It’s been a while since I last posted. A few months, in fact! It has been a busy time with finishing up an Honours BA, starting a certificate program in Aging and Gerontology, and, well, just doing life.
So I’m taking this opportunity to introduce myself to anyone who might be new here and to set out the services offered.
I’m Heather. I’ve been creating posts on this website since 2019. Some are cathartic, some educational, and some opinion/experiences. All are shared in the hopes of helping others. In 2021, I returned to university to delve into new fields of study. In this case, it was psychology, criminology, and gerontology/aging (you can see my academic pursuits in the ‘About’ section). I graduated from a four-year honours BA this past April (2025). As I mentioned above, I am currently enrolled in a certificate program in Aging and Gerontology.
So, what’s to come?
More posts on a variety of topics
Online, one-to-one coaching (life, health and wellness, healthy aging for people of all ages, narcissistic abuse recovery, music interventions for improved health, perimenopause/menopause, and more) (send an email to na********************@***il.com to schedule a virtual appointment ($60/hour – sliding scale based on income)
Online, asynchronous programs on some of the topics listed in the bullet point above
I’m so impressed with how well these veggies and plants are growing in the Aerogarden hydroponic systems! It’s very easy maintenance and the benefits just continue to flow. And being self-sufficient for these items and not needing to fork out $$ at the grocery store are big pluses! There are SO many types of veggies and/or plants that can be grown in these systems and you can tailor your choices to your own food/plant preferences. Here are links to the three types of Aerogardens I have:
Aerogarden Harvest Limited Time Deal on Right Now (67% off – $49.99 CDN!) :https://amzn.to/3W7qhzd
Aerogarden Harvest Elite 360Limited Time Deal on Right Now (23% off!):https://amzn.to/3PlbvRF
Healthy lifestyle choices that promote quality of life and longevity often focus on maintaining physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Here are some key strategies:
Nutrition/Food
Balanced Diet: Emphasize whole, nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.
Moderation: Avoid overconsumption of calories, processed foods, and added sugars.
Hydration: Drink adequate water throughout the day.
Antioxidant-Rich Foods: Include foods high in antioxidants, such as berries, nuts, and leafy greens, to combat oxidative stress.
Limit Alcohol: Drink alcohol in moderation, if at all.
Physical Activity
Regular Exercise: Engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity weekly, along with strength training twice a week.
Flexibility and Balance: Practice yoga or tai chi to improve balance and reduce fall risks as you age.
Stay Active: Incorporate physical activity into daily life, like walking, gardening, or taking stairs.
Mental Health
Manage Stress: Use techniques like mindfulness, meditation, or breathing exercises to reduce stress levels. Learn how to cope well with toxic people and situations.
Lifelong Learning: Keep the brain active with new challenges, puzzles, or educational pursuits.
Positive Relationships: Maintain strong social connections to support emotional well-being.
Seek Help: Address mental health concerns like anxiety or depression with professional support if needed.
Sleep
Adequate Rest: Aim for 7–9 hours of quality sleep each night.
Sleep Hygiene: Maintain a consistent sleep schedule and create a restful environment.
Preventive Healthcare
Regular Checkups: Visit healthcare providers for routine screenings and vaccinations.
Monitor Chronic Conditions: Manage conditions like diabetes, hypertension, or high cholesterol with professional guidance.
Avoid Risky Behaviors
No Smoking: Avoid tobacco use in all forms.
Moderate or No Consumption of Alcohol
Safe Practices: Follow safety measures, like wearing seat belts and avoiding excessive sun exposure.
Cultivate Purpose
Meaningful Activities: Engage in hobbies, volunteering, or work that provides a sense of purpose and fulfillment.
Environmental Considerations
Clean Environment: Minimize exposure to pollutants and toxins.
Green Spaces: Spend time outdoors in nature to improve mood and reduce stress.
Adopting these habits consistently over time can help improve overall quality of life and extend lifespan.
Check out our newest YouTube video. This is Part 1, and Part 2 will be available to view in the coming days.
Until next time,
~Heather – Healthy Aging Specialist, Health and Wellness Coach, Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support, Writer, Educator, End-of-Life Doula
Smoothies can be healthy, depending on their ingredients and preparation method. Here’s how:
Nutrient-Rich
Smoothies often contain fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and other nutrient-dense ingredients, providing vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support overall health.
Fiber Boost
Using whole fruits and vegetables (with skins where appropriate) ensures a good intake of dietary fiber, which aids digestion, promotes gut health, and helps maintain steady blood sugar levels.
Hydration
Smoothies are typically liquid-based (water, milk, or plant-based milk), contributing to your daily hydration needs.
Convenience
They offer an easy way to consume a variety of healthy ingredients in one meal or snack, particularly for people who struggle to meet their fruit and vegetable intake.
Customizable
Smoothies can be tailored to dietary needs or preferences. For example:
High-Protein: Adding Greek yogurt, protein powder, or nut butters.
Low-Sugar: Using unsweetened almond milk and low-sugar fruits like berries.
Healthy Fats: Adding avocado, chia seeds, or flaxseeds.
