Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to my wellness to success podcast. My name is Dr. Martine Canal and I am a self care strategist as well as a health and wellness and accountability coach. I have been a nurse for over 27 years. This is my expert opinion and it is no way, shape, or form any medical advice. So if you feel the need to get medical help, Please, please, please reach out to your medical provider. So today's topic is self care tips for busy women over 40. My, my, my. Is that an important topic or what? Prioritizing self care becomes even more crucial as we get older. And for busy women over 40, it is essential to, to do so because not only that. That woman may take care of the household, may take care of children, may take care of parents. They may be part of that sandwich generation. They may also be challenged at work where they reach the glass ceiling and they may have to do more to prove that they can not only advance in their career and also advance financially. So it is a very busy time for that woman in that generation. So this is why I'm going to talk about self care tips for them. Now, it is essential to find effective and time efficient self care practices that they can include in their daily lives and not feel that it is a burden or an obligation or another task that they have to do. So here are some tips that I'm going to be talking for that demographic. Number one, prioritize sleep. It is very important that you rest your body and you rest your mind. About seven to nine hours sleep at night is a good target. You have to make sure that you properly rest your body and your mind. So when you're going to sleep, please do not go to sleep with your phone. Try to stop being stimulated by social media, by technology. at least a good two hours before you go to bed because a good night's sleep aids with cognitive function, emotional well being and physical energy. Now after you have a good night's sleep, focusing on healthy nutrition will help to prioritize both physical well being and mental well being. And my recommendation is when you have a plate, half the plate should be fruits and vegetables, a quarter. It could be whole grain and the other quarter of the plate could be lean protein. Focusing on a balanced diet would help with dealing with preventing chronic diseases and also helping the body, you know, through the changes that it goes through as you grow older. You know, you are over 40 and sometimes, you know, you may reach out to your health care provider to consider Supplements like calcium and vitamin D. So reach out to your health care professional Because at this point of life, that's when you starting to see decreased bone density So that can help with that and also what could help with decreased bone density is Regular exercise which is another tip Including cardio and strength training because weight bearing exercises is crucial, crucial for bone health as you age. Okay, so even if it's just 30 minutes a day, anything that gets the body moving and the mind relaxing can make a difference. Now, talking about the mind, meditation and mindfulness is a great way to reduce stress and increase emotional well being. Just a few minutes per day of deep breathing, meditation and practicing gratitude will make a difference on how you see your day or how you feel that day. Limiting alcohol and caffeine can also help with your physical and mental well being because Alcohol and caffeine can have potential health impacts. For example, it can affect your sleep. It can affect your cardiovascular health. So please, please, please limit alcohol and caffeine. Routine health checkups. Very important as you go over 40. Seeing a provider regularly. is important, and there's some routine physical exam that should be done. Now, preventative health care is the key. Trying to prevent any chronic illness, having control on your, on your health. It gives you the power and the knowledge for you to be able to control what happens to you and how you're foreseeing your future. Now there's some tests that are... Recommended, for example, mammograms, having mammograms is an important key of preventative health and it should be started after 40 and done yearly to the age of 45 and then after that every two years, but then again, you should reach out to your health care provider for guidance, pelvic exam, pap tests, Thanks. or other tests that should be done. Checking for, STI infection, which is sexually transmitted infection. Mole exams on your skin. Bone health, I was talking about bone density. You should have a bone density screen test done, okay? As well as your, your medical screening. You should know your numbers. Your blood pressure, your cholesterol lipid level. You know, you should know if you're at risk for diabetes. You know your A1c, which is your blood glucose test. You should, check that. All your, your chemistry panel and your complete blood count. You should know your numbers. You should know what you need to do to keep your numbers healthy. So, having these screenings are important. Even a colonoscopy. Now the recommendation is 45 and up, you should have a screening colonoscopy, and if you do have family members that are, have had common cancer, and mostly if it's a close related, relative, maybe you should start earlier. I have had my colonoscopy done already, as well as my mammogram Okay, I know my A1c, I haven't had my bone density done yet, but I will, I will, it's on my list to do. So all these tests are important for you to know so that you can have control of your plan of care for your life. Because when you go to the provider, it's not doing what the provider telling you. This is a joint, a collaborative plan that you and. Your healthcare provider Developed for your benefit. So you have to have the knowledge when you go into the office to understand what is being said and How you want all these strategies to be applied to you. You have a say and what gets to be done to you. Knowledge is power. So know your tests, know what's happening in your body, know the changes that is happening. And talking about changes, you should know what may happen to women over 40. First of all, the health concerns are cardiovascular health. There's an increase in In cardiovascular health in women over 40 and why did I say cardiovascular health? So increase for high blood pressure For coronary artery disease, you know when you get plaques In your arteries It affects the flow of the blood through your arteries and sometimes your veins stroke possibility for stroke possibility for a heart attack Right? And also the Osteoporosis is a risk that increases with for with women over 40 arthritis increases breast cervical and ovarian cancers The incidence increases especially for those over 40 menopause which is a natural process that happens as on you go as It starts in 40s 50s It, it's a sign that, fertility has ended and it can be accompanied, by symptoms like hot flashes, right? That's when you started to, to notice and irregularity of your periods, obesity, obesity increases in women over 40 because there is a decreased metabolism that's happening. And then there's a change in hormonal level in women. So all that. So that's why we're talking about all these tips for self care for women over 40. So these were all the changes that may happen in women over 40. So that's why it is important that you follow these self care tips so that you can prioritize how you want to grow older. You want to be healthy? Or you want to end up with all these chronic diseases that's going to affect your quality of life. That's going to affect your productivity. That's going to affect how meaningful your life is and how joyful your life is. Now, one other tip that I'm going to recommend is to surround yourself with like minded people. And in getting the support system in place so that you can discuss these feelings, this concern about growing older, being over 40. And it will be extremely beneficial to you to have an outlet so that you can keep learning. You can keep growing because we want to continue aging gracefully. In a healthy manner so that we can keep living that meaningful life that we've been living all along, right? So that we can maintain the good habits that we have developed, we have adopted, and that we can just keep improving our overall health and well being, even though all these changes are happening to us. Right? So, get in the community, find friends that will help you, and sometimes you may want to journal about it. Write down your thoughts, concern. This can be therapeutic for you, and then it will make you gain clarity in, into what's happening and how you should go about all these challenges that life is throwing at you now as you reach that level in your life. My last tip is to pamper ourselves pamper ourself Celebrate the fact that we reach That level in our lives and we are still enjoying our lives to the fullest and That's gonna make us feel pampered and relaxed and then we just keep on practicing all these self care care practices so we can keep going and be strong and energize and Refueled, right? So remember, it's all about living a productive, passionate, joyful life. We have this, self care empowerment circle, as I was talking about, joining a group seeking support. This Facebook group, it's all about self care strategies, tips, motivation, support. Feel free to reach and join the group. It's on Facebook. It's called Self Care Empowerment Circle. It's for women over 40. Join and let's grow and be strong together. So don't forget, put yourself first because it's all about living your best life. Until next time, keep taking care of yourself and be blessed.