The Dreaded “Man-Boobs”
Jon Benson is a nutritionist and best-selling author of Fit Over 40. More than that, he is a fellow survivor of “hormone hell.” He has this advice to share with men who are also suffering with gynaecomastia, often referred to as “man-boobs”:
1. Are you a guy or do you know one close to you over the age of 35?
2. Have you or he looked at your/his bare chest lately?
3. If so… did you see them?…The dreaded….
“Manboobs”?
Obviously if you are female this is not an issue. But for us men, “gynaecomastia”, often jokingly referred to as manboobs (we can thank “Seinfeld” for that) is anything but funny.
From this point on, I’ll refer to it as “MB” if that’s okay by you.
MB is not an age thing. It can occur at almost any time in life. However, for those of us over 35, it is more common.
This is just one of the many symptoms of “andropause”, or “male menopause.”
When you age your testosterone levels decline…and more than that the testosterone gets “weaker” due to an imbalance between it and estrogen.
When you combine that with our modernized “estrogen-rich” environment that Dr. Holly Lucille frequently lectures on, you have a problem.
A big MB problem.
MB is associated with lack of drive (you know what I’m talking about guys) and excess bellyfat due to the estrogen.
Even more serious: Excess estrogen has been positively linked to prostate cancer.
Yep. MBs are not so funny after all.
Check out Dr. Lucille’s NaturaPause Audios. There is an entire audio dedicated to male menopause and natural solutions that really work.
Most do not work worth a darn.
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s staying healthy, fit & sexy while living life to the fullest.”
“Living the Sexy Life….Are You Old Enough?”
The Evil Chocolate Cake
I am supposed to be avoiding flour. I am supposed to be avoiding sugar. By now, everyone knows that those two evil ingredients are what can pack on the pounds and make them stick if you don’t keep an eye on consumption. And alas….I am well known far and wide for my sweet tooth and my excellent ability at watching my consumption a little too often.
A couple of days ago, I broke down and went to the bookstore to purchase a diet book, appropriately named the No Flour, No Sugar Diet. As a side note, I am a little humored at myself that I felt the need to buy this book when it’s so obvious what the diet involves. What more could I possibly hope to find written on these pages? Perhaps some kind of loophole?
Anyway, the next day, my darling husband was going through our local newspaper when he spied the above photo of a sinfully delicious Chocolate Ganache cake with a recipe by Molly Herner, baker/pastry chef at Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano. He became positively fixated on the cake photo. “That looks really good,” he said. “Really, really good and I think I can make that!”
He received a big eye roll from me. “Why in the world would you need to make that?,” I asked with only the slightest hint of desperation in my voice.
He was silent for a moment. “The holidays are coming up!,” he said triumphantly, as though he’d finally solved a riddle.
Sigh. I imagine I will always be in this war with sugar, but if you are like me you will agree that desserts on holidays should be considered “calorie-free.” They are definitely the exception to the rule. So, I thought I would pass along, Ms. Herner’s recipe to you if you also find yourself mesmerized by the cake photograph.
By the way, she did also mention this little tidbit that you can share with your holiday guests:
“Both France and Switzerland claim credit for creating the dish in the mid-1800s as it spread throughout Europe.”
CHOCOLATE GANACHE by Molly Herner
Ingredients
- 2 pints chocolate chips (dark or milk chocolate)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tsps sugar
Directions
- Melt chocolate chips using a double boiler, which is one saucepan filled a fourth of the way with water (bring water to a simmer) and a glass bowl placed right inside the saucepan over the simmering water.
- Pour heavy cream over the top of the unmelted chocolate chips.
- Add sugar into the mixture.
- Let all ingredients melt together slowly over medium heat until completely combined and smooth.
- Be careful not to let it burn. Chocolate burns very easily and can’t be saved once burnt.
- Remove from heat and let come to room temperature.
- At this point you can chill it for a few hours and roll it into balls coated with cocoa powder or your favorite chopped nuts for truffles. Or you can let it come to room temperature and pour it over a cake in the place of icing.
- Once poured over the cake, let it chill in the refrigerator until hard, like a chocolate shell. Use a knife dipped in hot water to slice through the cake when serving.
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s staying healthy, fit & sexy while living life to the fullest.”
“Living the Sexy Life….Are You Old Enough?”
Believe in Magic?