Energy and Recovery
Smoothies can provide quick energy and nutrients, making them popular post-workout or as a nutritious breakfast.
Considerations for Healthier Smoothies
To ensure smoothies remain healthy:
Limit Added Sugars: Avoid syrups, sweetened yogurt, or excessive fruit juice.
Balance Macros: Include a mix of carbs (fruits), proteins (yogurt, protein powder), and fats (nuts, seeds).
Watch Portion Sizes: Overloading a smoothie can turn it into a high-calorie drink.
Go Green: Adding greens like spinach or kale increases vitamins without adding significant calories.
Here’s the ingredients for a smoothie that I really enjoy.It has a great flavour and texture, and is easy to make in a blender bottle and enjoy it straight from there. Fresh or frozen fruits/veggies, water, healthy juices (cranberry, for example) and other items can easily be added. More solid items will, of course, require a trip through the electric blender rather than just a blender/shaker bottle. Adjust amounts and types of ingredients until it’s the way you like it!
Green Tea: Green tea is celebrated for its numerous health benefits, largely due to its rich content of antioxidants, nutrients, and bioactive compounds. Can be hot brewed (then cooled in fridge overnight) or cold brewed.
If you prefer caffeine-free options, this is a great one:
Lemon Juice: Rich source of Vitamin C, aids in hydration, great for skin health and digestion, supports heart and kidney health, helps with weight management. Freshly squeezed lemons are preferable but this will also work:
Greek Yogurt: This type of yogurt has high protein content, calcium, probiotics, vitamins/minerals, supports heart and immune health, and is low in carbohydrates (carbs) and lactose. It’s versatile and can be eaten as-is or mixed into a variety of items, such as smoothies, baked goods, salad dressings, desserts, etc. Oikos is a great brand that has offerings with no or low fat and reduced added sugars as well as lactose-free options.
Protein Powder: These supplements help to support muscle growth and repair, provide protein intake, improve after-exercise recovery, support healthy aging, aid in weight management, and are useful for individuals with certain medical conditions. They also come in a variety of types, from whey to soy, pea, rice, and so on.
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Great for heart, digestive, brain, bone, skin, and hair health. Contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory benefits. Can assist in management of diabetes.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, helps with regulating blood sugar, supports heart and digestive health, protects brain health, has antimicrobial effects, and can aid in weight management.
Ground Flaxseed:This powerhouse is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, high in fiber. rich in antioxidants, supports heart, digestive, and skin health as well as weight management, can assist with hormonal balance (phytoestrogen), can help to improve blood sugar control, and has anti-inflammatory properties.
Seeds: Lastly, seeds have great benefits and can be added to smoothies. They are rich in nutrients, high in healthy fats, supports digestive, bone, and skin health, improve heart health, promote weight management, provide antioxidants, regulate blood sugar, and boost immune function. They can be added whole or ground to smoothies. Chia, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, flax seeds (see above ingredient) and so on.
As with the addition of any supplements to one’s diet, it is recommended to check with your medical practitioner prior to bringing something new to your diet.
When we think about quality of life and longevity, there are many lifestyle choices that can make a positive difference. Those include physical activity, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and eating a healthy diet.
To address the food/nutrition factor, I will be sharing healthy recipes and advice. The first (video edition) post of December 14, 2024 can be found on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
To kick off the healthy recipes, below is a great recipe for healthy muffins – blueberry oatmeal!
This recipe uses oats and no refined sugar, plus wholesome (superfood) blueberries.
You might wonder, “how exactly are oats healthy?”. Beyond their vitamin and mineral content, they contain a soluble fiber (beta-glucan) that aids in lowering blood glucose and cholesterol levels and reducing heart disease and diabetes risks. Additionally, oats promote healthy bacteria in the gut and intestinal health. Oats can also help with weight management. Their content of both fiber and protein also make us feel full (or satiated) for longer, which slows blood glucose release. Protein is also increasingly important as we age, particularly for muscle health and maintenance.
As a superfood, these berries are absolutely full of nutrients. For instance, one cup of blueberries contains daily values of 13 percent of fiber, 14 percent of vitamin C, and 24 % of vitamin K. Plus, that same cup has just 84 calories and 21.5 grams of carbohydrates.
These muffins take approximately 40 minutes to prepare and 22-23 minutes to bake. This recipe makes 12 muffins and can be doubled, if desired.
Here’s the Recipe Ingredients for healthy and delicious BlueberryOatmeal Muffins:
1 + 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, leveled (feel free to test other flours; oat flour worked for me at a 1:1 ratio – https://amzn.to/4gka69P)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup (8Tbsp) of butter or margarine (melted and cooled slightly) (Note: vegetable, canola, or melted coconut oils can be used but will alter the flavour)
1/2 cup of honey (or 1/2 cup of coconut sugar, light or dark brown sugar (packed), or maple syrup ( https://amzn.to/4futXls)
1 cup of fresh blueberries (if using frozen, don’t thaw + use only 3/4 cup of milk)
Instructions
Step 1: Put the oats and the milk in a bowl together and let sit for approximately 20 minutes (for the oats to bring in some moisture from the milk). If, after 20 minutes, it seems that the oats have not taken on any moisture, simply stir them and set a timer for an additional 10 minutes.
