The old adage stating, “One's good health is the most important thing one has,” is certainly true. Although not heart-related, I've been blessed to "cheat death" at least three times throughout my life. I was told, during two of those life-threatening times, I was blessed with a strong heart and it made all the difference regarding survival. As we’re annually aware, February is annually American Heart Month.
As American Heart Month continues, the AMA encourages all Americans to take control of their heart health by monitoring their blood pressure levels and making healthy lifestyle changes that can significantly reduce the risk of serious health consequences associated with high blood pressure. According to the AMA, an overwhelming number of Americans are living with uncontrolled high blood pressure — putting them at increased risk for heart attack and stroke. By empowering more people to monitor and control their blood pressure, there will be a continuum to not only help improve health outcomes for everyone, but also reduce health care costs.”
The AMA’s six tips for improving heart health to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, include the following:

1. Know your blood pressure numbers — Visit LowerYourHBP.org to find resources on understanding your numbers and take necessary steps to get your high blood pressure — or hypertension — under control. There are often no symptoms or signs of high blood pressure, often referred to as the “silent killer,” but if left untreated the condition damages the blood vessels and increases the risk for heart attack, stroke, and other serious conditions.
2. Commit to a treatment plan to manage high blood pressure — Work with your doctor to create an individualized treatment plan that focuses on healthy lifestyle changes that you can realistically stick to long-term to help you maintain a lower blood pressure and lower your risk for negative health consequences.
3. Be more physically active — Regular physical activity can help reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure. It is recommended that healthy adults 18 to 65 years of age should get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity five days per week, or 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity three days a week.
4. Eat a healthy diet — Making simple dietary changes can help you manage or prevent high blood pressure, including eating less sodium, reducing the amount of packaged, processed foods you consume, and eating foods that are rich in potassium.
5. Maintain or achieve a healthy weight — Take steps to lose weight, if overweight as being 20 pounds or more overweight could put you at increased risk of developing high blood pressure.
6. Drink alcohol in moderation — If you consume alcohol, do so in moderation as defined by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans — up to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men, and only by adults of legal drinking age.

 
Improving and maintaining the health of Ebenezer Community residents is a top priority for Ebenezer. As part of Fairview Health Services, Ebenezer is committed to helping our residents maintain their health.
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In my opinion, the longer we live, the number of memories and life experiences we’ve had, and are still having, create a mental avalanche, sometimes too overwhelming to accept. As everyone reading this is more than aware, those memories and life experiences certainly create a potpourri of happiness and sadness. For yours truly to try to identify what makes us happy, aside from the obvious, would require more descriptions than space herein will allow, but I'll do my best and hopefully elicit a happy smile from you, dear reader.  

One thing that makes me happy is visiting the oncology doctors at the VA. What? I'm not only happy when they tell me I'm doing well, but also when they start feeling for lumps in my armpits. I'm ticklish under my right arm and giggle. The doctors at the VA  are kind enough to accept it and start laughing, too, thus when they're checking for those lumps, they just kindly accept the fact that "The Giggler" is there and are more gentle performing the examination.

What makes us happy if we're parents, grandparents or great-grandparents is seeing the joy on the faces of the littlest ones when they receive presents for their birthdays, during holidays or just surprise presents given for no more reason than the fact they're loved and they know it. Our youngest of nine great-grandchildren, named Mercy Grace (aged one), has irresistible cheeks. Great-grandpa here can't resist gently "chucking" them. It's been the case for each kid, grand-kid (we have four) and the nine great-grandchildren since 1961! Just a simple description of something that brings perpetual smiles to yours truly. Without presumption here, I'm certain if you have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, you can easily identify with the happiness I've described.

Obviously, if certain entertainment makes us happy, the producers of the entertainment have succeeded. Cherished friendships, of course, should contribute daily to our happiness. Those living in Ebenezer Communities are blessed to have the wonderful opportunity to develop new friendships at advanced ages, amplifying the happiness factor.
On the other side of the spectrum, depression sometimes rears its ugly head and we need to conquer it as intelligently and rapidly as possible. I experienced that not-so-pleasant feeling more than once. While I've not found a "magic wand" to eliminate the depression, I know that every time I've felt depressed I've been blessed to be able to snap out of it more rapidly every time. Counting our blessings is one way to realize we're always on the plus side of life. It's not easy to do, but it is do-able. Also, not being timid about letting friends know through what you may be going in regard to "the blues", is very helpful, to say the least.  
We're not alone on this journey. Ebenezer's offers many resources and support groups regarding this subject are available. Thank you for reading, as always. (Be happy!)

