Happiness first

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-2008
Happiness first
29
Sun, 09-28-2008 - 11:42pm

As we start a new week, staring down at whatever our fitness goals are, it's worth noting that happiness could be just as critical to your health as your miles run and reps completed. I read today (http://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20080829/happiness-satisfaction-boosts-health) about a study that indicates adults who are happy are more likely to report good health, both now and in later years. According to the author, "Everything else being equal, if you are happy and satisfied with your life now, you are more likely to be healthy in the future..." I guess Bobby McFerrin was on to something!

But, for me, the takeaway is that we need to think about happiness, as well as exercise, nutrition, etc.

Have a great week!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-03-2001
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 5:16pm

There are no pre-requisites for posting here, other than supposedly being over 40, but even that isn't really necessary.


Thank goodness!!!!

Miss P

Miss P




 

Avatar for dmm11730
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2003
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 5:20pm

Debbie

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 5:33pm
I tell people I'm only my age chronologically. Otherwise, mentally I subtract 20. ;-)

       ~~Rhonda~~


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Avatar for dmm11730
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2003
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 5:55pm
LOL Rhonda! This morning one of our clients that has happened to turn into a friend said I did not look old enough to have grandkids. I said why not my son is 23 now and Bill was married at that age. She said I only looked 41 (insert wide sh*t eatting grin here)! When

Debbie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-2008
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 5:58pm

Doh! Oh, yeah--my name! My name is Barb, and I live in Santa Monica. I moved here, almost three years ago, from Chicago. I love Chicago (and may be going back for much of October, depending on how the Cubs do!), but I couldn't take the weather anymore. As a freelance writer who works from home, I would go days without going outside in the winter--so depressing. SoCal is also a much friendlier place for fitness--it's so great being able to get outside to run, bike, hike, golf, etc. year-round.

And I'm 41 and proud of it! I honestly don't think I'd go back to 31--I think I'm a healthier, happier person now. Of course, there's not a huge dating market for 40-something women without Botox out here, unless I'm interested in 60-somethings, but you can't have everything.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 6:10pm

Nice to meet you, Barb. I've visited Santa Monica and thought it was very pretty. Spent 4 days in Chicago back in the 80's and loved visiting there. It is an architectural smorgasbord, has great museums, restaurants, and shopping. I was there for NEOCON at the Merchandise Mart and got to stay on the Miracle Mile. We also did the Frank Lloyd Wright tour. I did the interior design for the Morroco Temple

       ~~Rhonda~~


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Avatar for dmm11730
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2003
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 6:15pm
Well Barb it is really nice to meet "you". I have a SIL who live near LA and my son just recently traveled with his girl friend to the desert in CA to visit her brother. I have only been to CA once and would love to visit again. (Just not my SIL, long story). I hear Chicago is a great city and we talked about getting together there but we just never put it together, I guess you could say. I have to agree with you about being in my 40's verses my 30's. I am a better person, woman, wife and mom. But unfortunatly hitting 40 brought the trouble of making it more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. I like to say I am vertically challenged since I am only 4 ft 11 inches.........I try though. Not as much as I should but since I carry the load of a family, a husband, a house and a job getting the proper me time is difficult. Just like Patty's message this morning. What type of fitness do you find works the best for you? How ofter do you exercise? How about your diet, do you find you don't have to watch your food intake because your fitness balances everything out? I look forward to learning more about you and reading your posts. What type of stuff do you write about other then fitness? Do you sell to newspapers or magazines? Ever think about writing a book? We tell Patty she should write her stuff all the time and get it published.

Debbie

Debbie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-2008
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 6:26pm

My preferred fitness activity is running, which I started on my 34th birthday (I was in Hawaii!). I used to run 5-6 times a week, but I got hobbled by some persistent shin splints--I had to take four months off from all fitness activities, even walking, last fall and it was horrible (especially because I also lost a dear friend to cancer in that time). After four months of PT got me nowhere, I started strength training, and now I swear by it for injury prevention. It's tedious, but it works.

I also play beach volleyball, golf, and hike, and I'd like to get back to playing tennis. That's one good thing about reducing my running to 4 days--it gives me an extra day for a long bike ride or something.

I don't eat a ton of junk, but I do eat some--why exercise, if not to indulge? My weakest times are while visiting Chicago now. I eat much better at home.

As far as writing, most of my work is on legal and financial topics for corporate clients. It's pretty boring, which is why I started blogging. I worked on a book for a while, chronicling my misadventures in online dating, but it didn't have a good narrative arc--i.e., no traditional happy ending. Not that I'm not happy--just not in a marketable way!

OK--time to work on my article on real estate investment trusts. Ugh.

Thanks for your support!

Avatar for dmm11730
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2003
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 6:47pm
Just one more thing, I am a legal secretary for a Real Estate Attorney.

Debbie

Debbie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-2008
Mon, 09-29-2008 - 6:52pm

That's funny. I'm working on a real estate law newsletter right now. I write it, and then firms send it out to their clients to demonstrate their expertise.