Well I didn’t even know this kind of thing existed or if I did I’d put it out of my mind but welcome to my blog got hacked and oh how it s**ks. I’m telling you this for a number of reasons. First of all if this is your first visit to MWAV, welcome. If you scroll through different categories and find something you want to read, click that link and arrive at a post with only a title and no text–that’s the work of my hacker. Or say you are reading through a post and find a strange link offering you some drug or to download a movie, that also comes compliments of my hacker. 

When I went searching to find out what to do I used this phrase: “WP blog hacked” and got back over 2 million pages to view. 2 Million! What the heck is it with WP blogs? Never mind, I’m done spinning about this, what I’m doing now is clearing the strange links and doing my best to recreate the posts that were partially deleted.

One of the blogs on blogging–Daily Blog Tips (Mostly they promote WP)  that I follow has 3 security features they say we should install. Got my VA on that now.

Over and over I read that we WP users should always upgrade as soon as an upgrade becomes available. That’s something I didn’t do and tend to try to ignore for no apparent reason. Not anymore! I’ve also been told how important it is to change our passwords on a regular basis–did I? No, not unless forced by an application or program to do so or not be allowed to log in. Well of course this has changed too. And I’m going to invest a password management program so I can easily retrieve them all and update changes more easily than I’m currently doing. 

So women, take heed, and if you are using a WP blog to share your wisdom or build your business, find out what it takes to protect yourself from this situation. It’s not just annoying it’s kind of creepy. Not to mention having posts deleted means I’ve got less great information here for readers when they visit. What would it mean to you if you found half your posts were gone or that porn links were embedded here and there throughout? Right, so go get some protection!

Quite frankly, I was shocked. Yesterday on my call with Patti Milligan, MS. RD. nutrition and supplement expert I mentioned that exercise and healthy eating are not enough, most of us should include some supplements depending on our bodies needs, the environment around us, our levels of stress. Patti jumped in there and said, “I don’t want to be an alarmist but that’s the worst toxin we have.” What is? “Stress” she answered emphatically.

The worst one? Like so many women I tend to down play stress as it shows up day to day. Granted I also don’t have anything chronically eating at me–or at least I’m not awake to it. Toxic stress includes, never getting a good night’s sleep, a long frustrating commute, a disruptive colleague or unreasonable boss, an abusive relationship with anyone you interact with, chronic illness or pain, and so on. 

Here’s what Patti shared. First off picture some rock salt or even Kosher salt, it’s course and jagged right? This is the shape of a stress hormone. As it floats through the bloodstream, it nicks at the edges of the arteries. These nicks require patching up, think small band aid on a paper cut. The band aid in this case is cholesterol, the cholesterol builds up due to more and more nicks and you get clogged arteries. You can also get a heart attack, a stroke, or that final disco dance.

But wait, there’s more. Stress aggravates the immune system which means we are more susceptible to illness and bugs. It’s also extremely fatiguing when the immune system is always on high alert. A clinician told Patti that after a stressful event or after chronic stress the body is like a post hurricane event on land. There is a disaster with lots of clean up and relief help needed. 

Our B vitamins are the sacrificial lamb in the body’s stress management program. Why care? B vitamins are important for brain function, neurotransmitters firing, nourishing the adrenal glads and modulating stress.

What else can we do to help manage stress in the body? Maintain an even blood sugar level throughout the day. This requires you to eat 4 - 6 times per day. Hydration is #2 but not just water, cellular hydration which includes making sure you have the right electrolyte balance which will in part come from eating plenty of vegetables and some fruit, not drinking sugary bevs or eating too much salt.

#3 is take care of yourself. Look around when you start to feel squeezed–and I’m not talking about getting into your high school jeans. If you feel pressure from life look around and see what the cause is. What can you do to relief some of the pressure? Exercise is great, a long soak in the tub helps some, talking to a friend is also helpful. Do these things get to the root of the problem tho? No. It’s important at this age to get that stuff handled and out of your life. How to do it? Get yourself a coach, a support system, do some research on how others have done what you need or want to do.

Some stress is ok but clearly the stress that’s chronic is something we’ve got to pay attention to.

Do you know the site Vibrant Nation? Their tagline  is “What women 50+ know” and it’s a great site to get other’s opinions on products, concepts, food and health; well actually anything that has to do with life at midlife, period.

Recently I saw a tweet –that’s a mini post of 140 characters or less using an application called Twitter–from Beth Blakely their community manager asking for 5 health books to recommend to boomer women and why. I answered and the results can be seen here.

A book only does us good when we read it and put into action what we’ve read but still, buying some books just to have on hand seems like a good plan. You never know when you might decide to start a new eating regimen or when you might develop a symptom that you want information on. The web is great for finding information but sometimes it’s hard to know who to trust. The authors of the 5 books I’ve suggested are trusted mainstream professionals and the books are all easy to use for reference.

Take a gander and why not share your most trusted books? At the very least take a look at the Vibrant Nation site and join the community. I’m really enjoying getting other women’s take on things like “what’s your favorite eye cream” and “5 fabulous reasons to be single after 50″ to “Job hunting at 50.” The site is so easy to navigate and it’s in my fave networking/ community sites.

What’s your plan for living young to a ripe old age?

Never mind old age, what’s your plan for feeling and looking your best at midlife?

Sure, eating well and exercise are important but they are not enough. We are surrounded by toxins in the air, in our food, and in our homes. Stress is at an all time high.

Optimal health and disease prevention require a
smart supplement plan.

Due to popular demand and the limited amount of time we had to cover such a broad subject in May, Patti Milligan, MS, RD has agreed to come back for a second round of Supplements for Vibrant Health at Midlife!

This is not a sales calll, neither of us are going to push a product on  you. If you ask Patti will–if she feels it’s important–suggest a brand name of something but only so you know which one works and is a quality product.

Last time we talked weight around the middle and how to tame it

Natural cholesterol management

Hot flashes and what works to cool you down naturally

Since we have so many more questions already for the call on Thursday we are not going to be able to spend time on those subjects. If you’d like the information though–and I encourage you to grab it as if you missed the first call. If you are like 80% of us, you do have questions about puffy middles, flashes, sleeplessness, and would LOVE to know what supps really work and what are a waste of your money. You can pick up an Mp3 and transcript here.

What we’ve planned on for this call is

How To keep your brain functioning and prevent Alzheimers

Can fish oil help with joint pain? What else does it really do?

What is the correct dosage of Vit D and does it really help prevent cancer?

We’ve already got questions on a few other subjects so this call and the great information can really go anywhere.

Even if you can’t make the call I encourage to sign up and pre-order the Mp3 and transcript. Send me an email and ask your question, and I will guarantee you get an answer. How cool is that?

Last time we could have stayed on the call for another hour. That’s why I had to bring Patti back. I got so many emails with people thanking me and telling us how much useful info they got.

This call will be just as powerful. And girls, I want you to get your questions answered. I have my own questions but I also have access to Patti all the time. These calls are your chance to make the most of an expert with vast knowledge and heart–not a combination you find often these days.

So please join us. BTW did I say there is no charge to be on the call Live. If you can’t sign up to get the goods as soon as we’ve got them typed up and formatted for delivery.

Oh and why not get on the call a minute or two early and say Hi.