Piloting Your Life: In-Flight Entertainment (Getting Older Doesn’t Make You Old) (Feb 26, 2019)

Welcome Back My Age Defying Passengers:

We finally had some clear weather and I was able to get above it all with a helicopter flight and I took up a friend’s mom for her 80th birthday. Flying in a helicopter was on her bucket list so her daughter, a childhood friend, reached out to me on Facebook last summer and asked if I would take her up. Of course I’d take up the woman who, with her husband, took her daughter and a group of friends (including me) to a nudist beach in Marin (by accident) for her daughter’s 14th birthday. How could I resist! She makes 80 look good and I am truly inspired by her zest for life and willingness to take risks and try something new at 80. She seems unstoppable at this point.

This experience led me to some thoughts about women and healthcare that we talk about in this week’s Piloting Your Life (the podcast) episode. There are so many things working against us women in terms of our health and we need to not only own our own health journey (and probably those of our loved ones) but we have to be advocates for our own health as well (check out 15 ways you can be a better health advocate). Our healthcare system in the U.S. is broken and fragmented, making it incredibly difficult to effectively navigate.With so little research and money going into conditions and diseases that primarily affect women, and into diagnostics and treatments based on a woman’s body and responses, we have an even bigger uphill battle.

I feel like my body has finally settled into where it’s going to be for a while and I am looking for ways to lose some weight, combat aging and minimize the damaging impact of some of my previous life choices. There’s only so much Botox can do and I refuse to do surgery! I am beginning to explore more of a plant-based diet and recently listened to an As a Woman podcast episode about this. Fortunately, my husband is on board and just wants to know where to go for recipes (we will be checking out Forks over Knives). I’ve been reluctant because I hate feeling deprived but I think it’s time. With our daughter’s PCOS diagnosis, it will be better for her as well. We never see the boy child and we know he lives on fast food so all bets are off there! He will be living on beer and ramen in college next year anyway.

Fortunately for me, wine is from grapes, grapes are from plants, therefore wine has to be good for me! I think I need to restock my wine fridge.

Have you made any lifestyle changes that you’ve seen make a huge difference (or something that has been a complete flop)? I’d love to hear from you and possibly share some of your age-hacks.

In-Flight Entertainment (Bubbly Bonus: Advocating For Your Health)
This week Jacqueline and I enjoy some red wine (ha!) as I talk about the frustrating process we’ve endured in trying to get to the bottom of my daughter’s physical pain. She’s been experiencing this pain since September and despite a number of blood tests, an ultrasound, several specialists, and lots of dropped balls, we still don’t have an answer. I share my research into how the healthcare system is failing women, ways to advocate for your health (or the health of your loved ones) and ways we can push for bigger changes. Enjoy!

Piloting Your Life Episode PYL091: Advocating for Your Health