find pretty and sexy. Don’t know about piercings of the nether-regions, as I’ve never seen one up close to decide. But the tongue and eyebrow, and nipples, and other weird places, again, distract me. I want to make eye-contact, not keep having my eyes drift to the spit you’re creating due to the ugly stud on your tongue. Eyebrows are just as offensive to me. On men, I find one earring (stud or small hoop) to be sexy. Anymore then that, and you’re crossing a line into freak-dom.

I have had to be careful about what I say to my eleven-year old as I don’t want her to get a tatoo as a means to rebel against me. Having said that, I would be very disturbed. Angelina Jolie is a beautiful woman but her tatoos just make her less so. So I have to say, as good as I usually am about understanding others’ points of view, I don’t get it. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Happy Sunday to all,

Zoe xo

Well, we’ve all been saturated with articles on how to lose weight. The battle of the bulge marches on. The statistics are alarming. Only as alarming as the size of portions, which seem to be increasing exponentially. Except for those little 100-cal packs which you may have noticed are what “normal” single servings used to look like, and are more expensive than buying in bulk. My daughter talked me into a multi-pack of chips which at first glance appeared to be of the size given out on Halloween…you know, the mini-bags. After she consumed one, she asked for another as they’re sooooo small…well I checked out the nutrition info on the back, and it turns out they are the size that chips used to be…back when I was a kid…you know, they were 10 cents a bag, contained an ounce of chips or 150 cals of empty calories, and this is what normal used to look like. What have we done to ourselves? I struggled a little in high school with getting rid of about 10 pounds of extra fat. I wasn’t overweight by the charts but for high school age, I certainly wasn’t slim (about 125 pounds and 5 feet 4 inches tall)…after several years of starving, losing, then regaining, I finally figured out the “secret”. I can sum it up in one word. Moderation. Eat everything, eat anything, and don’t deprive yourself. But keep the portions under control and KNOW WHAT YOU’RE CONSUMING. Back in the day, you had to have a calorie book and look up everything because packages just didn’t list this info. Now, knowing what you’re eating is easy. You just have to read the packages, look at the serving size, and keep track of what you are eating. Voila. Piece of cake, non? Well maybe not that simple. But it is easier than you think. I’ve had many a person say to me “you’re so lucky you’re so slim”…or “you don’t have to worry about eating that cake, do you”? Well of course I’m not just “lucky” and yes, I do have to (if not worry) watch it, just like everyone else. As I’ve passed the 40 mark I have to watch even more closely. I’ve noted that I’ve gone from being able to handle 1900 cals a day without gaining weight, to about 1800. And every day, I have a running tally in my head of what I’ve consumed. Today, for example, it is 5:00 p.m. on a Saturday and I’m at 1050 cals, dinner not yet made nor eaten. I’ve had breakfast (a whole grain English muffin with 1 oz. of cheddar, some peach slices, three coffee, a cafe mocha, crackers and cheese, and one cocktail made with clamato juice which I’ll count as a veggie serving, thank you very much!)…perhaps not my healthiest eating day thus far, but it is Saturday, and I’ll be sure to add some extra veggies at dinnertime. The point is, I know what I’ve eaten, how much, and the nutrition content (roughly)…and so should you. If you ever hope to feel as hot as you know you can ladies, the kidding yourself that your portion of pasta at the restaurant was a “normal” size has got to stop. And that was part of the secret I learned as well. You can tell others you don’t overeat, you can even tell yourself that, and believe it too. But the scale doesn’t lie, and calories in must equal calories out, or you’ll gain weight. Take in less than you’re burning, you’ll lose. Accepting that there is no magical formula and that you really don’t have a slow metabolism, is the first step on the road to being slim. A turkey drumstick is not a snack (saw a family at Disney “snacking” on these). And just because it is put in front of you doesn’t mean you have to finish it. The “small” poutine at New York Fries has almost 600 calories. Share with a friend and make it an occasional treat. Likewise, I can get three good meals from the Chicken Tetrazzini at East Side. So stop when you’re full. You’ll eventually get used to the feeling and come to loathe being overly full. That’s how I am after years of doing so. I enjoy eating and I enjoy eating everything and anything. But I don’t eat too much of everything and I don’t eat too much of anything. Get it? While you’re at it, let the restaurants and food manufacturers know, you are turned off by their idea of what a “normal” serving is. And we’ll all be healthier and slimmer for that…Happy Saturday everyone…

