Daniel Meylan, 76, Paris, France

Age esteem?  Esteem is already important alone.  With age it is even more important.  It is good to put them together.  We’re not so old.  We must continue to esteem ourselves and to care for ourselves well, not let ourselves go.

Daniel’s Tips:  I force myself not to let go of what I have always done.  I oblige myself to stay physically fit and to not be a vegetable.  I walk a lot.  A couple weeks ago I fell because I was racing to catch a bus.  It was a lesson.  I will not do that again.  It has taken me these weeks to recuperate my normal way of walking, which has to do with regaining confidence.

At present I have a problem.  If I don’t know people, I have a difficult time to carry on a conversation like I used to.  I am destabilized because I don’t find my words like I used to.  As a result I panic which makes it worse.  To improve this I am going to a coach specialized in helping me find the words that I have lost.  It is a long journey.  I completely stopped speaking at a certain point and now I am trying to recuperate the vocabulary I’ve lost.  I’ve also lost much of my English and my German.  Now I force myself to make conversation with others.  I actively engage in social occasions.

For the intellectual side I read books on the Middle Ages to learn about that era.  It is very difficult for me to concentrate, but I insist on doing it.  It is also another way to recuperate some of my words.

It’s also important to be with family, with the grandchildren regularly.

I go to a center for older people several times a week.  There is a woman there who is 100.  She manages to keep physically and mentally fit and is a strong role model for me.  She is well dressed.  I am considered someone who is still completely present.  I feel comfortable there but sometimes wonder why I go.  I am still completely independent which isn’t the case for most.  I get there and home by my own means.  I want to keep my autonomy.  It’s important for me.

We go there to live as well as possible as long as possible.  I am in the section that designs and paints in the morning and does gymnastics in the afternoon, though I am in much better physical form than the others.

I am strict with myself for all questions of remaining in shape.

Bonnie Fatio

Bonnie Health Factors, Secrets to AgeEsteem age-esteem, Bonnie Fatio, center for older people, confidence, Daniel Meylan, France, Paris, secrets of age esteem

Rice is the second most consumed cereal, after wheat, worldwide and has been thus for hundreds and hundreds of years.  It is found in the diet of many civilizations.

There are hundreds of different varieties.  There is perfumed rice, long-grain rice, brown rice and red rice from the Camargue region of France.   Wild rice, however, is not a rice but a seed from a grass which grows in marshes in the Great Lakes district of the U.S.

The Spanish use rice in their national dish, paella; the Chinese eat bowls of rice with their delicious meat and fowl dishes; the Italians have their risotto; the Indians their curries; and rice is eaten as well with the Mexican meal chili con Carne.

What would we do without rice and its ease of cooking – steamed, boiled, baked?  Rice is also used in desserts as in a creamy rice pudding.

Its real asset, however, is the nutrition that it brings to the body.  It is not fattening and has no cholesterol.  It contains the vitamin B complex group, which is good for the nervous system, iron for the blood, magnesium and calcium so necessary for strong bones and teeth.   It has anti-cancer activity.  Of all grains and cereals it is the least likely to cause problems such as spastic colon.

Next time you are at the grocery store, pick up various kinds of rice and enjoy.

Grandma Nature

Bonnie Foods and Flavors, Health Factors, Nourishing Factors anti-cancer, calcium, Camargue, cholesterol, France, Grandma Nature, iron, magnesium, rice, vitamin B complex, wild rice

Teresa Kaufman, 56, France

When I heard the term AgeEsteem the first time I thought it is truly learning or knowing how to get older in life and enjoy it and respect it. – And enjoy yourself as you get older.

It probably brought that to mind more than anything else because I’m here in Chamonix, France at the foot of the Mont Blanc where you have some of the greatest athletes in the world of mountain climbing and trail running, paragliding, delta planning, base jumping and sking.  I’ve seen so many people here afraid to get old and who do everything that they can to hide it.  It’s sad to see because they’re not going to win that game.  All they can do is fool themselves, but they can’t fool their surroundings.  Instead of fooling themselves, they should flaunt it and get older more beautifully in a handsome way.

Teresa’s Tips: The wording of age esteem and self esteem is so appropriate because I think you have to truly love yourself in order to hold your head up high through all different points in your life.  It’s something that I always appreciated seeing.  You can see it in someone walking down the street, just by the way they walk, the way they hold their body, the way they present themselves to other people.  It’s the way they present themselves to themselves in the mirror in the morning.

Our esteem comes and goes with life and good days and bad days.  Yesterday I said to a friend, “Today I’m in love with life.  I’ve got to take a picture because it won’t be like this tomorrow.  Let me take this picture because this is how I feel today.”  It’s being sensitive to the wonderful things in your life.  That could be a breeze.  It could be the light just before the sun goes down.  It could be birds singing in the morning.  It’s as simple as that.  That will help you enjoy your life.  And you can do that anywhere and under any conditions.  It’s about being sensitive to your environment. It’s my recipie for getting old in life.

Teresa Kaufman is a photographer whose photos capture the essence of life.

Bonnie Life Stages - Ages, Secrets to AgeEsteem afraid to get old, age-esteem, Chamonix, essence of life, France, Mont Blanc, self esteem, Teresa Kaufman

Many parts of the world are experiencing an important heat wave which promises to last.  Such intense heat can seriously affect your health and it is important to take precautions.

The 2003 heat wave provoked thousands of deaths in France, especially among older people who lived alone.  A heat wave has hit Europe again this year and governments are taking precautions to inform people of measures to take for their health.

As Age Esteemers is important for each of us to respect the negative effects that prolonged heat has on our bodies and to take our own precautions.  We are in control.

• Keep physical activity to a minimum between 11am and 9pm.
• Drink at least 1 1/2 liters (1.59 quarts) of liquid daily, especially water but also teas and diluted fruit juices.
• Avoid alcohol, caffeinated and sweetened drinks since they increase dehydration.
• Stay in an area that is cool or air conditioned at least 2 hours during the day and take cool showers.

Bonnie Announcements, Health Factors Age Esteemers, control, Europe, France, heat wave, precautions