healthy lifestyle Archives - Page 28 of 54

Why Love Later In Life Is Better

They say that youth is wasted on the young. And maybe it’s true that younger people don’t appreciate the advantages of youth, and maybe some of us think about what we would do if we could turn back time. But we say, who wants to sit around wishing to be young again anyway? Remember all the ups and downs, the uncertainties, and the financial instability? And don’t get us started on the relationship drama. While society in general may try to ignore the fact that older people have amazing love lives, we know that love later in life can be so much sweeter than the overly celebrated passion of youth. This year, as Valentine’s Day approaches, let’s take a moment to appreciate and celebrate love – old or new – in older age. Here are just some of the benefits of love in later life.

an older couple holding hands and walking down a trail — *When you are older, you have more time to travel and get to know each other more.*

1. You’ve Got Time!

If you were in a serious relationship or marriage when you were younger, do you remember the stress of daily life together? Work, kids, the never-ending to-do lists…it was probably tough to find the time to just relax, be together, and have fun. But now, if you’re retired, you’ve got all the time you need to actually just be together and enjoy each other’s company. You can travel, go to matinees, snuggle on the couch and have an endless marathon of all the movies you always meant to watch, take a class or volunteer together – the sky (and your budget) is the limit! And maybe all that snuggling on the couch can lead to some fun anytime of day, with no worry of who might walk in the door, which brings us to…

2. The Sex (Yes, We Said Sex! Say It Loud and Proud!)

Yes, older people have sex (sorry if that offends your delicate sensibilities, young people), and it can be some of the best sex of their lives. After all, you’ve had decades to learn what you like – and you know what? You’re mature and comfortable enough in yourself to ask for it. Add to that the fact that you’re past the vanity of youth and are more comfortable in your skin, and you’ve got a recipe for some seriously pleasurable intimate moments together. And remember, if you are experiencing any discomfort with sex or signs of sexual dysfunction, talk to your doctor. Your sex life shouldn’t have to be over just because you’re over 50!

3. The Rejuvenating Power of New Love

a red heart on a pink keyboard button — *You can try to find a new love later in life with more ease if you try online dating sites.*

Some love in later life is the love of familiarity and history, but some love is just as new or exciting as the love found in youth. For those who are not in long-term relationships, the opportunity to find new love has no age limit. Meeting someone new can remind you that anything is possible, and that there are new beginnings all around us. Spending your time with friends and family is great, but if you’re looking to add a little spice to your life, don’t be afraid to get out there and meet new people (tip: try online dating sites)!

4. No More Games!

Just as you can (hopefully) put aside the vanity of youth as you get older and wiser, you can also look at love as less of an ego-fueled game. Whether you’re dating or living your life with a longtime partner, relationships in older age are distilled down to what they should be about: love and companionship. Oh, with some older and wiser sex thrown in there, too (see above)! You’re probably not out to impress your friends, and definitely not worried about pleasing your parents or starting a family. So just relax, be yourself, and enjoy!

5. You’re Living and Loving in the Present

You know what you’ve learned now that you’re older? Time is precious. The only thing you can count on is the present. And because you’re mature enough to know that, you also know that now is not the time in your life to be hung up on petty arguments or sweat the small stuff. Because of your willingness to accept, and be present and appreciative of what you have, your relationships can take on more of a feeling of immediacy. Let the young waste their time nitpicking; you’ve got better things to do.

6. Endless Stories

When you’re young, a lot of the enjoyment of romance comes from gossiping about it with your friends. But in later life, you’ve got amazing stories to share. If you’ve been with your love for, well, forever, you can entertain your children and grandchildren with endless hilarious stories of your life together; if you’ve started a different chapter of your life with someone new, you can spend your endless time together telling each other the stories of your lives. Trust us, you’ve lived an amazing life and you’ll never run out of things to talk about!

7. Your History and Your Future

If you are with someone that you’ve spent a lifetime with, you’ve got stories, but you might also have a loving family that you can point to and say, “We made that.” Many older couples have multiple generations surrounding them as a result of their love. Even if you’re starting a new life with a new partner, you both have histories and perhaps families that you can bring together to create a new future for yourselves.