My daughter is obsessed with Tinkerbell and all things fairy in general. She lives in a whimsical world full of wonder and magic. The other day she asked me, “Mommy do you believe in magic?” Well, what other answer could I give her but, “of course!”
This got me to thinking however, about what we really might call magic. The very rare miracles, both big and small, that occur for some people; that could be magic. How about all of the hype about The Secret and the Law of Attraction? If you are a follower of these old, yet “new again” principles than you would probably have to admit that you believe in magic.
One definition of magic is “any art that invokes supernatural powers.” When we we start talking about the “universe as acting” with regard to our thoughts and attracting back to us that which we focus on, you’d have to agree that it sounds a tad bit “supernatural.” Does that make it real or not? Is magic real? It definitely seems to be up to the mind of the person asking the question.
Back to Tinkerbell: Everyone knows she is a ‘Tinker fairy’. What that means is she finds random things and pieces them together to make something new or to fix an item and restore it to it’s natural beauty. She does this with her own two hands, no magic involved. So, whether you believe in magic or not, you can always take a lesson from Tinkerbell and use what you have on hand, be it material things or your own skills and talents to create whatever you desire in your life for yourself and for others. You just have to believe in the magic of yourself.
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s staying healthy, fit & sexy while living life to the fullest.”
“Living the Sexy Life….Are You Old Enough?”
Be the Spark; Finding Purpose
Are you someone who has always known what you wanted to be or do when you grew up? You had no question of what most interested you or what you were talented at doing? Or are you one of the “unlucky ones“, like myself, who finds yourself in your 30’s or 40’s still with no clue, hoping that one day you will wake up and just know what it is you are meant to be doing?
Something occurred to me the other day; it hit me like a bolt of lightening. Maybe I have no specific purpose! Well, I don’t mean I have no reason for being here on planet Earth, but maybe I am not meant to do anything “big” or “life changing.” Maybe my whole reason for being here is something on a much smaller scale. Perhaps I am meant to do little things that might help set bigger and better things in motion. At first glance that really doesn’t sound all that exciting, but it has the potential to be. I am finally realizing that I am a spark. I have the possibility to affect something or someone else for the greater good.
It’s the little things that we do in our lives that make the biggest difference. Remember the movie, “Pay It Forward?”: The premise being to do something nice for someone else, asking nothing in return except that they find a way to help someone else. Well, taking the idea and applying it to my own life I think of common and not-so-common courtesies (depending on what people are like in our “neck of the woods”) like smiling at strangers you pass, holding the door open who is walking in behind you, being nice and friendly to the not-so-friendly cashier because they may be having a bad day, or year or life and it’s a small effort you can make to help improve their life and possibly make them feel more like being a little nicer to the next guy, who then might feel like helping out someone else and so forth.
One can never know the difference that can be made in the lives of others and how far reaching it can be. I once heard a story of a young woman who taking a cross country trip and was in line to pay a toll only to find the person before her had already paid it. She was so moved that she decided to do the same for the next person at every toll road she came to and begin to look for other opportunities to make a difference in the lives of people she would meet. One small act of kindness can spark massive acts of kindness for others, making this world a better place, bit by bit.
It all starts with the small stuff. I recently returned a book to the library. I tucked a dollar bill inside with a sticky note that simply said, “Pay It Forward.” It was only a dollar and I will never know what will become of it, but I hope it will spark someone else to think of a way to help others and continue to generate good in life.
So, if you are like me and aren’t sure what you are really meant to be doing, than for now, just focus on the small things that create meaning for others and may help them to accomplish the big stuff. Without us doing the little things, the big things may never actually get done.
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating sexy people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s living life to the fullest and those hoping to emulate them.”
“Living the Sexy Life…Are You Old Enough?”
It’s All About the Passion
This word passion, it gives me trouble. Passion can be an elusive feeling for me. But, when I have it, I am driven to great lengths to pursue the activity or person that has awakened it inside me. Sometimes it is based on love and caring, like having a passion for ensuring the well-being of my children. Sometimes it is based on a sexual response like for your spouse or that secret memory tucked inside of a fiery romance from your past. Other times it is based on living your best life possible through being healthy and fit regardless of your age which is the foundation behind Sexy Living Society.
