On today's AgeEsteem Telesummit, Dr. Jen Palmer ND shared five factors to keep our minds sharp and our bodies healthy as we age. Since she gave such precise content, I am listing the five factors here.

Note that since there are so many options when shopping for supplements, she recommended specific high quality, cost effective products that she uses herself. 

She says, "…There are certainly other great products out there. I recommend purchasing these from NEEDS.com. NEEDS also offers free wellness consultations and can help you with a variety of issues."

The 5 factors are:

1.  A healthy lifestyle that includes a positive attitude, healthy foods and  regular exercise.

2.  Super Omega 3 gems Fish Oil by Carlson, NEEDS code: CAL-6231-250

3.  Doctors Best Curcumin featuring Meriva NEEDS code: DBS-6041-060

4.  Magnesium for the brain- Neuromag by Life Extension, NEEDS code: LEF-5089 and Magnesium citrate by NutriNeeds, NEEDS code: NNN-5014-100

5.  VITAMIN B12 methylcobalamin chewables by Life Extension, NEEDS code: LEF-5033

Dr. Jen works with NEEDS but does not make money with these recommendations. She will offer you a free personal wellness consultation, call 800.634.1380 (USA) and leave a message that you heard Dr. Jen Palmer speak on the Age Esteem telesummit, and she will call you back. Our listeners from other countries can reach her by email at purenutrition@msn.com.

Bonnie Fatio

Retirement Is A Misnomer

Transition From Career ⇒ New Beginning

Retirement is a word that no longer fits!  It's a misnomer for today's population of people transitioning from their careers into a future of their own design.

Years ago when our daughter, then three years old, asked her grandfather what he did.  He explained he was retired.  She didn't understand.  With a puzzled look she told him, « But you don't look tired. » 

She was right.  He didn't look tired.  This 74 year old had just retired from his second career of ten years.  When her Grandpa Jim turned 62 he decided that he was ripe for a new challenge before being put out to pasture.  So he left the ministry, began studies and became a stock broker.  He then re-retired ten years later as Vice President in a major brokerage firm, feeling even more vigorous than at 62.  He was a pioneer for his times.

Today starting a new career or activity is commonplace.  We are following dreams to improve the world, living passions, winning races, authoring books, creating new products, teaching in foreign countries, and setting new records as we  seek new challenges to develop our still untapped potential.   We are traveling, teaching, earning degrees, testing new tecnology.  We jog with our i-pod, send messages on a blackberry and surf the net.  At the same time we are often juggling the care of our grandchildren and parents.

Oh yes, it's time to find a meaningful term to define this new transition.  Retirement is associated with departure, retreat, seclusion, reclusion, resignation, pullback, pullout, withdrawal.    It may be the departure or withdrawal from a position or occupation, but it is definitely not seclusion and uselessness unless we choose for it to be.

Let's find new terms to replace this archaic word, retirement.  A good beginning is "encore choices", which indicates that our journey can take any direction we decide as we weigh the opportunities that surround us.  It keeps us in a position of decision, action and power.  

Other positive expressions for this transition are refirement, third act, challenged anew, impulsion, re-energized, stage of enlightenment… Choose whichever you prefer. The transition from your career is into a new beginning! Make it with confidence and age esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

You are a gift to all generations!

A dynamic 40+ career woman who is highly successful in her field of work and loves her job shared the following advice with me.

When she heard about AgeEsteem her reaction was, “What a terrific idea!  Older people need to recognize what a wonderful asset and resource they are.  They seem to shy away from younger people, yet we all need each other.”

She went on to explain, “When I first started to attend conferences, my parents told me to always seek out the oldest person.  That person was sure to know more than my peers.  So I did.  I sought out and befriended older people.  I learned so much more that way.  In fact I owe these people much of my professional success and understanding of human relations.”

So do not shy away from people of other generations.  Seek them out, speak with them and learn from them. Share your wisdom and age esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

The New Retiree

The new retiree looks very little like the person who retired from her job a generation ago.

Besides being more actively engaged in life, there is another major difference.  The retired population now represents several generations.  Our lives last much longer.  To become 90 is not unusual.  To live to be 100 years of age is no longer so exceptional.  In Japan there are more than 50,000 centenarians.  The number of women centenarians doubles every 10 years.