To all those older adults out there living and loving – we see you. While much of the world may glamorize youthful (wrinkle-free!) passion, and some may ignore the reality that older adults have rich, full love lives, those with wisdom and experience know better. Young love has its charms, but love can be more satisfying, fulfilling, and even exciting when you’re more experienced, patient, and ready to live in the present. So whether you’re celebrating a love of many years, embarking on a new romantic adventure, or looking for fun, enjoy yourself! Youth may be wasted on the young, but you’ve earned your time to savor every moment of your time with your sweetie.

“Arthritis Lifestyle”, the Key to Managing Your Pain?

Arthritis stinks. The pain and stiffness can really put a damper on your day (or night), so you’ve probably put a lot of thought into what helps relieve your symptoms. Maybe you’ve noticed that you feel better when you add some exercise and movement into your day, so you try to do yoga or walk the dog when you get a chance. Maybe a good night’s sleep helps, but it’s so hard to stay asleep all night with the pain!

Trying to work towards getting more exercise, movement and sleep are great goals for dealing with your arthritis, but doctors who have completed a study on arthritis management are now saying that you shouldn’t look at these habits as separate parts of your day. Rather, they believe that you should know how movement and sleep work together to improve or worsen your symptoms. They also urge arthritis sufferers to know their “arthritis lifestyle” so they can more effectively manage their pain.

older asian man with his eyes closed and his palm on his cheek — *There is a link to sleep and arthritis pain, if you get enough, then you can manage your pain better.*

How Much You Move and Sleep Are Key

It’s already been proven that movement and sleep are especially important for people with arthritis. Getting enough quality sleep can:

Help you manage pain better, and even raise your pain threshold
Boost your immune system
Allow your body to repair damaged tissue

In fact, a recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that sleep loss makes certain pain centers in the brain more active and reactive than they would be after a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, you might find yourself in a vicious circle, in which pain makes it difficult to sleep, and lack of sleep makes it difficult to feel better. As Christopher R. Morris, MD, a rheumatologist in private practice in Kingsport, Tennessee, points out, if a person sleeps poorly, “the muscles can’t fully relax. If they’re fatigued, they hurt. If they hurt, they get fatigued, and they hurt more.”

How about moving your body? Exercising, as well as movement that isn’t specifically considered “working out,” is the other key to managing arthritis symptoms. For example, according to research published in Arthritis Care & Research, people with lower extremity joint pain and stiffness who engaged in moderate to vigorous activity for at least 45 minutes a week had improved function compared with less active adults.

Unfortunately, most people with arthritis don’t move enough. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, only 36% of adults with arthritis get the recommended weekly amount of physical activity. Again, while some of this may have to do with lifestyle restrictions, some of it may be related to another vicious circle: you hurt, so you sit more, so you hurt some more. But now we know that you also need to consider how your sleep affects your exercise vs. sitting habits, and vice versa, as well as how they all interact to make up your “arthritis lifestyle.”

What’s Your “Arthritis Lifestyle”?

Dr. Lynne Feehan, PhD, a physical therapist and clinical associate professor of physical therapy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and her colleagues, are interested in that exact issue: how do people with arthritis balance movement, sitting, and sleeping throughout their days, and how does this balance affect them? Feehan believes that you can’t separate these habits: “Evidence suggests that keeping more physically active during the day makes you more likely to have better sleep quality and duration at night,” she says.

She also believes that “We can’t assume that a patient with knee arthritis needs to increase their physical activity, because maybe it’s their sleep or sitting behavior that are bigger issues.” That’s why she and her colleagues looked at 172 people with arthritis and their exercise, sitting, and sleeping habits and created the following four “arthritis lifestyle” categories. Take a look and see which one you might fall into!

The High Sitter Type: People in this category spend an average of 13 hours per day sitting, which is well above the recommended threshold of 10 hours. They get less than 20 minutes of exercise (such as brisk walking) a day, and move around for only around 1.6 hours per day (for example, walking to their car or moving around the house). They also get less than the recommended 7 hours of sleep, getting only around 6.9 hours per night on average.

The Low Sleeper Type – How about people who get even less sleep than that? “Low sleepers” get only around 6.5 hours per night on average, and they also sit too much for good health (around 12 hours per day). But they do get in more exercise, as they tend to walk briskly for about 30 minutes a day and move around for approximately 3 hours a day in their daily lives.

The High Sleeper Type – As the name implies, this group gets more sleep than the others, clocking in at a luxurious 8 hours a night on average. They also sit less, hitting the more recommended amount of around 10 hours per day. But they need to move more: they only tend to exercise for around 18 minutes a day, although they move around for approximately 2.5 hours.

