Ingredients

• 4 shots Smirnoff Fluffed Marshmallow Vodka
• Marshmallow fluff
• Fresh Raspberries

Here’s how it’s done

1. Add 4 shots Smirnoff Fluffed Marshmallow Vodka to martini shaker with ice. Shake Well.
2. Spread thin coat of Marshmallow fluff around inside rim of martini glass
3. Pour chilled Marshmallow Vodka into glasses (makes 2). Add raspberries (cherries will do well too).
4. Enjoy

I just came across Cloud 9 Living, an “Experience Gift” company that offers unique and memorable experiences as gifts. Cloud 9 Living believes, as I do, that giving a gift should be more meaningful than just fulfilling an obligation; it should be about showing your recipient that you took time to find something they will truly love and remember for years. And with experiences ranging from thrilling and adventurous to relaxing and cultural, Cloud 9 Living truly has something for every taste and every budget.

Cloud 9 Living offers you the chance to give someone something they’ve always wanted to do but would never buy for him/herself—and that’s a real gift! Here’s a sampling of ultimate gift experiences available from Cloud 9 Living.

Giving the Ultimate Gift is Easy

Special Gifts for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Every Day!

This isn’t a diet or a promise of weight loss.  I’m not a doctor, just a certified “health coach” — meaning I know a little bit about a lot of dietary theories, and a lot about healthy eating.

People spend a lot of time focused on the need to “diet”, usually to lose weight.  Instead, we should focus on providing our bodies with a steady diet of good, healthy foods in a variety of colors and textures.

There’s no “one size fits all” way to eat.  We are all individuals, and our bodies respond to foods differently.  So, while a mostly plant-based diet works for me, many people prefer a diet filled with meat and dairy.  To each their own.  But there are important points you should consider, no matter what kind of food you like to eat:

• Watch out for sugar – You wouldn’t fill the gas tank of your car with sugar-water – don’t fuel your body with it.  Limit sodas, artificial juices and diet drinks.

• Limit processed foods.  If it has a label, it’s processed.  If it comes in a box, avoid it.

• If you can’t pronounce it don’t eat it- Don’t eat anything with more than 5 ingredients or ingredients you can’t pronounce.

• Grandparents knew best – If your grandparents couldn’t have purchased it, you shouldn’t either.

• Go organic – Buy organic fruits and vegetables if you can find them and afford them.  Get familiar with the Dirty Dozen (foods you should always buy organic) and the Clean Fifteen (foods that don’t need to be organic).  There are apps for that.  But even if you can’t get organic, eat fruit and vegetables anyway.

• Expand your horizons – Try new vegetables and expand your horizons. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to cook them – that’s what Google is for.  Pretty much anything can be roasted, steamed or boiled.  Bring them home and challenge yourself.

• Look in the freezer – Don’t forget frozen fruit and vegetables when you can’t get fresh.  There’s no prep, so they are an easy weeknight choice.  You can even get a wide variety of organic frozen foods.

• Buy organic meat if you can.  Organic means the animals were not fed antibiotics to make them grow.  It’s worth the extra money not to ingest a bunch of stuff you wouldn’t dream of eating yourself.

• Have I mentioned organic? Well it goes for milk and dairy too. Buy organic if you can.

• Don’t forget your whole grains.  Eat whole wheat pasta instead of white, and replace white rice with brown.  Try some new things like Quinoa (which is really a seed, not a grain, but can be used in place of rice and provides lots of protein). Make a big batch of brown rice or quinoa once a week and eat it 2 or 3 times as a side dish or base for a stir fry.

• Cook, your health is in your hands – Cooking isn’t that hard.  You can do it, and you can do it quickly and efficiently.   Google.  Just cook.  This puts your health in your own hands rather than the hands of the Chinese restaurant down the block.

• The 90/10 rule – No matter how hard you try, you will never eat a healthy diet 100% of the time.  Many diet theories say to shoot for 90/10 – which, in reality, would probably be more like 70/30 – and that’s okay.  As you begin to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy meal choices, you’ll find yourself craving an apple instead of potato chips, and you’ll get to 90/10 eventually.

• Crowd Out – Make a point of eating more fruits and vegetables and “crowd out” the unhealthy foods.  When you eat pasta for dinner, make sure you have vegetable side dishes (consider a salad, or load the pasta with broccoli or peas). Just work the veggies into every meal.  You’ll notice a difference in the way you feel.

