DeDivahDeals

Fashion and Fun after Fifty

Posts Tagged ‘health’

Tips on Staying Safe in the Summer Heat

Hello friends, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Mine started out great as I presented a Basic Blogging Workshop at the Elsmere Library.  It was a very interactive class and fortunately the library was air conditioned so it was very cool and comfy indoors. 

However, by the time the workshop ended the temps outside had risen to cause a statewide excessive heat warning.

Delaware Blogger teaching basic blogging

 

If you are in an area affected with this excessive heat, here are a few tips from the Office of Emergency Management to help you keep cool and safe during a summer scorcher.

 

Basic Tips

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(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

  • Stay indoors in air conditioning as much as possible.
  • If you do go outside, stay in the shade.
  • If your home is not air-conditioned, spend at least two hours daily at an air-conditioned mall, library or other public place.
  • Wear sunscreen outside along with loose-fitting, light-colored clothes that cover as much skin as possible.
  • Drink water regularly even if you are not thirsty. Limit alcohol and sugary drinks which speeds dehydration.
  • Never leave children or pets alone in the car.
  • Avoid exertion during the hottest part of the day.
  • Take a cool shower or bath.
  • Make sure to leave plenty of water for your pets.
  • Be a good neighbor, check on elderly and people with disabilities in your community who may need assistance keeping cool.
  • Additionally, residents should contact their local and/or county offices of emergency management regarding any open air-conditioned senior centers or cooling stations.
  • Encourage them to use their AC or help them get to a cool place.
  • Make sure they are drinking enough water.
  • During heat emergencies, NYC Cooling Centers are open.
  • For locations and hours, call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/oem
Heat Stroke

summer safety heat stroke Staying Safe In The Summer Heat

(Credit: Thinkstock)

What Is It and How Do I Get It? Heat Stroke results from having an abnormally elevated body temperature. Whenever our body works out, it naturally generates heat, which usually escapes through the skin or through the evaporation of sweat. However, when you work out in extreme heat or humidity (or when you work out at a high intensity outside and do not hydrate yourself), the heat your body produces may not be able to dissipate well enough and your body temperature rises, sometimes up to 106°F or higher.

Infants, the elderly, athletes and those who work outside and physically exert themselves under the sun for a living are those at highest risk for heat strokes.

How Do I Know It’s Heat Stroke? Heat stroke symptoms can sometimes mimic those of a heart attack or other conditions. Often, an individual will experience signs of heat exhaustion before the condition escalates to heat stroke. Heat exhaustion symptoms include nausea, fatigue, headache, muscle cramps, dizziness, weakness and vomiting.

Heat stroke symptoms include a high body temperature, the absence of sweating, red or flushed dry skin, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, hallucinations, disorientation, agitation, seizure and/or coma.

Prevention: Avoid working out in high-temperature or humidity environments. If you cannot avoid physical exertion in these environments, be sure to frequently hydrate yourself to help keep your body temperature down and take breaks as often as possible. Also, avoid drinking caffeine, alcohol or tea, as this may lead to dehydration.

Treatment: Heat stroke is a medical emergency that can lead to brain or organ damage and even death. If you or someone around you is exhibiting symptoms of a heat stroke, immediately call 911.

• While you’re waiting for emergency medical services, get the victim to a shady area, remove clothing, apply cool or warm water to the skin, fan the victim to promote sweating, and place ice packs under the armpits and groin.
• Further treatment must be administered by a trained medical professional.

Sunburn

Anyone who’s spent a long day out in the summer sun is more than likely familiar with sunburn.

How Do I Get It? Sunburn is literally a burn to the skin caused by the sun’s ultraviolet rays and anyone can get it from being out in the sun.

summersafety sunburn Staying Safe In The Summer Heat

(Credit: Thinkstock)

How Do I Know It’s Sunburn? Sunburn is recognized by red or reddish skin in areas that have recently been exposed to the sun. The skin is hot to the touch and often painful. Other symptoms include peeling skin or blisters where the burn was most severe. Individuals with fair or light-colored skin are at a greater risk of sunburn injury.

Prevention: If you’re going to be out in the sun, the best way to protect yourself is to apply sunscreen 15-30 minutes before heading outside.