The Balanced Activity Type – This is the category you should be aiming for! People in this group get an average of almost 7.5 hours per night, get plenty of exercise (around 45 minutes a day), move around for more than 4 hours a day, and only sit for around 9 hours.

What To Do

older man sitting on a table with a male doctor touching his knee with one hand and holding a clipboard in another. — *If you keep experiencing a lot of pain, it is best to talk to your doctor about your arthritis lifestyle.*

The categories above are a way for you to assess your own lifestyle, and how your movement, sitting, and sleep habits might be interacting to affect your pain. Your best bet is to strive to be in the “balanced activity” category, although it’s understandable that this might be difficult if you’re juggling a busy lifestyle or having trouble sleeping. But there are things you can do! Dr. Feehan suggests making small, incremental lifestyle changes, so that they’re more likely to stick, and to make a real difference.

For example, to try and get more sleep:

Talk to your doctor if pain is the problem. In addition, try to find ways to minimize joint pain right before bed, like timing your medication schedule or even using a heating pad or taking a warm shower.
Try getting to bed earlier, perhaps by moving your schedule around a bit and cutting down on couch time in the evening (which could also help cut down on your sitting time!)
On the other hand, don’t linger in bed if you can’t sleep. Get up, move around, and do something that’s not too stimulating until you feel sleepy.
Make sure your bedroom is reserved for sleep, not working, watching TV, or using your phone or tablet.
Get moving! As Dr. Feehan has made clear, exercise and sleep go hand in hand to help relieve symptoms. Exercise relieves stress, which can help you get more rest, and can help to tire you out.

When it comes to getting more of that precious exercise into your day, remember not to be afraid to move! Dr. Feehan points out that slowly increasing your physical activity level shouldn’t end up making your pain worse, and any extra aches you feel should be temporary, and hopefully lessen over time. “The pain most people feel is not doing damage or making the arthritis worse, and there are tremendous benefits,” she says.

Walking not your thing? You can try some more low impact activities, like spinning, biking, or swimming. Yoga is also a great way to add movement and stretching into your day!

The most important takeaway in all this is that each of us has a unique lifestyle that affects our health. For people suffering from arthritis, knowing how to balance movement, sitting, and sleep in their daily lives can make all the difference in managing pain and improving quality of life.

Body Positivity? Body Neutrality? How to Feel More Comfortable in Your Skin

Stop for a moment. Are you aware of your body right now? If so, are you thinking about the sensations you’re currently experiencing and the amazing things that it is allowing you to do? Or has the title of this article brought up other feelings, feelings about the way your body looks, or how you think it should look?

We live in an age of media – both social and traditional – and portrayals of what someone else has decided is a “perfect” body have been messing with us as a society for decades now. These portrayals have gotten into our collective heads and have led us a long way from appreciating the functions of our bodies to worrying about the forms of them. So is there a way to move past the negativity many of us feel when we contemplate our bodies? And does the path lie in stressing body positivity or in calling a truce with our bodies through body neutrality?

a caucasian perspn's shirt lifted to expose their belly with a hand pinching the side — *Millions of people critique their body everyday, and almost 80% are unhappy.*

Our Broken Body Image

If you have ever spent time critiquing your own body or wishing it were different, you are certainly not alone. According to a recent Ipsos poll, 79% of Americans report feeling unhappy with how their body looks at times (versus only 21% who said “never, I am always satisfied with how my body looks”). For women, that number was 83%, while other studies put the number for women who are dissatisfied with their bodies at at least a whopping 91%, with 97% having an “I hate my body” moment at least once a day.

Are you surprised by those statistics? Maybe not: it seems pretty clear that we have a problem with body image as a society. What might surprise you a little more, though, is that 10% of participants said that they would do anything that did not kill them to have what they thought was the “perfect” or “ideal” body.

Is Body Positivity Problematic?

That’s a pretty extreme view for 10% of us to have. It’s no surprise that something had to give with all of this negativity towards our own bodies. So, drawing on the “fat acceptance” movement of the 1960s and further body positive movements in the 1990s, users of social media began the “body positivity” movement in the early 2010s, and it quickly took off.

