Road-Trip Revelations and Daylight Saving Time Advice

Believe it or not, Craig and I set off on an unforgettable jaunt from the bustling city of Chicago to the vibrant Cleveland, Ohio. Our journey was peppered with the most unique stops, including an enormous Amish restaurant, a McDonald's that would fit right into medieval times, and the awe-inspiring "touchdown Jesus" mural at Notre Dame. Cleveland greeted us with a trip down memory lane at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a scrumptious dinner at Chef Michael Simon's Mabel Barbecue.

Can you handle the end of daylight saving time without crankiness or insomnia? We didn’t think so! That's why we're sharing life-changing strategies to help manage this transition. We discuss everything you need to know from consistent sleep schedules to the impact of caffeine and alcohol on your sleep. But it doesn't end there! We also delve into the importance of maintaining a relaxing bedtime routine, using adjustable lighting solutions, staying physically active, and assessing how your medication may affect your sleep. As the days grow shorter, we remind you to soak up that early morning light. Tune in, you don't want to miss these game-changing tips!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Hello and welcome to the AGN for Sissy's podcast. My name is Marcy Backes and I am your host. On today's episode we are going to talk about the time change. Yes, it's coming this coming weekend. It's coming and we're going to fall back and we're going to get that glorious hour of sleep. But what the heck does it do to us? We'll talk about that a little bit. So go ahead and grab that coffee, iced tea, wherever you may be, if it's cold or if it's warm, sit back and get ready to listen, all right? Well, I am coming to you from Cleveland, ohio.

Speaker 1: 0:47

Craig and I left this morning on a short road trip after our trip to Israel got canceled. We thought what could we do and we came up with a little road trip. So we left Chicago this morning, drove across I-80., we went through Indiana and now we're in Ohio and we're in Cleveland. I have banished Craig to the bathroom to watch his basketball game until I'm done recording. So just know that while you're listening to this and we had a great day coming across we stopped at all kinds of different places, saw different things, different mushroom you know we always find these weird things to get off the road and see. We stopped to see this big, huge it's an Amish restaurant. It has 1,100 seats. Like I can't even fathom that, except for it's Sunday and they were closed. We also saw McDonald's that looks like a castle. What else did we stop at and see? I saw so many things today I can't remember. Oh, we stopped in oh my gosh Notre Dame, the college, and we saw the touchdown Jesus. He's on the side of the library and he's got his arms spread out and he looks like he's yelling touchdown. And we couldn't find it. So I had to ask a security guy where it was and he was so disgusted with me calling it the touchdown Jesus. But that's what it was in our book. And we did find that drove around Notre Dame. I've never done that before, so that was kind of fun. We pulled in here to Cleveland. Why are we in Cleveland? Because the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is here and we are going to go see that tomorrow. Tomorrow morning will be Monday I'm recording this on Sunday, so you'll be listening to this Monday or the week of. So we're going to go in and see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Speaker 1: 2:45

We're staying in a beautiful Hyatt Hotel right downtown and walking distance to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had dinner at Mabel Barbecue, which is Chef Michael Simon's barbecue restaurant. I give it a seven out of 10, maybe a six. It was good. It was cold in there and I ordered. I got my beef sandwich, my tri-tip. It was delicious, not tri-tip. Anyways, it was delicious and I ate half of that because I knew I wanted the pecan pie for dessert. But they served it cold, like cold. Who eats cold pie? Number one, at least room temperature would be fine. But they serve she goes, always serve all our pies cold, I'm like. But it's a pecan pie. It's like eating hard caramel, like I can't believe that Chef Michael Simon does this. But anyways, I digress, the meal was good. Little alley restaurants, all kinds of house, of blues, all kinds of things there, just a walk away from our hotel and our hotel has this beautiful old I can't remember what they call it, but it's like all this iron work and this beautiful ceiling. It's just gorgeous.

Speaker 1: 4:03

And I do have to apologize for last week and I will try to be better this week. Ever since I've had COVID my nose runs and I noticed last week I sniffed a lot and I'm really sorry. I'm going to do my best not to sniff today as we talk about how the time change affects us and everything else. Let's see this last week was a really easy week for me because we were supposed to be gone, so I had nothing planned and nothing on my books. I enjoyed a few afternoons in bed watching TV and enjoying my day.