For the most complete protection, apply a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher that has both UVA and UVB protection to shield your skin from both the sun’s burning rays (UVB rays) and it’s aging rays (UVA rays) that are connected to melanoma skin cancers. If you plan to be active or go in the pool, make sure you use a sweatproof/waterproof sunscreen.

For best application, use about a tablespoon of sunscreen to cover your entire face and ears, and use about a shot glass full to cover each of the other exposed parts of your body. Reapply every three hours.

Treatment:

• Over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen and aspirin are helpful in reducing pain, especially when taken early on.
• Aloe vera gel helps to cool and calm the skin as well as reduce pain and promote healing. The gel forms a protective layer on the skin that seals in valuable moisture, preventing dehydration and promoting faster healing.
• For mild sunburn, cool compresses with equal parts milk and water calm the skin. Apply to the sunburned area for 15-20 minutes at a time.
• Avoid scrubbing or shaving the skin.
• Of course, stay out of the sun while you’re sunburned.

For severe burns, see your doctor.

How are you and the family keeping cool this summer?

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Ready for Retirement | Avoid these Mistakes

Hello Friends and Happy Tuesday

 

retired couple Have you and your spouse started thinking about retirement?  Perhaps it’s several years off or maybe in the not-so-distant future.  What are your plans, will you be traveling or just relaxing on the back deck watching the sun rise while sipping your morning coffee?

Hubby will be retiring from the State of Delaware in July, but since I have at least 5 more years, he has to wait for me…and while he waits, he will be working no doubt about it.  Just because he’s retiring with a full pension doesn’t negate the fact that we’ll have a son in college and bills to pay.  

Retirement should be a dream come true filled with fun and excitement but if you make mistakes in not planning, that dream can quickly turn into a nightmare.  

According to the experts, there are 7 mistakes that couples should avoid if they want their retirement years to be truly golden.

  1. Couples never talked about what each of them expected retirement to be, i.e. personal interest or professional goals
  2. They haven’t planned for emergencies, i.e. illnesses, accidents and major home repairs
  3. Couples in their 2nd marriages didn’t plan for unique problems that come with blended families, ie. adult children needing financial assistance
  4. They didn’t do proper financial planning.  i.e. fail to calculate the amount of money needed in retirement, lifestyle and living costs changes
  5. Hospitalizations Couples didn’t consider the high costs of health care or long-term care
  6. Assuming that because you are married you can act for each other in business and health care decisions, consider getting a Power of Attorney
  7. Only one partner is handling financial matters – couples need to talk regularly about finances and both should actively participate

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If you and your spouse haven’t sat down and talked about your retirement plans, the time to do so is now so you can make those golden years tarnish free!

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What are your thoughts?

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Wine 2 Water

Hello Friends and Happy Thankful Thursday!

2014 is the year that I will be celebrating my 53rd birthday, and for that I am thankful.  I am also thankful for my family, my friends, my faith and my health. Thankful that I don’t have any major medical issues but I do have a few concerns which I will address this year.

Water does a body good My number one concern is the lack of drinking water…not the lack of having fresh tap or bottled water like in some countries, but the lack of me actually drinking it.

 

Why Your Body Needs Water I am smart enough to know that my body needs water, but am not smart enough to drink more than just one 16.9 oz bottle a day!

I’m dehydrated and have begun to get the sharp pains, it’s like my kidneys are kicking me in the back and saying, “hey stupid, put down that wine and drink more water!”

According to the For Dummies website, “You must have water in your diet. It is brimming with minerals and electrolytes, and you can’t live without it. Water is a solvent. It dissolves other substances and carries nutrients and other material (such as blood cells) around the body, making it possible for every organ to do its job.”   Bottled Water

The #1 reason I don’t drink more water is because I’ve always had an overactive bladder which doesn’t bode well with a long commute, I would however, make a good spokesperson for Depends.  In order to prevent me from having to stop at a restroom on the way home, I’ll only drink 1 bottle with lunch.

Once home I conveniently forget to drink more and instead will have a few glasses of Red Wine which may be good for the heart but it makes my kidneys quite jealous.