Most challenging, however, is finding passion in what you do each and every day. It certainly helps when you are active & fit and feeling sexy to maintain that feeling of passion about what you are doing even if it’s the same old daily work grind or doing the laundry, etc at home, but underneath it all, I have found that if your life focus is not on something you are truly passionate about, be it career-wise or finding ways to give back to society, there will always be something missing. Life will always feel like it’s moving slowly along without all cylinders firing. If you are like me you will find yourself in the quiet moments pouring back through your life, in your mind, trying to find those moments when you were really passionate about something, really happy and excited about life. You may find that you think you really miss that time, that experience or even that one person from the past. In truth, you are striving for that feeling. That is the human experience; looking for those things that make as feel good on the inside. For me, having a feeling of passion in life for everything I do and everything I am is the true essence of my being. Without that, I begin to question my true purpose for even being here on this planet.
So, what if you are stuck in a moment? Perhaps its your current career or job. Maybe you are back in school, finally pursuing what you’ve always wanted to do, but you’ve hit a slump. Things just seem a bit dull right now. You are having trouble finding the excitement and you don’t know why. Well, here is a quick fix: A little lift that doesn’t have anything to do with having that glass of wine or a beer or finding some sort of mindless distraction. It is getting an adrenaline rush. A rush from exercise. What? Did I just say exercise? Yes, I did, but wait! Don’t stop reading yet.
The key here is obtaining that “runner’s high.” The way you do that is doing short burst cardio, but do it at your own level. Get outside where you can walk or if you are a jogger, than jog. What you do is increase your speed every minute for about five minutes at a time, then you slow it back down and you repeat this cycle four times for a total of about twenty minutes. At the very end you do one minute at your top full out speed. So, if you are walking you are speed-walking as fast you possibly can or if you are jogging, then you would be doing a full on sprint. It is only for a minute & I promise you it is completely worth it. Once you catch your breath, get some water and hit the shower, the rush will hit you. Suddenly, you may find yourself completely excited about everything and new ideas, etc will just spring into your mind. Then you will find yourself filled with passion; the magic fuel for LIFE. Exercising like this is called high intensity interval training. I call it my jump start. When my life starts to feel a bit lack luster, all I have to do is a workout session like this to turn it all around. That is the key to getting that passionate feeling back in life. It’s all about the passion.
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating sexy people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s living life to the fullest and those hoping to emulate them.”
“Living the Sexy Life…Are You Old Enough?”
My Holosync Experience Part 2
I started using the meditation technology called Holosync just over 2 months ago. After the first week I gave an explanation and reported my initial reaction to the program here: Part 1
I have been faithfully using the meditation CD’s 1 hour a day every day since then. I have mixed it up at times listening early in the morning or late in the evening before bed. I often fall right asleep which Bill Harris, the Centerpointe director has stated is completely fine and will not negate the results in any way.
On to what I have observed to date. Well, I am not really sure. Honestly. Apparently, this is a bit like watching grass grow. It’s hard to see anything specific for quite a long while. One nice thing is every 2 weeks I receive an e-mail/audio recording from Bill Harris explaining what I may be noticing at this point, or not noticing as the case may be. They always arrive right about the time I start to question myself, “Why am I doing this again?.” Then I realize that I just need to hang in there; that slowly new connections are being created in my brain and under the surface changes are taking place and no, I am not alone in my concerns, but to hang in there and have faith. So, I am and I do.
It is very relaxing to listen to the rain/waterfall sounds with the crystal bowls. I do look forward to listening to it each day and when I don’t actually fall asleep, I do get into a very deep meditative state in the second half of the hour, that is called Immersion, that is very relaxing. While I haven’t yet experienced these highs of joyous feelings that others have described just yet, I have noticed a greater sense of calmness on the inside. I am more at ease with situations as I go throughout the day, less effected by people. In fact, I am not an overly outgoing person and lately, I have been much more confident in “making the first move” when starting a conversation with a stranger. I am less concerned about the other person’s reaction to me in terms of my appearance, how I sound or act to them and am more focused and interested in learning more about them. It’s just a small shift, but for people lacking in self-confidence, that could be a huge breakthrough.
So, those are my thoughts to date. At this point would I buy the first level, Awakening Prologue again? Definitely. And I still remain hopeful for more good developments to come! I will report again at the end of this first level in another 2 months with my findings.
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating sexy people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s living life to the fullest and those hoping to emulate them.”
“Living the Sexy Life….Are You Old Enough?”
