Your Personal Health Plan is Job 1

Although "Obamacare" is now the law of the land for Americans, controversy still surrounds it. Candidates in November's elections have widely conflicting views about its value. Next to jobs as the most import issue in races this year, the new healthcare law is determining the voting patterns of many citizens throughout the country. The uncertainties arising from which party will control the House and Senate in 2011 may leave you in a quandary about your own healthcare strategy.

What can you do in the meantime? Decide on a personal health plan to improve your wellness every day. Our YouTube video for today includes the final two of ten tips for increasing self-fullness. Feel free to begin with any of the tips you like - there's no deductible or co-pay involved. As you decide to take better care of yourself, you will discover the strength to find balance in your life. Develop a firm core - it will sustain you as you continue to nurture your growing and changing family.

The short video, Your Personal Health Plan: 10 Tips for Self-fullness, provides some ideas about how to give yourself the gift of laughter. You'll have more fun and studies have found that a positive mood creates the atmosphere for better decision-making. And the video reminds you, it's healthy to receive as well as give. So accept the help, gratitude and love that others offer.

Are you a Sandwiched Boomer, with demands being made by your children and parents simultaneously? For some help in taking better care of yourself, our article, How to Nourish the Sandwich That is You may be just what you need to get started. Take a few minutes to browse around our website, Her Mentor Center where you'll find other articles with practical tips for nurturing yourself, resources, Stepping Stones, and information about how to receive our ebooks. You can use the comment link below to let us know what you think and how you're doing.

And feel free to participate in the polling questions to the left of this post. They change with each visit and give you the chance to have your opinions heard and tallied.

To your continuing good health!

Your Social Network Can Improve Your Health

I bet you're not surprised: Study after study has confirmed what most women already know - friendships are good for your health. The Nurses Health Study found that the greater the number of friends in your social network, the more healthful and joyful a life you lead. The MacArthur Foundation concluded that social support helps women cope with difficult times. Shelley Taylor and her colleagues at UCLA determined that befriending other women helps women live longer and more satisfying lives.

So when you're setting up your personal health plan, be sure to set aside time to spend with your friends. They'll help you cope with daily hassles and with more serious hardships. Consider nurturing your friendships like a form of preventative medicine - and you don't even need a prescription. Isn't an afternoon with friends more fun than a trip to the doctor, easier to swallow than pills and not hurtful like a shot? So set a date and put it on your appointment calendar - you'll feel better when you do.

Our short YouTube video, Your Personal Health Plan Relies on Your Social Network gives you some tips to begin. Share ideas and reach out for emotional and practical support as you cope with the ups and downs of a family-in-flux. Friendships can be a potent antidote to the toxins of stress.

Sandwiched Boomers often try to live up to extremely high expectations - yours or others. Instead, draft a set of realistic, reasonable, achievable standards. You'll feel less stressed when you do. Another of our YouTube videos, Your Personal Health Plan Sets Reasonable Standards, gives you tips about setting up attainable goals as part of your personal health and wellness plan. You'll learn about letting go of guilt, accepting yourself for who you are and asking for help when you need it.

Want to learn more about the importance of friendships in supporting you? Boomer Women and Friendship: The Gift You Give Yourself will give you some good background. It's on our website, Her Mentor Center with other helpful articles.

Develop Your Personal Health Plan

The Association of American Medical Colleges reported last week that the shortage of physicians is expected to worsen due to the U.S. healthcare reform plan that became law last spring. Their Center for Workforce Studies released a projection that shortages will be 50% worse than estimated earlier. Rather than lacking 39,600 doctors by 2015, the United States will actually be short 63,000 physicians, given the extra patients entering the system.

With fewer doctors available, you will need to make some changes in the way you take care of yourself. Now is the time to develop your own personal health plan to help deal with the challenges you face everyday in nourishing yourself and your family-in-flux. All this week you'll find links here to our YouTube videos giving you suggestions for improving your coping skills and your health - mental and physical. Try them out and let us know what works for you as you create your own care plan.