Step 2: Preheat oven – 425 F or 218 C. A 12-muffin tin should be sprayed with non-stick spray or use muffin/cupcake liners. Mini muffins need to be baked for approximately 11-13 minutes at 350 F/177 C.
Step 3: Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt in a large bowl until they are fully combined. Then, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the melted butter, honey, egg, and vanilla extract. Next, wet ingredients should be added to the dry ingredients and stirred. Soaked oats (undrained) and blueberries can then be added to the mix. Fold all the ingredients into one another in a gentle fashion until just combined.
Step 4: Use a spoon to place the batter into the muffin tins/liners, filling right. up to the top. Feel free to add oats, sprinkled coconut sugar, or cinnamon to the muffin tops. Bake 5 minutes at 425. Turn temperature down to 350 while muffins remain in oven and bake for 16 to 17 minutes. Total time will be approximately 22-23 minutes. Cool in muffin tins for five minutes and then move to wire rack for further cooling.
These muffins will be fine, covered, for a few days at room temperature. After that, they will last about a week in the fridge.
Growing cherry tomatoes, mini lettuce, mini Bell peppers, peas, and strawberries with hydroponics. It’s amazing how quickly the process progresses from seed to germination, seedling, and mature production. Not a significant amount of care required, either. Looking forward to veggie/fruit bounty year-round.
Mini Lettuce growing in a hydroponic system
Growing fruits and vegetables in at-home hydroponic systems allows us not only some element of self-sufficiency and a bit of freedom from grocery stores and increasingly high prices, but also ongoing access to fresh, organic, pest-free, and healthy foods. Not to mention the great feeling that comes from watching a seed grow into a plant that provides food, right in our home! Here’s a great option – AeroGarden Harvest Elite Indoor Garden Hydroponic System with LED Grow Light and Herb Kit, Holds up to 6 Pods, Stainless (https://amzn.to/3ZJao31)
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe symptoms caused by disorders affecting the brain. For instance, Alzheimer’s Disease is a form of dementia. Dementia destroys brain cell connections, which eventually leads to cell death and changes the way the brain works. With ongoing cell death, communication between the brain and various parts of the body is broken. Over time, the brain atrophies and shrinks.
Persons living with dementia typically have symptoms which include:
Memory loss
Changes in mood/behaviour
Thinking difficulties
Language difficulties
These can all impair the ability to carry out tasks of daily living.
Additionally, dementia is progressive and there is not yet a cure. However, there are treatments and lifestyle factors that have the potential to slow its progression. Life expectancy for persons living with dementia is an average of eight to 10 years, although there are those who may live a shorter or longer duration.
To decrease your risk of developing dementia, it’s important to consider implementing lifestyle choices (for those risks that are modifiable) that help to protect the brain. Here are the main risk factors for dementia:
Obesity
Excessive alcohol consumption
Smoking
Poor diet
Lack of physical activity
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Depression
Social isolation
Hearing loss
Low levels of cognitive engagement
Air pollution
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Genetics
Down Syndrome (50% will develop Alzheimer’s Disease)
One of the challenging things about having a dysfunctional family, particularly when we are keeping our distance or are completely no-contact with them, is seeing how functional families interact. Personally, since recognizing that I have always been the family scapegoat and realizing the abuse that has taken place over the course of my life, I’ve shed my fair share of tears. And those tears aren’t just because of what my family is; they’re also because of what they aren’t.
Functional families typically operate with love, open communication, respect, caring, kindness, fairness, and a plethora of other positive feelings and behaviours. They want the best for each other, to show encouragement and support, and to be there for one another through thick and thin. All of this is in direct contrast to families with, for example, a narcissist at the helm, an enabling spouse by their side, a golden child, and a scapegoat child. Virtually all of the positives are replaced by negatives. Lack of love and communication, disrespect, criticisms and judgments, selfishness, mind games, sometimes physical abuse, and so on.
So, yes, it can be a challenge to see other people with functional family members and healthy family systems. It looks so amazing and it’s difficult to not feel that we’ve been robbed of these types of relationships and experiences. It brings feelings of sadness, anger, disappointment, hurt, and confusion. When it’s so easy to choose love, caring, and peace, why do some people need to complicate life with chronic hate, bias, dishonesty, and conflict? Here’s the thing: they have issues. Big issues. It could be a need to be in control (even if that requires constant manipulation, triangulation, and deception), a constant need to feel good about themselves and boost their fragile egos by putting others down, or any number of dysfunctions. Have these people been hurt by something in their past that has made them this way? More than likely. But that doesn’t excuse their behaviour. They have choices. Rather than continuing or creating intergenerational trauma, they could be the one to make a positive difference in their own lives and the lives of those around them.
In any event, there it is. Having a dysfunctional family of origin has its fair share of struggles. Acknowledging it for what it is can be beneficial. And knowing that we have the choice to have functional relationships with others in our lives is a superpower. It may never be possible to have that with our parents and/or siblings or extended family members, but don’t despair, because there are endless opportunities to have amazing bonds with other like-minded people in this world.