Speaker 1: 4:36

Chicago the weather started to change towards the end of the week. We had a beautiful beginning of the week. We had an 82 degree day on Tuesday, so Craig and I took our bikes out for one last spin on the lake before we can't do it again, and it was gorgeous. We went to the zoo. If you don't know, in Chicago there is along the lakefront there's it called the Lincoln Park Zoo and it's free and it's open every day and it's just amazing and we are members of it because it gives us free parking when we do bring a car, but it also supports the zoo and it supports the animals. So we went and saw the lions. The last time we saw the baby lion cubs because she had triplets. There's three of them. They were tiny babies and now they're teenagers and they were so big and they were laying on the big rock with mom and dad and it was quite the family scene, but it was lovely to see them again.

Speaker 1: 5:32

Went to RJ Gruntz for lunch. If you've never heard of RJ Gruntz, just like grunt, grunt, grunt, look it up. It's a pretty great place. It's got a 70s vibe. It's pretty fun. We've eaten there several times, even with the kids when they were younger, so we had a really good week.

Speaker 1: 5:51

Made it to four of my aquafit classes which, like you all know now, I absolutely love. I praise highly. If you are having a hard time getting into exercising, if exercise hurts you, I recommend finding water aerobics wherever you can at the Y, at your local parks, at your local gym. This is a gym that I go to. It's Equinox. It's the fancy gym and I kind of like that. I also like the fact that it's in a beautiful building on 900 Michigan Avenue and it's a walk away, just four blocks from my house, which is great. I usually walk when I don't need to charge my car, so if I need to charge my car, I take my car because I can charge it there. So this week was great.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Talked to my son and his girlfriend. I've been deciding whether to share this or not, but I think I'm going to go ahead and share it because it doesn't do any good for you to listen to me if I'm not honest. And life is not always perfect. Life is not always a bed of roses. As you know, I've had health things back and forth. But also our oldest child has decided to cut Craig and I out of their life for the time being. Not easy, but I can accept it. I can move forward and I put my child back in God's hands. God gave me that child. I have done my best and at this point I can't do anymore. So I have delivered my child back to God and we will see what that brings. But again, I think it doesn't do me any good to be on here and tell you about my life if I'm not 100% honest. So that is what's going on.

Speaker 1: 7:32

So right now I focus on other family members. I have a a big family. I have a lot of people to focus on and a lot of people that love me and Craig. So right now that's where my focus is. I love my oldest child, kyle, but right now Kyle has a lot of things to work out and we will always be here. So if you're going through any struggles with your kids or family members, just know there's a lot of us going through it, and I find the best way to do it is to release Kyle to God. So any of you that pray out there can pray for us, and I would love that. I thank you very much for that.

Speaker 1: 8:13

And then now not to take a left turn. But I'm going to take a left turn and we're going to talk about the time change, because it's coming. It's coming, people, it's coming, don't forget. All right, so that nasty time change is coming. Although we get an hour back in our sleep, it's not always the best for everyone. So, as Chris Bottom Air settles and the day seemed to get a little shorter, we're reminded that the end of daylight savings time is just around the corner. For many of us, gaining an extra hour of sleep sounds like a dream come true, but for seniors, adjusting to the shift in time can be a bit more challenging. Here are some helpful tips I'm going to give you today to help us as we go through this. So make gradual adjustments. One of the simplest ways to cope at the end of daylight savings time is to start making gradual adjustments to your daily routine a few days before the clock changes. So if you're listening to this at the beginning of the week, you're going to have some time. Try going to bed and waking up 15 minutes earlier each day, moving closer to the new schedule. By the time the time changes arrives, your body will have begun to adapt.