This means that retirees cannot be viewed as one common group of people with common needs.  With as many as three generations represented among retirees our interests, concerns and outlook on life and death are very different.

As we live longer and interact with multiple generations who are both pre and post retirement age esteem becomes even more important.  Age esteem, feeling confident about ourselves as we age, is a necessary component to help us live our retirement years with a healthy and happy outlook.

Bonnie Fatio

Dr. Jen Palmer, 44, Florida

I love the term Age Esteem because it has such a positive image. I have always hated the term “anti-aging”, because it implies the natural process of aging is a negative event that should be avoided and fought against. That creates an unreasonable pressure to try to look younger than we are, and to even pretend we are younger than we are.

Personally, I believe we should embrace the gifts that come with getting older and consider life to be a great adventure. For me, every decade gets better and better! Age Esteem brings to mind confidence, wisdom and strength. The term is a great reminder as to how we should feel, at any age, especially as women.

My personal conerns? For the most part, I look forward to getting older because life gets better every year! I think as long as we have our mental and physical health, we can create a great quality of life for ourselves whether we are 30 or 80. So my biggest concerns would be losing my memory, or having difficulty walking, because those would present challenges (but not roadblocks) for living the kind of life that I imagine.

Jen's tips: My focus is on creating a lifestyle that promotes health for myself and my husband, while still enjoying some splurges here and there. We try to get a good dose of activity and exercise through the week, eat lots of veggies and whole foods, and take supplements. It’s all about balance and moderation. And have fun, because that keeps us youthful and positive about life.

We have plenty of inspiration because we live in an area of Florida that has a large senior population, and the majority of the people we meet are fit and happy. Every day, I see people in their 70s and 80s playing tennis, walking, and swimming- sometimes better and farther than I can! So my assumption is that I will be one of those happy, healthy seniors when the time comes, as long as I take care of myself.

Dr. Jen Palmer is a Naturopathic Doctor ProAgingLiving partnering with AgeEsteem. 

Love with Every Age

Do you remember the first time you were kissed? – Really kissed!  Your heart seemed to stop, your toes tingled and you felt as though the ground was opening under your feet.

I hope you did, or will.  It is never too late.

Let’s face it, though.  Lights don’t always go off and bells don’t always ring.  – Nor is it necessary.

There are many ways to love. The media focuses our attention on romantic love as though it were the end-all.  They forget the love of a parent or grandparent, aunt or uncle, teacher or tutor, or the love of a sibling for another.

The media also overlooks the love that we share among friends.  It has nothing to do with romance.  It has everything to do with listening, understanding, and being there for the other person.  It is based on shared experiences, memories, laughter and tears.  It carries the knowledge that you can say what you really feel and not be judged, or ranting over something silly and not be laughed at.

Love is an important ingredient to aging with vitality and health, and with age esteem.

Look at your own relationships and ask yourself

• Who do I love?
• How do they know how important they are to me?
• How can I express to these people that I love them, care about them or appreciate them?

Age-esteemers know that love is a gift.  They use it generously.

Bonnie Fatio

A Pedigree*

A Pedigree

You would agree

Sounds something good to have.

Horses have it,

So do dogs,

As well as Heifer calves.

We all have “pedigreements”

Superior and grand.

Just try ESTEEMent good sense

And wave an ageless hand.

Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem®

* When a friend was visiting us for three weeks in Geneva, Switzerland she was invited to many of the events we attended. Rather than try to translate when people spoke about who was related to whom and how they were related, which is a favorite conversation among the Genevois, I would simply say “pedigree”.  Thus the theme of Alexandra Taylor’s poem. – Bonnie Fatio

Prevent Poor Circulation

Do not let poor circulation become a problem as you age.

Do your legs feel heavy like they are carrying lead sometimes?  This is caused by poor circulation.  There can be several reasons for this.  Sun, heat and even air travel can contribute to poor circulation.

Good news. This can be prevented. As blood stagnates in the legs, you can do various things on a daily basis to eliminate this condition.

• Finish a bath or a shower with cold water.
• Move as much as possible by walking, swimming, bicycling, dancing, whatever.
• Avoid crossing your legs, wearing high heel shoes and tight slacks.
• Drink a lot of water.

Grandma Nature