No matter what challenges you face in your career and at home with children growing up and parents growing older, it's not selfish to set aside time for a taste of healthy self-fullness. Check out our short, YouTube video, Your Personal Health Plan Begins with a Change, to help you cope with the challenges you are facing. In this video, you'll learn the importance of releasing negativity, a common response, and replacing it with a positive attitude. Developing resiliency and expressing gratitude can be powerful tools.

With the economy continuing to stall and family responsibilities growing, your stress levels may be climbing, especially if you are a Sandwiched Boomer. Vow to put your feet up and think about yourself for once. What brings you happiness? What relieves the stress you face every day? What will bring balance to your life? A second YouTube video segment gives you some tips on how Your Personal Health Plan Reduces Your Stress. In this video, you'll find tips for taking time for yourself and creating personal stress relievers.

It's always hard to get started in making a change, even one that will help you take better care of yourself. If you want to give yourself a jump-start, click here to read Sandwiched Boomers: 7 Tips on Fighting Inertia which you can find on our website, Her Mentor Center.

Your Personal Health Plan: 10 Tips for Self-fullness

The proposed national healthcare bill is sparking discussion across the country. Members of Congress are finding vocal constituents at town hall meetings in their districts. Is it a real grass roots protest or astroturf? When AARP representatives prematurely end a meeting because senior citizen members there challenge AARP support of the bill, frustrations grow on both sides. And when the White House posts a blog encouraging citizens to report "fishy" information about the proposed health plan, the controversy widens.

What can you do? Learn more about the House health bill yourself, ask questions and come to your own conclusions. In the meantime, decide on a personal health plan to improve your wellness every day. Our video for today includes the final two of our ten tips for increasing self-fullness. Feel free to begin with any of the tips you like - there's no deductible or co-pay involved.



Click on the post title to take you to our website, HerMentorCenter.com and the full article, Top Ten Self-fullness Tips for Sandwiched Women in our Nourishing Relationships archives. We invite you to browse around our site and blog, where you will find articles and information to help you care for your family and still nourish yourself at the same time.

Your Personal Health Plan Sets Reasonable Standards

No matter what age women have attained, many still act the part of the 'good girl,' responding to the needs of others first. It's fitting that these multitasking women are called the Sandwich Generation - since a sandwich often means a quick bite to eat on the run for those who don't have the time for a sit-down meal.

Why not begin to take more time nourishing youself? Instead of trying to live up to unrealistic expectations - yours or others - draft a set of realistic, reasonable, achievable standards. You'll feel less stressed when you do. Today's video will help you set up attainable goals as part of your personal health and wellness plan.




Are you feeling like a Sandwiched Boomer, with demands being made by your children and parents simultaneously? For some help in taking better care of yourself, click on the title of the post. It takes you to our article, How to Nourish the Sandwich That is You on our website, HerMentorCenter.com. And use the comment link below to let us know how you are doing.

Your Personal Health Plan Relies on Your Social Network

Women traditionally turn to friends when they need help coping - both with daily hassles and with more serious hardships. Study after study has confirmed what most women already know - friendships are good for your health. The Nurses Health Study indicated that the greater the number of friends in your network, the more healthful and joyful a life you lead. The MacArthur Foundation found that social support helps women cope with difficult times. Shelley Taylor and her colleagues at UCLA determined that befriending other women helps women live longer and more satisfying lives.

When you're setting up your personal health plan, be sure to set aside time to spend with your friends. Consider nurturing your friendships like a form of preventative medicine - and you don't even need a prescription. Isn't an afternoon with friends more fun than a trip to the doctors, easier to swallow than pills and not hurtful like a shot? So set a date and put it on your appointment calendar - you'll feel better when you do.





To read more about the importance of friendships, click on the title of this post. You will be connected with our website, HerMentorCenter.com and an article in our Nourishing Relationships archive, Boomer Women and Friendship: The Gift You Give Yourself.