Speaker 1: 9:24

This is really a thing about light, people and how our body handles and the amount of signals that light L-I-G-H-T light gives our bodies. So we want to maximize the natural light. Exposure to natural light plays a crucial role in regulating our internal clocks. You can benefit from spending time outdoors during daylight hours. Try to suck up as much light as you can at this time of year. I have to tell you, living in the city makes it really hard because as that sun lowers, we've already got the huge buildings that knock out a ton of sun. So as winter comes, it's like twice as dark in the city in the afternoon because the sun is so low and it's just not getting any light into the center of the city and in between the buildings. So start taking morning walks, enjoy a cup of tea on the porch. Simply just suck in that light. If you are working in a building. Get out at lunchtime and try to get that lunch. Try to take those breaks, get outside. When I used to work for the city of Irvine, we had a lake behind us and we, around 10 o'clock in the morning, would take walks around the lake. Super important get yourself up, get moving and get that light in.

Speaker 1: 10:53

The other thing you need to do is maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Do not adjust your sleep, because this is a big one. Seniors often thrive on a routine. So if you're not a senior, if you are a senior, if you're a routine lover. I do notice the more older I get, the more I want my routine, my two o'clock nap with my couch. So keep things consistent. Even when you're dealing with daylight savings time, you should try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, and this goes for when you're traveling to people. Just pretend you're you, just accept that time. This practice helps stabilize your body's internal clock and reduces the impact of the time.

Speaker 1: 11:31

Change Really limit that. Caffeine and alcohol. Although I don't drink, I do drink a lot of caffeine because I drink a lot of Diet Coke. So at home I have changed to decaf iced tea, decaf coffee and I only buy decaf Diet Coke for home. I have enough trouble lately sleeping. I don't know about any of you, but this has been on my Instagram stories.

Speaker 1: 11:53

This week I've been waking up at three o'clock, fricking every day and I can't go back to sleep till five and then I do that stupid second sleep that has all those dumb dreams in it. Then I wake up feeling groggy. It is not my best. And then, of course, my phone says I've noticed a change in your sleep. You are not getting enough hours of sleep, like. I need my phone to tell me that. But thank you, phone anyway. So you know if you're already struggling this time change is gonna suck. So try to do these things. Try to get more, go to bed at the same time, cut out that caffeine and try to do as many of these things as you can.

Speaker 1: 12:34

Create a relaxing bedtime routine. Well, I'm not good at that, because how my parents used to put me to sleep when I was a kid because I was so hyperactive was the TV. So I used the TV to go to sleep, and if I don't have the TV, I just lay there. It's crazy. But find a book, take a warm bath. Try getting yourself into a relaxing bedtime routine.

Speaker 1: 12:53

Adjust home lighting Now, this is a really great thing, and you know what Smart lights are great at this. All of my light bulbs in my house are smart lights. They're all. I can change the brightness, I can change the color tones, I can change when they go on, when they go off all kinds of things just by my phone. If you don't have that, I suggest getting it by your bedside and so it says invest in adjustable lighting solutions for the home. Dimmable lights and smart lighting systems can help you create a cozy and soothing atmosphere in the evening. It takes those bright lights and you can just dim them down, and I have mine dim at certain times. I don't even have to do it. I set up the routine and it lives the routine and it's great. So I really highly suggest, if you do not have smart light bulbs, it's something that learn it, teach yourself, get yourself the apps, go on YouTube, learn how to set them up. First of all. That'll help your brain, keep you young, keep your spry, and you won't be sorry. I'm telling you right now you won't be sorry. Try to dim everything in all the lights in your room.

Speaker 1: 14:00

Stay physically active. Regular physical activity can improve sleep quality and overall wellbeing. Engage in appropriate exercise. You know how I feel about water aerobics now that it has changed my life. It has given me a new lease on life. It has taken the pain from that stupid car accident seven years and almost knocked it completely gone. I can walk now for distances without being in pain and I don't think about pain in every step I take. So stay physically active. Look at your medications. I noticed that when I picked up my medications recently from CVS. They have a little chart on there and they tell you whether to take them at morning or night. Certain medications can affect your sleep pattern, so ask your pharmacists. Pharmacists are great at this, so do ask them.