This year I have made the wise decision to drink more water and to make sure I won’t forget, I’ll put it in a wine glass and add a few lemon slices.  This should be a good motivator, what do you think?

Do you have any other suggestions that will help me drink more water?

Water is good for the body

How about you, do you drink the recommended daily amounts of water?

BTW – did you notice my new blog design?  I want to thank Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner who created it for me.  

Come over and meet her then join in today’s link up!

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Stay Blessed ~ No Stress in the New Year

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Middletown Ranked #2 in Delaware for Young Families

Hello Friends and Happy Monday

You may or may not have heard that Middletown was recently ranked #2 behind Millsboro as the best town for young families in Delaware. The ranking came from a study conducted by NerdWallet.com, and as a resident of Middletown for the past 21 years, I was curious as to how the determination was made.

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The criteria used for this ranking were: home values, medium household incomes and growth as well as the quality of the public schools. The quality of life was also taken into consideration with Middletown being named the healthiest community by Governor Markell’s Council on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.

The medium household income in Middletown is $70,942, with an average home value of $264,000, and with the current economic development completed or underway: Amazon’s Fulfillment Center, Johnson Controls‘ expansion, Christiana Care’s Emergency Center and Westown Movies it has provided many new jobs in the state of Delaware.

 

christiana care westown movie

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NerdWallet.com only used data from GreatSchools.org which uses standardized test scores in ranking schools, Appoquinimink School District ranked 8th out of 10 with Millsboro at 9th. Other areas such as a town’s accessible walkways, parks and recreation and youth sports leagues were not taken into consideration.

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As a parent that raised two sons in Middletown, I would also like to add that Middletown is a safe and racially diverse town, one that it home to very friendly people.

welcome to middletown

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OOTD – Thrifted & Thankful Thursday

Hello Friends and Happy Friday Eve!

For me Thursday is the best day of the week, we’ve made it through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and start to look forward to the weekend. Thursday is a heads-down day at work, tying up loose ends, finishing up the weekly to-do list in anticipation of an easy breezy Friday.

Thursday is also a day of reflection some even define it as Thankful Thursday. As we rush through the week from one event to another, it’s nice to take a few minutes to think about and then speak aloud for which we are grateful. Speaking positivity into the atmosphere is a good way to keep life’s trials and tribulations in check.

“Count your blessing so that you can lose count of your problems”

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I am thankful for my health both physical and mental!

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I am thankful for my family, friends and faith!

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I am thankful I have a job and today is pay day!

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I am thankful for this thrifted denim skirt and striped top both from GW Boutique

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Your Turn – what are you thankful for?

Have a fantabulous day – Smooches!

Linking up today with Katherine’s Corner and Thrifters Anonymous

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OOTD – Thrifted & Thankful Thursday

Hello Friends and Happy Friday Eve!

For me Thursday is the best day of the week, we’ve made it through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and start to look forward to the weekend. Thursday is a heads-down day at work, tying up loose ends, finishing up the weekly to-do list in anticipation of an easy breezy Friday.

Thursday is also a day of reflection some even define it as Thankful Thursday. As we rush through the week from one event to another, it’s nice to take a few minutes to think about and then speak aloud for which we are grateful. Speaking positivity into the atmosphere is a good way to keep life’s trials and tribulations in check.

“Count your blessing so that you can lose count of your problems”

4 ingredient meal and OOTD 7 18 13 040

I am thankful for my health both physical and mental!

4 ingredient meal and OOTD 7 18 13 048

I am thankful for my family, friends and faith!

4 ingredient meal and OOTD 7 18 13 041

I am thankful I have a job and today is pay day!

4 ingredient meal and OOTD 7 18 13 049

I am thankful for this thrifted denim skirt and striped top both from GW Boutique

4 ingredient meal and OOTD 7 18 13 044

Your Turn – what are you thankful for?

Have a fantabulous day – Smooches!

Linking up today with Katherine’s Corner and Thrifters Anonymous

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AARP Not Me! Or has the time come to join?

Hello Friends and Happy Friday Eve!