Don’t try to make major changes to your diet all at once, unless you’re a big fan of gas.  Take it easy, add a couple of servings of fruits or veggies a day, and have fun with it.

Introducing Melanie’s Wellness Update
This new feature is written by our new health coach who believes whether you are male or female, 50 something, 30 something or 70 something it’s easy to lead a healthy lifestyle. All you need to know is how. And that’s where Melanie comes in. We get to tap into her extensive insights and creative tips for healthier living. Best of all, Melanie has a way of making the entire learning experience fun too!  So be sure to come back for your Wellness Updates.

“Kirk’s success was no fluke, either. His style of command demonstrates a keen understanding of leadership and how to maintain a team that succeeds time and time again, regardless of the dangers faced.” At Forbes.com,  Alex Knapp explores five of the key leadership lessons that you can take use from Captain Kirk as you pilot your own organization into unknown futures. These include:

1. Never Stop Learning
2. Have advisors with different world views
3. Be part of the away team
4. Play poker not chess
5. Blow up the Enterprise

Be sure to read the entire article and get Kirk’s full leadership lessons at Forbes.com. It’s worth the journey.

1. Shop around for better gas prices

Gas prices change frequently and may vary as much as 20% within only a few blocks.  But driving around looking for a better price can waste gas. What to do? There’s an app for that:

GasBuddy
Find the cheapest gas price wherever you go – for free! GasBuddy locates gas stations near you, shows you their current gas prices and even gives you directions and a map to you get there. You can search GasBuddy by price, gas grade, zip code or distance. Or just find what’s nearby. GasBuddy relies on App users to list and update prices. So I found some out-of-the-way rural stations not listed. But that seems to be the exception not the rule. As the GasBuddy community grows, so does the number of gas stations listed. As an incentive, you’ll earn points towards prize give-away for every gas price your report. I don’t use this car app very much, but it’s good to have with you on the road. However, I did use it once to find a nearby bathroom.

Key Features:

• Find the cheapest gas on the go – for free!
• Locate gas stations near you and see their current gas prices.
• For every gas price reported, you’ll earn points towards our prize give-away.
• GasBuddy is a community of users working together to update gas prices.

GassBuddy app is available for iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.

2. Driving efficiently & keeping your car in shape saves money

Problem	Impact on your MPG	Solution
Aggressive driving	Easy does it lead foot, jack-rabbit starts and sudden braking wastes gas. Lowers your gas mileage 33% on the highway and 5% in the city.	Stop driving like a maniac! - Approximate gasoline savings up to $0.17/gallon (city) and  $1.16/gallon (highway)
High Speeds	Gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds over 60 mph.	As a rule of thumb, each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.28/gallon. - Improves fuel economy by up to  23% — $0.81/gallon.
Cruise Control	Contrary to popular belief using cruise control can help save you up to 14%.	Helps maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas. - Approximate gasoline savings: up to $0.49/gallon.
Using A/C vs keeping windows down	Conflicting reports on this one: Testing on Edmunds.com reports no measurable difference with window up and A/C on vs windows down. Fueleconomy.gov suggests using air conditioning only when necessary.	It’s up to you
Idling too long	Here’s a no brainer: Idling gets 0 miles per gallon. Excessive idling can decease mpg by 19%	Turn off engine when idling more than 1 minute. - Approximate gasoline savings: $0.67/gallon.
Poorly inflated tires	Poorly inflated tires can decrease your mpg by 3.3%	Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer. - Approximate gasoline savings: $0.11/gallon.
Overloaded	An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your mpg by up to 2%.	Clean out that extra junk in your trunk. - Improves fuel economy by 1-2% - Approximate gasoline savings: $0.04-$0.07/gallon
Being a drag on the road	A loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel economy by 5%.	Don’t be such a drag on the road. - Approximate gasoline savings: $0.07/gallon
Poorly tuned engine	Poorly tuned engine can reduce mpg by up to 4%.	Get regular engine tune-ups and car maintenance checks to avoid fuel economy problems. - Approximate gasoline savings: $0.14/gallon.
Improper motor oil	Using the wrong motor oil can decrease mpg by 1-2%.	Be sure to use the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil. Also, use motor oil with “Energy Conserving” on the API performance symbol to be sure it contains friction-reducing additives.- Improves fuel economy by 1-2% - Approximate gasoline savings: $0.04-$0.07/gallon.