 
 

LOVE the process of aging and those around you. 
Valentine’s Day is approaching. What better reason than to also approach the subject of love. I think Saint Valentine would be humbly flattered that his mantra has flourished into the 21st century. I think he would also be delighted to know love, in its many forms, is actually considered the ultimate emotion for which we strive to both receive and convey. Loving the fact we of senior ages should love the process of aging and love those of similar ages around us should be, in my opinion, one of the major goals to achieve as we advance annually.
There are so many "pluses" to aging, again in my opinion. Some of them include the fact we've lived enough years to amass a multitude of wisdom about how life's twists and turns have made us into stronger people, enabling us to better cope with those twists and turns because we've probably been through those times more times than we can count. "Been there, done that" is the colloquialism that enters my mind in that regard.
Wisdom from others also helps guide us in the proper emotional and mental direction when adding up how wonderful it is to have reached the senior years of our lives. Some motivational wisdom has been uttered by many we respect and admire, as follows:

• "It's never too late to be who you might have been" - Female authoress George Eliot
• "I've never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is only a temporary situation." - Mike Todd (Elizabeth Taylor's favorite husband, who perished in a New Mexico plane crash and a Minneapolis native.)
• "We must be willing to let got of the life we have planned, so as to live the life that is waiting for us." - Novelist E.M. Forster
• "I never got a good job I didn't create for myself." - Actress Ruth Gordon
• "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
• "The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all." - President Harry Truman
• "You must live the life you were born to live." - Fictional Mother Superior's admonition to Maria Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music". Profound, though a quote from fiction.
• "Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." - Sir Winston Churchill
• "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt
• "The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." - Samuel French
• "You never stop paying your dues." - Actor/sincere Joel Grey to me during a television interview
• "Life is being to take the bitter with the better." - J. Allen Jensen, broadcast executive
• "Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream" - Partial lyrics from The Sound of Music song, Climb Every Mountain

In  my opinion, every one of these has a positive message, attuned to all the thinking and doing we've amassed during our blessed longer lives. Loving the process of aging and loving it for our contemporaries are thoughts that should keep us going productively and happily for the remainder of our life-loving lives. Again, Saint Valentine would be proud.
Thank you for reading and Happy Valentine's Day.

“Food, glorious food!" Unabashedly quoting that line from both the play and feature film OLIVER!, I confess it evokes and parallels the fact I'm a "foodie", "chow-hound" or any other appellation one might choose to apply to a person who is into what keeps us alive, along with water, of course. Also, of course, the foods we choose to eat, especially at advanced ages, most likely are much different, and probably more healthful, than those we chose to ingest in younger years. I know that's the case for yours truly. 

Until about age 30, my reputation for being the human equivalent of a goat or human garbage can, was rampant and well-deserved. I ate almost everything in sight and, truthfully, the more I ate, the thinner I became! It's true. My metabolism was reacting to my non-stop energy, both physical and mental. I have a feeling you may be among those who also experienced that enviable trait to be able to eat and drink almost everything in sight, in mass quantities and never gain weight. That's when my waist-size remained at between 26 and 28.

Today and for the past at least ten years, my waist size, at age 81, has increased to between 42 and 44, depending upon how successfully I can breathe in while fastening the top fastener on my trousers. I've saved some size 26 and 28-sized pants to only look at them wistfully and nostalgically. Unless there's some sort of metamorphosis, I think I won't be able to wear them again. Just seeing them, however, provides a modicum of some incentive to reach that probably impossible goal. 

In my opinion, the title of this blog, HEALTHY EATING IN THE NEW YEAR, should be among those sensible goals and mantras we should wish to achieve every new year. In my opinion, it's definitely do-able, simply using the common sense we all have, or should have. I think, for yours truly, at least, cravings are part of a non-healthful diet. Obviously, we all need an occasional "treat," but "occasional" should be the guiding word.

We can train and wean ourselves to avoid excess intakes of soft drinks, candy, fatty foods, desserts with high sugar content and so forth. It isn't easy, but once that discipline is achieved, even most of the time, the chances of adding longevity to our years is obviously one of the benefits to adding discipline to our eating habits. 

At every Ebenezer community, our culinary team works together to ensure our residents enjoy their dining experiences. Our skilled teams prepare nutritious and delicious meals that please the palate as well as the eye. Freshly prepared and locally sourced (whenever possible), produce and high quality meats and seafood are at the heart of our dining experiences. We offer a variety of options for each meal all of which are flavorful and are prepared with no added salt, utilizing heart healthy techniques.
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VERY happily, Ebenezer is currently inviting you to enjoy a healthful complimentary lunch and tour as a guest at an Ebenezer Assisted Living community close to you, or an Ebenezer Assisted Living location where you’d be interested to move. It's Ebenezer's "treat" to hopefully provide some incentive for you to think about eating and drinking in a more health-conscious fashion. Of course, if you already do eat healthfully, please enjoy the gratis Ebenezer lunch and tour anyway and congratulations for achieving that much-sought-after goal! Thank you for reading!