Your Personal Health Plan Reduces Your Stress

The proposed national healthcare bill remains in the news as more town meetings are set up to discuss the details. The latest poll by the Pew Research Center indicates Americans are interested in the issue but currently more of them oppose the legislation than support it, 44% to 38%.

Whatever your stance on the bill being drafted by Congress, you can develop your own personal health plan that will ensure a healthier lifestyle for you. With the economy continuing to stall and family responsibilities growing, your stress levels may be climbing, especially if you are a sandwiched boomer. Today's video segment gives you some tips on how to reduce the stress by increasing your self-fullness.



If you would like more information about transforming roadblocks in your life into building blocks for a healthier lifestyle, click on the title of this post. It links you to our archives at our website, HerMentorCenter.com, and the article, How to Turn a Crisis into a Challenge.

Your Personal Health Plan Begins with a Change

With members of the House on their August recess and Senators soon to follow, politicians are returning home to hear the opinions of the American people on the proposed national health care plan.

Because one-half of the funding for the trillion-dollar plan is set to come from reductions in the Medicare program, senior citizens are worried about losing their physicians, their benefits and their medical autonomy. Employees are worried about losing their private insurance as employers consider dropping private plans and moving to the public option. Small business owners are worried about how to pay for insurance for part-time workers or let them go. On the other hand, the unemployed and uninsured are worried about how they will pay their medical bills if they don't have a government plan. And we're all worried about the increasing national debt and the likelihood of higher taxes.

What to do with all this worry? Educate yourself about the plan - learn what it will mean to you and your family. Then you can express your opinions to your representatives. Let them know your thoughts, be they pro or con.

And, in the meantime, develop your own personal health plan to help deal with the challenges you face everyday in nourishing yourself and your family-in-flux. All this week you'll find video tips on our blog giving you suggestions for improving your coping skills and your health - mental and physical. Try them out and let us know what works for you.



It's always hard to get started in making a change, even one that will help you take better care of yourself. If you want to give yourself a jump-start, click on the post title. It links you to our website, HerMentorCenter.com and our article there, Sandwiched Boomers: 7 Tips on Fighting Inertia.

Video Tips for Coping in a Recession

Thriving during any crisis may seem impossible to achieve, but you can learn techniques to help you deal with these uncertain times. All this week, we will be featuring tips to help you cope with our current economic downturn. Our video today lets you get started.



For more suggestions about how to cope with this difficult economy, click on the title above to take you to our website, www.HerMentorCenter.com and the article, "How to Achieve Family Flexibility in Times of Financial Flux."

Video Tips to Thrive in Economic Crisis

Join us next month for free video tips.

Two readers used the comment section yesterday to tell us about their family staycations. Elaine talked about how she and her kids would go to their favorite creek watering hole, called "Flat Rocks" and just hang out for the afternoon - swimming, lazing in the sun, splashing while she read a good book. "Family time was what it's all about," she said. Another comment was about how their family enjoyed making videos, pretending they were television shows - everyone, including the children, got to participate. Both of these women were creating memories to last through the years.

Here are some more ideas to help you choose activities for your staycation. Sandwiched Boomers, caring for growing children and aging parents, often put themselves last in the process. This time, do some things to enrich yourself too.

Explore your immediate surroundings and discover something new. Take a city bus tour and see the sights that you've never noticed before. Expand your horizons and those of your family members. Visit a museum near you - often they offer entrance fee free days or discounts for local patrons. Participate together in a creative activity like ceramic painting or a mini-course in photography at the community center. Visit the campus of a local college and wander through the library. You may uncover an interest you never realized you had.

Remember to include the universal vacation ritual - take lots of photos and videos to share with your friends. Looking at the pictures of your family's smiling faces will enhance your memories of the special times you spent together. Continue the feelings of togetherness by creating an album commemorating your first family staycation.