The body positivity movement started as a radical, and even political, movement that sought to challenge the ways that society presents and views the physical body. While it initially focused on challenging unrealistic feminine beauty standards, the movement has morphed in a more commercialized version, with the simple message that “all bodies are beautiful.”

Talking about our bodies in a positive way has become the mainstream norm, and that’s definitely a good thing. It’s also a good thing that many brands are featuring more diverse bodies in their ads, and are trying to spread an inclusive message. But the body positivity movement, especially this more commercialized version, may not actually be right for everyone. For one thing, many people who helped create the movement, especially women of color and transgender women, have begun to feel pushed out and excluded as body positivity seems to become more about women who are featured in mainstream ads.

For others, the problem with body positivity is that it is completely focused on appearance, which might end up being unhelpful, and could even make people feel more stressed. This commercialized version of the movement might actually lead to more body scrutiny (as in, “are my curves in the right proportion?”), and the constant talk about body positivity might actually make you more anxious if you don’t love your body every second. In fact, research shows that when you regularly repeat positive affirmations that you don’t actually believe – or at least don’t believe every single day – they can backfire.

So if body positivity isn’t working for you, there is another movement out there that is trying to help people make peace with their bodies. It’s called “body neutrality.” The difference? Instead of thinking, “I love my body,” or, “I feel happy with how my body looks,” a person practicing body neutrality might think, “How I feel has nothing to do with how I look” or “My body does amazing things for me.”

Should We Forget About Positivity and Embrace Neutrality?

So, with the body positivity movement, we’re left with a lot of contradictions. Commercials try to sell us beauty and fitness products while also telling us we’re all beautiful the way we are. Social media is full of manipulated and filtered images of what we should strive to look like, as well as endless daily mantras about how we should love the way we look no matter what. Enter body neutrality.

This term began popping up in 2015, and it is definitely gaining in popularity. The main idea behind it is basically all about acknowledging what your body does, not how it appears. Your body allows you to experience the world, to hold hands with or hug someone you love. Your body gets you from point A to point B, allows you to move and exercise and breathe and be.

Those who practice it realize that it’s not always realistic to love your body, and that it’s ok to call a truce with your body and simply be neutral about it. In its most successful form, body neutrality becomes a safe, peaceful space away from all the chaotic criticism of body hatred.

The goal is to see your body as a vehicle that allows you to move through the world in a way that brings you joy. It is about taking the focus off how you look and shifting it to how you feel. And, according to many psychologists, it can decrease anxiety, stress, and lead to better moods.

So is body neutrality the way to go, then? That’s hard to say. For those who are just completely burnt out on stressing about their appearance and feeling uncomfortable in their own skin, it might be an easier – and healthier – option than body positivity. Take a look at the following steps you can take toward body neutrality, and see if they speak to you. And, as always, if you are experiencing extreme distress or think you may have an eating disorder or other disorder such as body dysmorphia, please speak to your doctor.

Steps to Body Neutrality

Call a truce in the war on your body – Hating yourself will never bring you closer to any of your goals. Instead of focusing on how you feel about your body, focus on how your body feels. Bobbi Wegner, a Boston-based clinical health psychologist who specializes in stress management, suggests the following practice to begin your journey to body neutrality: “Notice the physical feelings in the body, like the pressure of a waistband. Notice the emotions without judging them. [Next] focus on the strength of the legs, the consistent and determined work of the heart and lungs, the power of the arms, the thoughtfulness of the brain. Notice and focus on all the work the body does every day of every minute. Show gratitude and say it.”
Begin writing down positive things about your body and what it does for you.

Start a daily body appreciation practice – Your body is amazing – and we’re talking in ways that have nothing to do with how it looks. Give it some love by writing down 5 things you appreciate about it everyday.

Try to counteract negative talk with neutral talk – We all have that annoying, critical voice in our heads, and some people’s inner bullies are meaner and louder than others. But everyone can try to neutralize the negativity with neutral phrases like:

- My arms allow me to hug the ones I love
- My thighs just carried me where I wanted to go
- My body is where I live and how I am able to do everything I do
- Thank you, belly, for holding my organs (or for having carried my children)

Practice mindfulness – Focus on mindfulness for a few minutes every day to promote a mind-body connection. Take brief pauses throughout your day to ask yourself, “What is my body telling me right now?” Maybe you’ll realize you’re thirsty and need a drink of water, or that you’re hunching over your computer and would be more comfortable in an upright position. Over time, you’ll become more in tune with your body, and it will be easier to live at peace with it.

