life after 50

Plastic Surgery On Your Mind? Before You Do That… Do This

Posted on 04/11/2013 by Barbara Hannah Grufferman | Best of Everything After 50 | Comments

Beauty & Fashion | Personal HealthRecently, I went to a lecture about women, aging and self-esteem. It was disconcerting. The lecturer, a therapist in her mid-50s, deals frequently with women who are unhappy with how they look, and who feel unprepared for the changes that they are seeing as they get older. The lecturer acknowledged that women in their 50s (and over) are in a “beauty bind.” In the past, women (like our grandmothers) aged together. The playing field was level. Very few of them …

The Fat After 50 You Really Need to Fear (and How to Get Rid of It)

Posted on 04/4/2013 by Barbara Hannah Grufferman | Best of Everything After 50 | Comments

Personal Health | Your LifeThere’s a kind of fat that can creep up on us as we age that is so awful, even its name sounds sneaky and mean. Visceral fat. What is visceral fat, you ask? It’s fat you can’t see. It’s fat that weaves itself around your heart and other internal organs. It’s really evil, and you don’t want it in your body. We all have subcutaneous fat, which is the noticeable layer of fat that lies just below the skin. Visceral …

Losing Weight After 50: Is “Intermittent Eating” Right For You?

Posted on 03/28/2013 by Barbara Hannah Grufferman | Best of Everything After 50 | Comments

Personal Health | Your LifeI don’t believe in dieting. I do believe in eating well: lots of dark, leafy greens (kale is my favorite!); small amounts of red meat; as little of the “white stuff” (sugar, white potatoes, white rice) as possible; nuts (especially calcium-rich almonds); legumes; and huge amounts of water and green tea (with some coffee in the morning and a little heart-healthy red wine in the evening thrown in for good measure!). What has this way of eating done for me? …

6 Ways Turning 56 Was Far Different than 50

Posted on 03/21/2013 by Barbara Hannah Grufferman | Best of Everything After 50 | Comments

Personal Health | Your LifeA few months ago I turned 56. To commemorate and celebrate, I ran 5.6 miles around Central Park. It felt good knowing I could run that distance and still be fit enough to join my husband and daughters at a birthday dinner downtown a few hours later. That’s a sea change from when I turned 50. Then –what now seems like a lifetime ago — running two miles would have been out of the question. I was out-of-shape and stuck …

This 90-Year-Old Found His Inner Kid (Again) and Why You Should, Too

Posted on 03/15/2013 by Barbara Hannah Grufferman | Best of Everything After 50 | Comments

Home & Family | Your LifeNo matter how old and wise we get, sometimes we keep making the same mistakes … over and over again. One of them, which can have a huge impact on how we experience life, is this: ignoring your inner kid. In an article for AARP not long ago, I suggested: Don’t take yourself, or the world, too seriously. There will always be problems, but do we have to constantly dwell on them? Smile, play, laugh, have fun, engage, connect. These are …

News Flash: Save Money by Having Someone Shop for You!

Posted on 03/7/2013 by Barbara Hannah Grufferman | Best of Everything After 50 | Comments

Beauty & Fashion | Your LifeWhen I interviewed Diane von Furstenberg for my book, The Best of Everything After 50, one of the best pieces of advice she gave me was this: don’t waste time and money by shopping for clothes on your own. Get help! Make a terrific ‘personal shopper’ your new best friend. Since I would rather empty the dishwasher than go shopping, I was intrigued by the idea. Although I’ve lived in one of the shopping capitals of the world for over …