* Gasoline savings are based on national average for gasoline: $3.52.
US Department of Energy

3. Drive a fuel-efficient car

A vehicle that gets 30 MPG will cost you $880 less to fuel each year than one that gets 20 MPG (assuming 15,000 miles of driving annually and a fuel cost of $3.52). Over a period of 5 years, the 30-MPG vehicle will save you $4,400.

That being said, let’s talk about real savings. Finally electric cars, like the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV have finally hit the market. And while their initial cost may be higher, with no fuel costs they will save you in the long run. If you need more than the 60-100 mile range, then look to hybrids like the Chevrolet Volt and Toyota Prius v with up to 60+ MPG.

For a look at today’s most fuel-efficient vehicles download the 2012 Fuel Economy Guide

Friends and family told me I didn’t need to lose weight. Maybe they didn’t see the love handles and beer belly. Loose fitting shirts help keep them camouflaged; you know what I mean. But at 5’ 10” and 204 pounds I thought differently. As a medical writer I know differently. I understand and often write about the health risks that come from being overweight. And “abdominal obesity” or “belly fat,” my scourge, increases your chances of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and even some types of cancer. What’s more, when I’m 60- and 70-Something I don’t want to need to take pills everyday to counter the health problems that were caused from being overweight.

I first hit 204 pounds in January 2011 and decided it was time to lose weight. But no matter what I tried throughout the year, I couldn’t shed a pound. Then in December 2011 I saw a Charles Barkley ad promoting Weight Watchers^® Online for Men. For Men? I always thought this was a women’s program. I remember, when I was young, my mother and her friends going to “weigh-in” meetings, checking foods in their Weight Watcher books, and talking about what they can and can’t eat. It was very social but it didn’t seem very effective. But since it’s now online I checked it out. I learn that it’s “not my mother’s Weight Watchers” anymore. Here are the first 4 things I learned:

1. It’s a customized plan
Weight Watches Online for Men is a plan customized for guys and followed completely online. Completely online? That means no “weigh-in” meetings, right? And online equals convenient and private. I don’t need to tell anyone if it doesn’t work. Yes I have an ego.

Click to enlarge

2. I can eat anything I want
“Anything!” I didn’t need to read much further, but “there are no special or required foods—and no forbidden ones, either.” Weight Watchers teaches how to make smarter choices among the food I love, even in bars and restaurants. And I know I could use the help.

3. I need to track foods and activity
Weight Watchers created a personalized food PointsPlus^® budget based on my height and weight. There are online tools and mobile apps to help track what I eat and drink and how much exercise I do. So I get to play with gadgets too!

4. It’s not expensive to join
They waved the initial sign-up fee as long as I buy a 3-month plan for $56.85. Sounded OK to me, and 3 months seemed like a reasonable amount of time for a trial.

 Investing in myself is worth it, so I signed up

I started on Monday January 9, 2011. I began by creating a personal profile page, entering information about myself including weight (of course), height, age, and set my initial weight loss goal. Then I took an easy-to- follow tutorial and was introduced to my online plan manager.

Food Tracker—Click to enlarge

As I mentioned, you can eat anything you want. With Weight Watchers you enter what you eat throughout the day into your food tracker, either on your computer or mobile app. Each food is associated with points. As part of your plan you are given a daily and weekly food PointsPlus budget. If you go over one day, you can balance it out by staying under your food budget another day. You also get points for exercise, and walking counts as an exercise! These “Activity” points can be swapped for food points. And of course the online tracker does it automatically.

I’m learning to make healthier, smarter choices

At first keeping track of food and activity points was not that easy. There’s definitely a learning curve. But Weight Watchers provides lots of tips and cheat sheets to help. It took a little while, but I got the hang of it. Soon I started looking at a food choice and deciding if I wanted to use my points on it. For instance, at breakfast I could have a bagel with cream cheese for 10 points or a high fiber cereal with skim milk, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries for 6 points. The cereal is healthier, is a bigger portion, and I get a needed serving of fruit. Plus that leaves me 4 more points to use at lunch, dinner or for a snack.

Being on Weight Watchers made me start exploring and finding healthier and delicious choices for meals. I just enter what I want to eat in the food tracker and it tells me the points. When I’m at a restaurant I enter it to the mobile app so I know before I order.

The point system also showed me my problem. It seems I’m an after-dinner snacker. And while I may be eating snacks that are “good”, eating too much is bad. I was really racking up the points (and the pounds) after dinner. So now instead of having 3 or 4 frozen fruit pops, I only have one. Instead of a bag of almonds, I have a handful.