Zoe
xo

There is nothing like a well-deserved weekend away, to revive a soul and relationship. We had a fantastic weekend in Niagara Falls, as predicted. The weather was beautiful, in the mid-twenties, and the wine delicious. The friends were of course, lots of fun, or we wouldn’t have gone with them, right? It was a real treat to see my husband relax, and well-worth the money we spent to get away. We headed out of town about 4 on Friday, arriving in the city of Niagara Falls about 8:15. A fast refresher of make-up, a change of clothes, a quick beer in our room, and we were off for dinner. The buffet at Fallsview is fairly decent for the $22.00 it cost. Although I am generally not one for buffets (encourages gluttuny which is NOT sexy…) this one is fairly decent and was a good choice for a couple of hungry guys and an all around thirsty crew. The beer was ice-cold (we were saving ourselves for the wine on Saturday) and the prime-rib cooked to succulent perfection. I also enjoyed the cheese-stuffed ravioli, although ate in moderation to save my energy for some gambling. I played a few hands of Let It Ride, winning about $120.00. Unfortunately my hubby lost that at the Texas Hold’em Table. There was a band playing featuring retro (of course, what else for the casino crowd), and my girlfriend and I enjoyed the music and crowd while our hubbies played cards. I’m not much for bars at this point in my over-forty life, however, this bar had lots of energy and was not your usual pick-up place. Everyone there was probably like us: at the Casino with a more serious gambler. We shared a few laughs and closed the place, something I haven’t done in many a year. We had a wine-tour booked the next a.m. but managed to drag ourselves there, and perked up with our first “taste”. In the afternoon we had a relaxing afternoon at the St. Catherines wine festival, heading back to Niagara. Not before a bizarre departure from the festival grounds, in which we aimlessly wandered around trying to find a cab. The area we were in was deserted for a Saturday, and we were very relieved to find a compact cab coming down the road. We flagged him down and spent a cab-ride back to Niagara that was like something out of Seinfeld episode. It was the fellows first day on the job with his GPS. He told us he came to Canada 10 years before, but was laid off off from his full-time job with GM. He explained to us that he drove to pay for his beer and that he liked beer. Of course after an afternoon of “tasting”, we were pretty giddy. And of course, we all love beer too! My husband tried to show him how to use the GPS, but he just wasn’t quite getting it. And of course he drove like most Europeans; hard on the gas and hard on the brakes. We hung on though, and happily made it “home”. After a fantastic dinner at The Keg (they let my friend and I split an entre of Filet Mignon, which was much appreciated), we found ourselves back at the casino; my friend and I, soon back in the bar. This time it was even more fun. Everyone who could fit on the dance floor was dancing, including us. We finally nabbed a table, although at the same time as a couple of guys. We giggled together at the thought that we had only been in there five minutes without our husbands before taggin with a couple of guys. After about an hour of sitting together without conversing, my friend couldn’t take it and chatted them up. Turned out one of them was blind, which made us feel a tad better for being ignored! As the saying goes, “Vanity, thy name is Woman”…anyway, the Vineland Estates turned out to be the best…we brought home a case and have been savoring it ever since…the 2007 Merlot is particularily delightful…so happy wine tasting to all, and if you’re ever in Niagara at the right time of year, check it out…

Zoe
xo

Well, I am thrilled to have my site back in action. My web-hosting company saved me by restoring a backup of my previous posts as well as pages. And my banner problem is solved too! After all of that, it turned out to be a really simple fix which I stumbled upon myself. Blush, blush…well, we can’t be great at everything, right girls? Right?

Zoe
xo

Well, it has been two days and I’m still waiting on the help I need to (hopefully) restore my site. In the meantime, the “404 error” persists; the banner links won’t work.

This weekend we will get a break from living in a renovation-zone, when we attend the Niagara Wine Festival. It should be fun, as well as a great opportunity to spend some time with my husband. He’s been working non-stop on the house since June, and couple-time has been scarce. This weekend was planned months ago, so there were no changing plans, despite the state of our house (e.g. NOT YET FINISHED!). We plan to hit the Fallsview Casino Friday night for a little gambling, as well as dinner and drinks. Come Saturday, we are touring one of the Wineries, and then on to the festival in St. Catharine’s. I haven’t attended this particular event, although we did go on a wine tour four years ago for our tenth anniversary. After we stayed up way too late at the casino, it was difficult dragging ourselves out of bed to drink wine…but we managed. We had a package deal, which included a stay at the White Oaks Spa, and tickets to a musical. Niagara on the Lake is incredibly romantic and charming. We had dinner at a sidewalk café before hitting the stage production of “Gypsy Rose”. It was a fabulous weekend and the first time I had left my daughter for more than a night. The wine tour was interesting but going away with my husband was the real treat. As the mother of a single child whom I had in my thirties, I was, and still am, very protective of my daughter. Leaving her was one of the hardest things I had to do. What I realized, though, was showing her that her parents love one another enough to spend a romantic weekend alone, makes me a good parent. There is nothing much better to model to our child, than that her parents are very much in love after fourteen years! A happy weekend to all…

Zoe
xo

Well, it is September and I’m still camping…not to mention, fighting with this web-site to correct some of the errors I’ve been having with banner links.

Those were the words I wrote a few hours ago. A Wordpress upgrade later, and my poor site was wiped clean. Oh oh. I did create a back-up through my server, but now I can’t unzip! I’m not giving up yet, but in the meantime I’m trying to put something back together here. Although I am very computer-savvy with respect to the user-end of computers, being the creator of web-pages and this blog was certainly not my area of expertise. Apparently, I’m still learning. Hopefully I can retrieve some of what I wrote, back. I didn’t realize but a blog becomes a bit like a child. It was a piece of me that I left on these pages.