Avoiding Alzheimers Disease
Sexy Living Society is a group for people over 40 who are interested in staying as young as possible both mentally & physically. Anytime I come across information that helps us to accomplish those goals of staying young despite our age I definitely want to pass it along.
Today I learned some very important things to do to keep the brain young. In his book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness, Dr. Amen discusses the foods and activities that we must do each and every day to keep our minds young and slow down the aging process. One of those foods is blueberries, which he calls “brain berries.” One of the activities that he highly recommends is table tennis; not only are you getting exercise through moving your body, but your brain is being active by concentrating on the the rotation of the ball and the strategy of your next move.
There are multiple other essential, easy to implement ways that he teaches to ensure the continued functioning of our brains, but one crucial thing I learned everyone should be aware of; many people suffer from Alzheimers as they grow older, but caught early enough this can be treatable. That is great news, but how do we know what signs to look for? One is to do a “smell test.” The smell center of our brains is located very closely to the memory center in our brains. Therefore, if you ever notice difficulty smelling the following foods you can take it as a sign that you should get checked out for Alzheimer disease:
Strawberries
Pineapples
Lemon
Natural Gas
Alzheimer disease is horrible for any person to go through and is a heavy emotional burden to our loved ones. If paying attention to a simple smell test and finding out more about how we can keep our brains young can save us and our loved ones the anguish of dealing with low functioning brains and alternatively, low functioning lives, than it is definitely worth taking the time and effort to take action! To learn more from Dr. Amen about how to keep your brain young, read his book: Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating sexy people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s living life to the fullest and those hoping to emulate them.”
“Living the Sexy Life….Are You Old Enough?”
The Glory of Petroleum Jelly
Not long ago I discovered a great tip for the Sexy Living Tip of the Week while I was looking for a game to play for my sister-in-law’s baby shower. I came across some incredible uses for Vaseline, Petroleum Jelly. So, that became one of the games; for the guests to name as many uses as possible for this miraculous substance, apart from the very obvious diaper rash and sometimes as a lubricant to those with a dirty mind. Some of the guests did pretty well coming up with their list – I was impressed! Who knew that you could loosen bolts with it and smear it into scratches & stains on wood furniture to repair it!
My favorite use for it though is softening my dry feet! In fact this was the Sexy Living Tip I used that week:
If you are like me, you might find it often hard to spare the extra 30-45 minutes to soak your feet, etc. In that case, what I often do is use the Ped Egg that someone told me about it. I picked it up at my local drug store. If you break it down, it’s honestly like a cheese grater for your feet. Okay, okay, not the most appealing image, I know, but it works great! Then, after that, I smear the Vaseline on my feet and put on my socks for overnight. The next morning I wake up to baby soft feet!
And to think, this incredible substance was discovered by men who were annoyed to find it developing on oil rigs back in 1859. Amazing!
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating sexy people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s living life to the fullest and those hoping to emulate them.”
The Not-So-Good Samaritan
I seem to have an affliction: I can’t stop myself from trying to help friends by giving them advice on their relationship issues. This goes way back to high school. My girlfriends would call me up on the telephone crying about the way their boyfriends were treating them. I could see the obvious signs, such as they were making themselves to accessible and being annoying by calling their man all of the time, for example. But, no one would listen to me and their complaints would usually continue. I guess I should have just listened and let that be enough.
Later in life I still have friends confide their marital struggles in me, although they usually are not asking for any advice – just an ear to hear. I bite my tongue for awhile, resisting the urge to make suggestions, but eventually I give in out of some sort of obligation to an unofficial duty to help “save” someone’s marriage. After all, I have been married for 12 years now, which is like an impossible dream to a lot of couples who can’t seem to make it past the first 5 years together. By no means has my marriage been perfect, but that is exactly the reason for my struggle. I keep thinking I might have figured out a key to making marriage work & I could be keeping this secret away from someone who might desperately need to hear it. But, the problem is, they don’t want or need my advice, no matter how good my intentions may be.
In the past few years I have irritated some friends with my surprising honesty about my own marital struggles and my encouragement to them to not quit on their marriage just because they don’t feel the same way about their partner as they used to. The biggest lesson I have learned is to not always trust my feelings because they can change like the wind but, not everyone wants to hear that. Also, I must continually remind myself that I got lucky to have married someone who is considerate and open minded enough to at least try and see things my way, even if he doesn’t always agree.