Use your body in ways you enjoy and make you feel healthy – Body neutrality is not a license to give up on your physical health. It’s also ok to want to change your body while practicing body neutrality. According to Joan Chrisler, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Connecticut College in New London, “It doesn’t mean suddenly stopping things like being physically active or choosing nutritious foods. Just focus on what feels good: dancing, bike rides, going on a walk, eating more vegetables, meditating, taking a bubble bath, getting a massage. Sometimes you’ll lose weight without trying. The important part is not delaying your happiness until then and remind yourself not to be so demanding.”
Do a social media tune-up – If there are people or sites that make you feel bad about yourself, or that you compare yourself with, simple: stop following them!

Our relationships with our bodies are nothing if not complicated, and they might always be. Unfortunately, there’s no one solution to being comfortable in our skin. But if trying out body neutrality might help you find peace within yourself, or at least relieve a little stress and give your mental health a boost, then it is definitely worth a try!

Looking for a Word of the Year? Try Resilience

Some of us are just over the whole idea of New Year’s resolutions. We’re sick of judging ourselves, setting ourselves up to fail, or living in a cloud of negativity. 2020 was a rough year and you know what? We don’t need that! This year, instead of making another resolution to lose that mythical ten pounds, we’re picking a word of the year to live by. That word? Resilience. Whether you’re reading this on New Year’s or not, whether you’ve had a terrible year or not, being more resilient is something we should all strive for. We shouldn’t try to erase anything bad from our pasts, but instead learn to live with what we’ve experienced and grow beyond it.

What Does Resilience Really Mean?

resilient spelled out on scrabble blocks — *Being resilient means that everything will be okay as long as you learn to work through tough times.*

Resilience can be summed up simply as the capacity to recover from difficult events. But that little definition doesn’t quite get to the heart of the word. Should you be expected to bounce back quickly and completely, like you’re jumping on a trampoline? Does it mean that you should just get over something, shed it like a snake sheds its skin, and never look back? No! Not only is that unrealistic, but it is not healthy, or productive.

Being resilient does not mean that you never experience stress, or emotional turmoil or pain. It also doesn’t necessarily have to mean you are “tough.” Rather, it has more to do with working through suffering: addressing it head on, finding ways to work through it, and coming out the other side with strengthened coping strategies.

Why Is Resilience Important?

According to Amit Sood, MD, the executive director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Well-Being and creator of Mayo Clinic Resilient Mind in Rochester, Minnesota, resilience is “the core strength you use to lift your life.” All of us are bound to face some sort of adversity at some time, whether it’s illness, family problems, financial instability, loss of a loved one, bullying, or a shared national tragedy, so we all need the ability to cope and move forward. Developing strategies for resilience is important because, once you have those strategies in place, you will be ready to face your next challenge and overcome any setbacks that you may experience.

In addition, people who aren’t resilient are more likely to feel overwhelmed by challenges both big and small. They are more likely to feel helpless in trying situations, and could even turn to unhealthy coping strategies like self-medication, avoidance, and isolation. Confronting negative experiences and working through them as they come is the best path forward – but can you build your resilience, like you would a muscle in your body?

How Can You Become More Resilient?

silhouette of a head with the words reset your minf anf the brain part filled with many words. — *Develop self awareness in order to help reset your mind in order to learn how to deal with situations.*

The good news is that resilience is not a fixed trait, or something that you need to be born with. More good news? Resilience in the face of adversity seems fairly common, which would suggest that people are pretty good at strengthening their coping strategies. For instance, one study reported that even though 50 to 60% of the U.S. population has been exposed to some sort of traumatic event, only 5 to 10% of those people suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

You can build resilience, especially if you think of it as a process, and you follow certain steps to strengthen it. Think of the following steps as you live with this word of the year in mind, and try to:

Develop self-awareness – The first step in building better strategies for adapting to and coping with stress is to actually take a good, hard look at how you react to stress. If you know that you isolate, or that you take your feelings out on those you love, recognize that and see how you can try to change those patterns.

Remain focused – In practical terms, you can keep yourself focused on regulating your emotions with stress-reduction techniques like breathing exercises or mindfulness practices. But remember also to stay focused on how you can control the outcome of events in your life, as opposed to feeling like external forces are completely in control.