It’s working for me

I track my weight once a week using the online “Weight tracker.” Even if I lose just 1 pound, Weight Watchers gives me an encouraging message of support and congratulations. It feels good.

Weight Tracker—Click to enlarge

At the end of 4 weeks on the program I achieved my initial goal of 193 lbs (-11 lbs, 5% weight loss) and received Gold Stars. I then set my next goal of an additional 5% weight loss (183.6 lbs). Weight Watcher encourages small achievable goals. That works for me!

Weight Watchers provides a bunch of extras on their member website. There’s a whole community you can talk with, share tips, and get encouragement. Plus there’s hundreds of recipes and plenty of tools to help you reach your goal.

Update: At 24 weeks: 170 lbs (-34 lbs)

Aging adults especially those who are older than 75 have a higher risk of being involved in a collision when they get behind the wheel. Because older drivers are less able to withstand the physical trauma resulting from serious crashes, their rate of fatalities is higher, regardless of fault.

Giving up or limiting driving can be a great loss. Often older drivers who need to limit or stop driving may feel depressed, angry, frustrated or isolated, even if they voluntarily make the decision. In order to have successful conversations, you need to understand and validate these feelings.

In a national survey of older drivers, nearly 25% of the respondents reported feeling sad or depressed after having conversations about their driving.

How to assess your parents driving skills and start that conversation
So as you can see this is a delicate but important subject. Now there’s help to help you recognize if mom or day needs to limit or stop driving; and how to broach the subject.  AARP offers a free online seminar called We Need to Talk that will help you determine how to assess your parents driving skills and provide tools to help you have this important conversation. And since it’s online, you can set your own pace. The seminar consists of three modules:

1. The meaning of Driving
The first section helps you understand what driving means to older adults and how older drivers cope with the loss of freedom and independence that can accompany the decision to stop driving

2. Observing Driving Skills
In the second section you’ll learn how to observe changes in an older driver’s behavior and determine if driving will become a problem. It also teaches you how to use observations to help voice your concerns while reducing hurt feelings and increasing the success of your conversations.

3. Planning Conversations
The last section will teach what kind of conversations are appropriate in a given situation and what components make a conversation successful. Here you’ll learn how to use your initial information-gathering conversations and your observations to plan conversations with older drivers. You will also gain skills to start both casual and serious conversations with older adults about driving safety and know how to respond when their driving becomes a risk.

Take a look at We Need to Talk. Even if you don’t need to start the conversation right now, you may need to in years to come.

Be sure to read more from The 50 Something Man about Taking Care of Mom and Dad

If you were about to die, what would be your last thoughts? What would be your biggest regret? Bonnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years caring for the dying during the final 3 to 12 weeks of their lives. In a book called “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying – A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing,” she shares their final regrets. Writing them down may seem a little morbid, but they can help the living redirect themselves to a more fulfilling life. Here are the top 5 regrets:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
“This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.”

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.”

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
“Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
“This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”

“Life is a choice. It is your life. Choose consciously, choose wisely and choose honestly. Choose happiness”
− Bonnie Ware

For more information see Bonnie Ware’s blog Inspiration and Chai

The AARP started a search for the perfect retirement destinations by examining financial data on more than 350 cities across the country. They looked at not only property- and sales-tax rates, median housing price, and cost of living but also the tax rate on pensions and Social Security. Then they added in such criteria as recreation, climate, and arts and culture.

The result: 10 retirement destinations that are affordable and livable. And believe it or not, Florida does not make the list. See these Top 10 Affordable Retirement Destinations in an article by Sarah Mahoney at AARP: The Magazine

Of course, certain capabilities fall off as you approach 50. Memories of where you left the keys or parked the car mysteriously vanish. Words suddenly go into hiding as you struggle to remember the guy, you know, in that movie, what was it called? And calculating the tip on your dinner check seems to take longer than it used to.

Yet it is also true that there is no preordained march toward aging.

Some people are much better than their peers at delaying age-related declines in memory and calculating speed. What researchers want to know is why. Why does your 70-year-old neighbor score half her age on a memory test, while you, at 40, have the memory of a senior citizen? If investigators could better detect what protects one person’s mental strengths or chips away at another’s, then perhaps they could devise a program to halt or reverse decline and even shore up improvements.

As it turns out, one essential element of mental fitness has already been identified….” Read the full article in The NY Times