Blog Posts by ThirdAge.com

Star Shaped Sugar Cookies

The holiday season is full of parties, family gatherings, and social events - many of which revolve around food. Don't get me wrong: it can be great to let yourself indulge in tasty holiday treats with family and friends. But too many fatty dishes and sugary concoctions can lead to feeling less-than-ideal.

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If you've noticed that you have problems with digestion around the holidays, you're not alone. Americans tend to change their eating patterns this time of year, which often results in more feelings of nausea and other stomach pains. This generally occurs because with all the holiday parties and family feasts, it's easy to overeat. In fact, the average person gains between two and seven pounds over the holiday season. But if you practice doing a few things differently this year, you can avoid pitfalls like gaining weight and digestive issues. Here are six tips that will help you

Katie Couric and Brooks Perlin

So yet another cougar couple has hit the deck. Katie Couric, a couple of weeks after Demi Moore split from Ashton Kutcher, has announced it is all over with Brooks Perlin, her boyfriend, (emphasis on boy) who's seventeen years younger than the perky newscaster. Got us wondering why even the most toned and tightened among us just can't seem to keep those young hunks happy.

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Yes, I know the standard explanation is the guys in question decide they want kids and realize that is not going to happen when the lady in question already has a couple of teen-agers who call her "Mom." But my theory is the reasons for the breakups are not just about the male urge to procreate but rather can be explained through the lyrics of that old Rod Stewart favorite "Maggie May, " about a younger man and an older woman he's trying to leave.

Now I happen to love "Maggie May," which launched Stewart's

Madonna

What happens when you have every material thing you've ever wanted and you hit your fifties? If you're Madonna, you decide to reinvent yourself as a film director - and screenwriter as well.

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The 53-year-old "Material Girl" reportedly got tired of writing and performing music a few years ago, so became a fashion designer for a while, got bored with that and has now turned her attention to movies. Specifically, Madonna has created the new film "W.E." It's a cinematic look at the love affair between British King Edward VIII (more commonly known as the Duke of Windsor) and American Wallis Simpson, combined with a parallelg modern love story. The film will release in the United States in December for a quick Oscar-qualifying run, then come out in art-house theaters around the world in January and February.

"W.E." has already screened (to decidedly mixed reviews) at the Toronto

Amid the flood of health information published every day - tips, articles, study results - there's news of actual breakthroughs. Through painstaking research, experts are moving toward a greater understanding of serious illnesses , new treatments for those illnesses and discoveries that can alter the health of millions. Here are some of the biggest breakthroughs of 2011:

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Doctor and Patient

I have had a lot of experience with sick people at the holidays. Five years ago my husband was recovering from a knee replacement and could barely hobble from the bed to the Christmas dinner table. Four years ago I had a date with a surgeon on New Year's Eve Best New Year's date of my life. We joke about it when I check in with him a couple of times a year. Three years ago my son and daughter-in-law were at her mother's hospital bedside during the holidays Two years ago my brother fell on Christmas Day. He was in the hospital, then rehab, then the hospital, then rehab, then the hospital. You get the idea. We spent the second week of January with him in a hospice.

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A month or so ago my husband got a lousy diagnosis. and so he will need five-days -a -week treatment through the holidays and beyond. My oldest friend, amazingly, got the same diagnosis and is having her round of

Moist Skin

When the weather outside is frightful, the frigid air has very low levels of water content. That's what dries out your skin. Ironically though, the fire inside only seems delightful. Your crackling Yule log combined with normal indoor heating will further deplete your thirsty epidermis of the fluids it needs to stay soft and supple. Add to all of that the fact that aging skin is thinner, less elastic, and more prone to moisture loss than it once was, and you can see that you need an action plan to ensure that you don't end up looking scaly - or worse, getting cracks that could lead to infections. Here's the drill:

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Invest in a humidifier. Portable varieties start in the $30 range. The lower cost models are perfectly adequate. You can also get desktop versions to keep you hydrated while you're at work. Caveat: Clean the device often to get rid of bacteria and fungi that can collect.

I know the evolved woman's answer to this yearly question is world peace, a cure for cancer and the end of global poverty and hunger, so let's skip that. Like every other woman my age, I know only too well the stresses of finances, health, family obligations, career transitions and a looming sense that it's impossible for this country to solve all its issues quickly and efficiently. My list of Christmas would-love-to-gets is kind of superficial, and I'm not apologizing for it! I need a break and so do we all. Wishing all THIRD AGERS a happy and healthy holiday. Here's what I have my eye on:

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Mature Couple

The groundbreaking, funny, poignant and sometimes shocking "next chapter" in my ongoing conversation with women in Second Adulthood. My latest book, "How We Love Now: Sex And Intimacy In Second Adulthood",celebrates the stage of life I have defined in two of my previous books: Inventing the Rest of Our Lives and Fifty is the New Fifty throughthe all-important lens of love.

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Thousands of women in their fifties, sixties and seventies are living - and defining - a totally new love narrative. Whether they are already experiencing intimacy or joy - and great sex! - or need the inspiration and support to go for it, readers will be energized and motivated by the stories of new ways of loving in "How We Love Now..."

The kinds of love we can experience in a lifetime are limited only by imagination and circumstances.Yet for too many women the notion of finding or reinvigorating intimate