Find coping mechanisms – There is so much you can do to help you deal with any challenges that are thrown at you. Try journaling, exercising, socializing, spending time outdoors, pursuing a creative passion…the possibilities are endless. These types of activities aren’t meant to be a simple distraction; rather, they are a way to be more present, tap into the enjoyable side of life, and even work through the emotions that are coming at you.

Be more optimistic – If you can find ways to be more present and enjoy life, then you’ll also be able to face your problems with more optimism. And when you’re feeling more optimistic about a situation you’re faced with, you’re more likely to feel in control of that situation. Build your optimism by focusing on what you can do in any given situation, and try to find any problem-solving steps that you can take.

Strengthen connections – There’s never any shame in relying on friends and family when you need them!

Tap into your strengths – Know your weaknesses when it comes to dealing with stress, but also know your strengths! Don’t be afraid to acknowledge your talents and use them when you’re faced with difficulties. You’ll feel more and confident and capable, and therefore, more ready to face adversity.

Learning to be more resilient doesn’t mean “toughening up” or just “getting over” the challenges that you’re faced with in life. It means building up the skills you need to face adversity and continue to grow in the face of it. We’ve all faced tough times – sometimes together, as in the past year! – and we all need to know how to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and use our experiences to get stronger. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” We’ll drink to that this year!

Hey Ladies! Get Strong With Strength Training!

It’s that time of year again, when many people’s thoughts turn from all the Christmas cookies they packed away in December to getting fit in January. That’s a great goal, but you need a way to stick with it. What do we suggest? Incorporating strength training into your life! It’s fun, has measurable results and gains that will keep you motivated, and has multiple health benefits. While strength training is perfect for almost anybody (and any body), right now we’re specifically talking to all you women out there. There’s long been a misconception that women should be doing tons of cardio or using very light weights to get fit. Those are great if that’s what you enjoy, but it might be time to ditch the treadmill and the tiny pink dumbbells and get strong!

What Is Strength Training?

Strength training can actually be done in multiple ways. It doesn’t have to be hoisting a massive barbell above your head. You can personalize it to work for your body, your goals, and the equipment that you have or are willing to obtain. Strength training of any kind is pretty much defined by two things:

Movement of any weight (including your body weight!) – if you do any kind of exercise that pushes your muscles out of their comfort zone, then you’re forcing them to rebuild and get stronger.
Progressive overload – if you exert slightly more effort each time you train, then your muscles will have to adapt and get stronger.

Basically, strength training starts when you move your body weight in a way that causes you to exert your muscles, or when you pick up a weight that is beyond what your body is normally used to. For example, you can start strength training right now by doing 10 squats and 10 pushups from your knees! Then when you master that, you would move on to doing squats holding dumbbells and pushups from your toes.

The most important thing about strength training is pushing your muscles out of their comfort zone. This is so that they will break down and actually tear slightly as you work out. Sounds weird, but if you break down your muscles, over the next 24 – 48 hours they will actually begin to rebuild themselves – and this time they’ll be stronger than the day before!

The Benefits of Strength Training

Why should you strength train? Well, you’ll get stronger! Who doesn’t want to be able to bring in all of their groceries in one trip, carry an air conditioner up the stairs without help, hoist a sleepy child out of the car with ease, push their car out of the snow without any problems, and so on and so on? But the benefits of strength training don’t end there.

class with people doing puships with a woman smiling and happy — *There are long-term benefits to strength training, like better mood, correct high blood pressure, and increase bone density.*

Long-term benefits:
- - Prevents disease and degenerative conditions like heart disease, which many people are surprised to know is the number one killer of women in the United States. Strength training helps correct issues relating to cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and inactivity – all factors for heart disease.
  - Helps combat age-related muscle loss so you can stay independent longer.
  - Increases bone density, which is especially important for women as they age.
Benefits you’ll see right away:
- Improved balance and coordination.
- Improved mood, and helps combat stress and anxiety.
- Weight loss. Study after study has found that strength training plus healthier eating habits is the perfect combination for weight management, even if you’re not doing cardio. And if you’re taking up exercise for aesthetic reasons (and it’s ok if that’s not your goal!), you can change the shape of your body with strength training. How many times have you heard you can’t spot reduce fat? Well, it’s true, but you can build up muscle in certain areas and change the shape of your body that way.
- Increased metabolism. Strength training speeds up your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), because it takes more calories to maintain muscles than it does to maintain fat. In addition, because your body needs to do so much work to recover after a strength-based workout, your metabolism can be boosted even more for up to 38 hours after you finish your workout.
- Measurable results! Part of the fun of strength training is seeing your progress, both in your physical appearance (if that’s your thing!) and in the amount you can lift or the number of reps you can do.