Well the house is coming along nicely, although not fast enough. Now that fall is approaching we need to get back in soon. It has been a labor of love for my husband to build us our dream home. It will truly be beautiful with a gas fireplace in our bedroom to warm us on cold winter nights. In the meantime, I’m still dealing with trying to stay reasonably girly while living in a yard full of construction materials and dirt (the grass died months ago)…on the bright side we’re going to a wine festival this weekend with another couple in the Niagara region. Should be fun. More on that to follow. In the meantime, I’m going to keep trying to retrieve what I’ve lost. Only two hours until I pick up the child from school…

Zoe
xo

Well, I have just completed week seven of living in a motorhome with my daughter, husband, and animals. It is starting to wear just a tad thin. The first few weeks I think I made a gallant effort to embrace the camping experience and survive what was to be nine weeks of a major home addition. Now it looks like we’re going to be in here (a 32 foot box) for another four weeks past the deadline. Doing a French manicure in a camper-size bathroom is not the easiet thing I’ve ever done. And of course we have zero privacy. We have snuck in a few liaisons either in the middle of the night or when my DD has been mercifully invited for a sleep-over. We do have our own “bedroom”, which amounts to a bed behind a plastic accordian-style door. Better than nothing, I suppose. I’ve kept up a modified version of the facial exercises, meaning I do the basics every second day and then a condensed version in between. I haven’t had the opportunity to finish watching the Facial Magic DVD, which may have even more great secrets pertaining to the Fountain of Youth. I would like to say as well, that although I have a link posted to the distributer of my herbal “Boob-Boosters” and the Facial Magic program, this is not an affiliate link, and I make no commission from this. I just find that both work. The face program gives me an instant boost. If you haven’t yet, I would suggest you try the free demo for eyes on the Facial Magic site. It is instant, and I’ve sometimes done this whilst suffering from too much red wine, or before going out, for an added eye-brightener. I barely miss a day. There are also several sites that offer free programs, if you GOOGLE “facial exercises”. I can do some of them while driving long-distances as you don’t require a mirror, although my hubby and daugher make wild fun of me. So my face is getting a daily work-out. The herbs were another story. I didn’t order in a timely fashion due to my chaotic existence and went one week sans herbs. I was feeling pretty rotten. Although I didn’t have any flashes or anything, my mood went south as did the libido. So that reaffirmed for me the herbs are really working for me. I will not run out again. Well, I’m off for my mini-shower (tight squeeze, hot water only lasts 10 minutes)…I don’t think camping is something I’ll ever do again (at least not willingly)! Happy sunny summer day to all…

Zoe
xo

Well, it’s been going on for decades now and I don’t see any end in site…the shoe and I have been best-friends since I was at least five…my first pair of “heels”…white, probably fake patent, with a tiny heel and a sling-back…I was transformed…it’s no coincidence that Cinderella was found through her single stilletto…shoes might not make the woman, but they can sure make the woman feel marvelous. My next poignant shoe-memory, a pair of wooden sling back sandals with an apple print on the top…my best friend also bought a pair…mine broke after a few days and alas, had to be returned…tragedy…none available in the same size…I ended up with a clog-type black patent leather pair that were not the same…the clogs I had in the 70s (real leather in white, with a wooden heel) also stand out…the Dr. Scholl sandals were also something I coveted, but alas never had…but back to the apple-sandals, I never forgot them, and got excited the other day when I saw something similar at ALDO…speaking of ALDO, I can’t walk by without at least stopping to admire something…in the old days I’d have whipped out the old card and left with something…now, I have to be a little more picky, as I’m down to part-time work…it’s a beautiful thing and I’ll say more about the joys of part-time work another day…but back to shoes…I bought a hot pair of flip-flops last year at ALDO for 20 bucks…they go with everything in the summer months…this is year two and they’re holding out beautifully, considering they’re probably my most-ever worn pair of footwear…I walked all over Busch Gardens last year with them on, and nary a blister…and they have a dressy look to them…of course there is nothing like a pair of heels to instantly transform a leg…I’m never short on those…I work in heels constantly despite my active job, and despite that most of the women I work with wear flats…I have most of my shoes in the original boxes, stored with paper in the toes to keep them nicely shaped…right now though, I’ve had to move EVERYTHING out of my house for a major reno job…when done, my house is going to be amazing! We have a fireplace planned for the bedroom (how hot is that) and…drumroll here…a walk in closet for me! I can hardly wait…my shoe boxes will be nicely stacked so I can easily identify their wonderful contents…in the meantime, I was forced to choose about 6 pairs to store in my temporary closet, in the temporary camper, in which I reside…the rest, sadly, are packed away in the basement…thank goodness it’s almost summer and I have my trusty pair of ALDO flip-flops…Happy shoe-shopping!

Zoe
xo