Speaker 1: 14:52

Take advantage of the early morning light, because now it's gonna get darker so early in the afternoon. That morning light. Get that morning light. And I know it's harder, especially now that, like in the Midwest and the cities, it's cloudy. In the morning the light isn't the same, honest to God. This morning at seven o'clock, I couldn't believe how dark it was because it was cloudy. The time hasn't changed yet and it was just dark, dark, dark. And I know that as the days get shorter, even after the time change. This is gonna happen, but really take advantage of that morning light, knowing that the afternoon it's going to be you and far between that light. Well, I hope that these suggestions help you. The time change is coming.

Speaker 1: 15:37

If you live in Arizona, if you live in Hawaii, and I think there's some places in Indiana that don't change, but the rest of us do. I don't know why. I thought in, like in California we had voted it in, that we weren't going to do this ridiculous time change anymore. Unfortunately, it's still happening. So the beauty is, at least our phones change the time.

Speaker 1: 16:01

If you have clocks in your house, it gives me a warm feeling. My dad was an antique clock collector and when I grew up there were dozens of clocks in the house and the ticking and the dinging and all of that gives me such a warm feeling, not a. It doesn't bother me and I think about my dad changing. It wasn't so bad. When you go forward, it's easy to move them forward, but you'd have to stop them all for an hour and then run around and start them all. He had them going different times anyway, so you can enjoy all the different times, but it actually brings back a really good feeling for me when I think about my dad doing that. And in Craig and my life I've always been in charge of all the clocks and changing things. So many of them do them themselves these days you don't have to think about it, but if you do enjoy changing all your clocks, we have to fall back one hour on Saturday or Sunday morning of late Saturday night, however you want to look at it again.

Speaker 1: 17:01

I hope all of this helped you. We do. I do have a senior moment today, so it's day two. All right, this may or may not apply to you, but I don't know if you've noticed, and I know several of my friends have lipsticks, lip glosses, lip balms it doesn't have to have any color. So, men, this can apply to you. Chapsticks all these things have affected our lips differently. So many times I buy something thinking it's moisturizing, et cetera, et cetera, and it dries the crud out of my lips. So I thought I'd look into that.

Speaker 1: 17:36

So the wrong balm, anything that makes your lips tingle, cold, soothes with that mentholy feeling that's bad news bears, because it means there's an ingredient in there that is potentially an irritant. So the minute you get any of those feelings and mentholy things like carmex and all of that are the worst. And I'm going to tell you, chapstick has it in it too. So while it might feel good at the moment and when you initially apply it, in the long run it could leave your lips feeling more dry and irritated. That's why I'm suggesting in this article suggesting any lip balm ingredients camphor, menthol or alcohol or fragrances, agents or dyes these things can be definite irritants to you. So menthol, all of that stuff, alcohol look at it. And if you've got something in your purse that you've noticed is irritating, or in your pocket that's irritating your lips, look at what's in it. Get rid of it and find one that doesn't. So now we know what we should avoid.

Speaker 1: 18:42

What should we look for in our lip balms? To maximize hydrations, you want to look for ingredients that help trap water in the skin while keeping it moisturized for a long period of time. So you're going to look for things like beeswax and don't be Bert's bees, don't be. Look and see if they actually have beeswax in them just because they say bees or honey or something like that. Olive oil, castor oil, coconut oil and shea butter are often used to keep moisture in, then you might look for something that's also a humectic like and I'm sure you've heard about this in skincare is hyaluronic acid and glycerin. They draw moisture to the skin. So if you're drawing it in with a hyaluronic acid or a glycerin and then you're locking it in with a beeswax and olive oil, castor oil, shea butter or coconut oil, that's going to be the best. I want you all to have beautiful, kissy lips for the winter, so I hope this information is super helpful.

Speaker 1: 19:50

I'm here in Cleveland. It's time to get Craig out of the bathroom, because I locked him in there so he wouldn't interrupt us. And just remember, you can find all kinds of information at my website, aging8forcissiespodcastcom. That's aging8forcissiespodcastcom. You can get ahold of me at agingfastonecom. You can also get to me through my website. You can listen to my episodes on my website. Share this with your friends. You can get this podcast everywhere you get podcasts. We are all over the place, we are everywhere and we are growing. I want to thank you for your listening. I hope you have a great week and remember what I always say Thank you.