At this point, you might be itching to get started! But first, let’s answer something once and for all.

Do Women Need to Strength Train Differently?

Strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health, but it’s estimated that only 20% of women do it! Maybe it’s because women are told that it’s not for their bodies, or they don’t need to do it, or they can’t lift the same way men can. But there’s actually a pretty easy answer to whether women need to approach strength training differently than men do. NO! In fact, the American College of Sports Medicine doesn’t differentiate between the sexes when it comes to their strength training recommendations.

Let’s also address a question many women have about strength training: will it make me look “bulky.” The answer to that is also a firm “no,” unless you make a very, very specific effort to make yourself build the amount of muscle that a bodybuilder has. Believe us, that doesn’t happen by accident! So don’t worry about that, and get started!

How to Start

If you’re totally new to strength training, the best way to start is with your own body. That’s right, bodyweight exercises are great for you – you’re doing exactly what your body was designed to do, plus you’ll never be without your equipment! For example, try doing this “circuit” of 6 exercises, 3 times through:

caucasian woman doing a plank — *Start slow with doing simple tasks such as a plank for 15 seconds.*

20 bodyweight squats

10 push-ups – you can even progress with pushups as you get stronger. Start by doing them on your knees, then move to doing them from your toes, then try them with your legs elevated, and so on.

10 walking lunges per leg

15 seconds of plank
30 jumping jacks

And there you have it! Your first strength-based workout. Once you get comfortable with bodyweight work, and are ready to move on, you should get yourself some dumbbells (or go to a gym and use theirs) and add in exercises like goblet squats (holding one heavy weight at your chest), weighted lunges, dumbbell rows, shoulder presses, bicep curls, and tricep kickbacks. And when you get really strong? If you have access to one, try working with a barbell. This will allow you to pick up heavy weights and do movements that recruit every muscle in your body. Before you know it, you’ll be deadlifting and doing cleans and presses – and you’ll be super strong.

Everybody has their own reasons for wanting to incorporate exercise into their lives. Maybe you want to feel great, look great, get strong – or all of the above! If so, strength training is the way to go. There’s absolutely no restrictions on who can do it (just ask your doctor first!), and no limits to how much progress you can make, no matter your gender, as long as you put some effort into it!

Is It Time for Therapy? What Next?

Most people know exactly what to do when there is something physically wrong with them. Think you have strep throat? You call your primary care physician, make an appointment, get checked, get treated. One course of antibiotics later, and you’re all better. But when the “something wrong” is not so easy to define, when it’s not physical, but psychological, many people aren’t sure what the next steps are. You might realize that you need to talk to someone, but you might not know what kind of professional you should see, how to find the right provider for you, and whether you’ll be able to pay for it. If you think it’s time for therapy, the following information should help you figure out what to do next.

Who Should I See?

If you feel like you’re ready for therapy, one of the first things you might be wondering is what type of mental health professional you should be looking for. While many people simply use the blanket term “therapist” to describe all mental health professionals, there are a lot of other titles that will come up when you begin your search. There are psychologists, counselors, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and clinical social workers. So is there any difference between all of these types of providers?

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating mental illnesses. Because they are M.D.s or D.O.s, they are licensed to prescribe medication and may put more emphasis on the treatment of your mental health symptoms with medication than other providers; they may even refer you to another provider for more talk-based therapy. They may also be interested in looking at the physical symptoms of your psychological issues.

Psychologists do not have a medical degree; rather, they have a doctoral degree in psychology. Licensed psychologists offer counseling and psychotherapy, but they cannot prescribe medication.

Counselors have a master’s degree in psychology, counseling, or a related field. Like psychologists, they can provide counseling and psychotherapy.

Therapists, otherwise known as psychotherapists, are very similar to counselors. But there is actually a difference between psychotherapy and psychological counseling. Counseling tends to focus on specific issues, like addiction, grief, or stress; it may focus on developing techniques to address those concerns, and may end up being shorter-term. Therapy, on the other hand, tends to be more long-term and usually deals with a broader range of issues.