So, at long last, I vow to stop trying to live up to some imaginary duty, that is clearly not mine in the first place, to help others relationships. If I really want to do that I guess I should look into becoming a marital counselor. Going forward, I will look for other ways to help and support people, keeping my unwelcomed (albeit good intended) advice to myself. From now on, I will just listen & let that be enough.
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating sexy people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s living life to the fullest and those hoping to emulate them.”
My Holosync Experience Part 1
As Sexy Living Society is a site about living ones life to the fullest, I decided to share with you about something I am trying to improve my life. I am on day #5 so far with Holosync. What is it? Here is a quote directly from the site:
“Holosync is a sophisticated form of audio technology that induces the brain wave patterns of deep meditation. Users experience all the benefits of a traditional meditation practice, but in an accelerated time-frame.”
The reported benefits of using Holosync include:
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Sounds pretty good, right? So, basically, I am listening to binaural beats hidden under environmental sounds and music. Chances are if you interested in this technology you may have already heard about this. Or if you haven’t & want to learn more, go here to the Holosync website. For the purpose of this blog, I am just going to mainly talk about my own personal experiences with it.
I discovered Holosync when it was mentioned in a book I was reading, The Sucess Principles, by Jack Canfield, co-author of the best-selling series, Chicken Soup For the Soul. It immediately resonated with me as that one thing I have been searching for to bring about change for me on the inside. I have always had a problem with anxiety and stress eating. I manage to get control of it and get on the right track for a time, but then life happens, as it always does and knocks me off track again. I have always known that I need to find some way to conquer this problem so I can always maintain a healthy emotional balance (and a healthy weight). Those who’ve read my other blogs now know the reasons “why” behind my blog post “I Am A Fraud.”
I spent several days researching this before jumping into it. I wanted to figure out what was I contemplating spending my money on. I was also wondering if this is a little bit too Sci Fi to be real? After combing through the Centerpointe website I decided to search for others experiences on the subject. I reviewed both positive and negative reactions to the program. Overall, I found many more positive comments and experiences than negative, so I decided to give the free demo a try. In actuality, the day before the demo arrived, I decided to go ahead and go for it and placed my order. Even though the program is a bit pricey, they do have a one year money back guarantee, so that made me feel more comfortable. I received the demo & tried it out. I can’t say that it did much for me either way, so I am glad that I already had the actual program on it’s way. By the way, there are other options of programs out there. I looked into a few of them, but just didn’t find the research or testimonials to back up any of the claims. It seemed to me to come down to a comparison of staying at Embassy Suites or the Holiday Inn. They probably both work fine, have nearly everything you need, but maybe one had a bit more to offer, so overall provides abetter experience. I feel like that is the case with Holosync as I have received many unexpected bonus items, information, etc. They do seem to have an excellent customer service approach.
It’s recommended to start off with only the first part of the soundtrack, called “The Dive” for the first 30 min for 2 weeks and then add the second soundtrack, called ”Immersion” making a full hour each day. I guess this is to help give your brain time to adjust to this new stimulus. Of course it is in my nature to never want to follow the rules….and I had even been warned by another person’s blog to follow the directions because doing the full hour in the first two weeks hurts. But, some people (that being me) just like to live dangerously. So, by day two I decided to go for the full hour and sure enough I ended up actually “feeling” my brain that day. It was sort of a burning sensation that turned into a pretty good headache the rest of the day. I did the half hour only the last two days and today I, like a glutton for punishment, tried the 1 hour again. I am happy to say no ill effects today, but of course I am not recommending anyone try that. It’s always best to follow the directions. There are good reasons to follow the directions as recommended.
So far in the program I do feel more relaxed and centered. I have had a couple of instances where I normally would feel more annoyed than I was. It was more like I observed that I was annoyed rather than actually having the feeling of being annoyed. I can definitely see how that could help in stress and anxiety reduction.
Well, those are my observances so far! I will report again when I am half way through this first program – Awakening Prologue, which will be in about two months from now. Feel free to comment if you have any thoughts or experiences with Holosync that you’d like to share.
“Living the Sexy Life….Are You Old Enough?”
Cassie Rohn, Founder of the Sexy Living Society
“A community celebrating sexy people in their 40’s, 50’s & 60’s living life to the fullest and those hoping to emulate them.”
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