AARP

AARP Membership requests began hitting my mailbox way back in my 40’s and now that I am almost 52, I guess the time has come to consider joining.  I am reluctantly accepting the fact that I’m approaching the “S E N I O R” category – REALLY??!!  Hubby and I have been joking for years and betting on who would join first….I’d push the envelop away and say, “oh no I’m too young”, and he’d look at me side-eyed and smirk.

Offers of a Free Gift to join had oftentimes been tempting and there are definitely some great benefits including discounts at Ross Stores on Tuesdays!  Discounts on travel, food, entertainment, health, insurance, shopping, education and training and so much more should have been reason to sign up with a quickness, but I just couldn’t do it.  I had also loved the fact that they provide information on Long Term Care options, Employment Postings, even starting a new business, the benefits of being an AARP member far outweigh the small price to join.

I’ve finally made up my mind and submitted an online membership application, and then I entered the AARP Real People Model Search just for the heck of it.  I don’t expect to be chosen but it seemed like something fun to do as well as memorable to mark the occasion as I approach the wonderful world of “Senior Citizenship”.

If you would like to vote for me, click here, and look for Antionette B in Delaware.

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Nutrisystem – Day 1

Hello Friends and Happy Monday!

I hope you had a wondeful weekend and that your work week got off to a good start.  Today is the first day of my weight loss program with Nutrisytem and I am extremely excited, really looking forward to not only losing pounds and inches but once again concentrating on portion control.  I am not going to bore you with daily updates on what I ate or how many pounds I did or did not lose, I just want to feature my look on Day 1 so that at the end of the month we’ll all see a noticeable difference.

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I will wear this dress again on Day 28

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Cuff – CitiTrends // Bag – Ross

Nutrisystem day 1 017 Day 1 meals are complete, now heading downstairs to workout

Have a fantabulous evening – Smooches!

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Plants in the Back Seat

Hello Friends and Happy Sunday

I hope you had a good weekend with an opportunity to spend quality time with your family/friends and did something fun and enjoyable.  Yesterday, I took my car in for an oil change and Malik was my chauffeur so I took full advantage by having him drive me all around town running errands – it was good being Mommy!  I had him drive me to Dunkin Donuts, Dutch Country Farmers Market, Family DollarPNC Bank and then finally to Lowe’s it was fun for me, not so much for him.

We gave him Tayair’s old car, remember the 2002 Hyundai Elantra, well you would have thought it was a new Mercedes because when he realized the plants had to ride in the back seat he wasn’t happy!  I  purchased two hanging baskets, a Color Combo Patio plant, Sweet Basil, Heirloom Tomatoes, Curled Parsley and Cilantro and they rode shotgun in the back seat fully protected by a yard of plastic – it was hilarious!

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Hanging baskets – Petunias, Calibrachoa and Lobelia

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Curled Parsley – boil and drink like tea it’s great for the digestive system

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Cilantro is a wonderful fragrant herb

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Basil also keeps the bugs away from your garden

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Fresh Garden Tomatoes – scents of summer

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Hibiscus is a perfect patio plant

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Color Combo Welcome Plant – Bidens, Licorice Plant and Trailing Petunia

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Love the handles on these hanging baskets

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Time to check out

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Malik reluctantly loading the cart

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The plants riding in the back seat (along with vacuum cleaner)

Today I cleaned in and around the pool and cleared out my little garden which was overrun with Mint from last year.

Before

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After

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Have a wonderful evening – Smooches!

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Vanessa Williams, Handbags & Hearts

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“Vanessa Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in entertainment today.  Vanessa’s passion for heart health education is a personal one – both of her grandmothers died from heart attacks at a young age, which has been the driving force behind Vanessa’s own healthy and active lifestyle. ”

Vanessa has teamed up with Bayer HealthCare, the makers of Bayer® Aspirin to support the Handbags & Hearts campaign, which urges women to take the Handbags & Hearts pledge to carry aspirin at all times to be prepared for a sudden heart attack.  You too can lend your support in many ways including sharing a story of  how heart disease may has affected  you or a loved one.

Click on the logo below to learn more as well as print a coupon for Bayer Aspirin

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I made a donation for a ProHeart Kit and am spreading the word via Facebook and Twitter.

I  encourage you to learn more about Handbags and Hearts Bayer Aspirin Campaign.

Stay Healthy – Smooches!

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