Clinical social workers have a master’s degree in social work and can provide therapy like other mental health providers. They also have a knowledge of support services and national social welfare policy.
Psychiatric nurse practitioners are registered nurses who have specialized in mental health services. Like psychiatrists, they can prescribe medication, but they may need to work under the supervision of a medical doctor.

Now that you have an idea of what all of these terms mean, what type of provider should you be looking for? The truth is, the best option for you is always going to come down to who you are most comfortable with. You shouldn’t spend too much time worrying whether you might need medication: the provider you choose can help you to determine this. Think about whether you feel like you need to focus on specific issues or are looking for a longer-term, more all-encompassing therapeutic relationship. Also think about things like location, availability, price, and who you will work well with. Before you settle on someone, though, think about your budget and your options for paying for therapy.

Will I Be Able to Afford Therapy?

Unfortunately, one thing you will have to pay attention to before you choose a provider is cost. Can you afford to pay out-of-pocket? Great! You’ll only be limited by which providers are accepting new patients. But if, like many of us, you need assistance in paying for therapy, the first obstacle you’ll run into is the fact that many mental health providers don’t accept insurance. This is because insurance companies compensate them in a very different way from other providers. Don’t give up, though – you have options!

illustration of dollar bills and yellow coins — *To find out if you can afford therapy, call your insurance company or seek other methods to help pay for sessions.*

Consult your insurance company – find out which providers they do cover, and call as many of them as you can. Providers who accept insurance often fill up fast but keep trying!

Talk to your insurance company about reimbursement – some insurance companies will allow you to submit paperwork for partial reimbursement of the cost of therapy. Ask them first and see if they’ll accommodate you!

Ask about a sliding scale – some providers offer sliding scales based on your ability to pay – there’s no harm in asking if your provider of choice will offer this to you!

Consider online therapy – teletherapy has actually been a thing for quite a while, and there are even apps now like Talkspace and BetterHealth that you can try. These options tend to be much more affordable than in-person therapy.

Talk to providers about making a plan – you don’t need to be in therapy for years! Be upfront and honest with providers, and tell them that you’re looking for a more structured program that has an end date.

Look into trainee programs – if you live near an academic medical center, they might offer care in their clinic, which would be staffed by trainees like psychiatric residents. These trainees would be supervised by licensed professionals, but the therapy you receive would be much cheaper than usual.

See if you have access to an employee assistance program – if you have employer-based insurance, you may be able to get counseling through an employee assistance program (EAP).
Try a collective – for example, Open Path Collective is a nationwide directory of therapists who offer their services at very low rates, after you pay an initial membership fee.

How Do I Find a Provider?

You’ve got the lingo down, and you’ve worked out your payment options, but where do you go from there? Should you start googling and try to sift through the mountain of results? Your best bet is not to start a random search, but to use one of the following strategies:

african american woman with a white labcoat on showing a caucasian woman something on her clipboard — *One of the first steps towards finding a good therapists is to speak with your doctor.*

Talk to your primary care physician

Contact any of the following organizations: American Counseling Association, American Psychological Association, National Association of Social Workers, National Board of Certified Counselors

Consult free online resources and directories like Psychology Today

Ask family or friends for recommendations – remember, though, not everyone has the same needs, and many mental health providers will not see close family or friends of patients. They may be able to point you in the direction of another trusted provider, though!
Check out your insurance company’s website – as we pointed out above, this is a useful option for those who need to use insurance to help pay for services.

Once you’ve narrowed down your options, it’s time to settle on a provider. That may seem like a daunting choice to make, but there are things you can keep in mind when deciding.

Start by asking to have a phone consultation first, or see if you can have an introductory session at a reduced rate.
When you speak to a potential provider, ask them questions about the type of approach they use. Is it structured or more open-ended? Talk-based or inquiry-based (meaning they would ask you questions to direct the session)? Do you think their approach would work for their issues? How long do they envision treatment lasting?
Look for signs that they have the qualities of a good therapist. Are they warm, accepting, and empathic without talking too much about themselves? Do they make you feel safe and not judged?

The search for a mental health provider can be quite a journey! But if you’ve made the decision to get started, that’s the first and most important step. You know that you are ready to do the work to change your life for the better, so you are also ready to do the work to find someone to help you along that path. You’ve got the tools to get started, so take that next step and find the help that you deserve.

Tag: healthy lifestyle