{My Story} “I was nervous, tired, flushed . . . but I never expected this diagnosis.”

FOF Linda McCoy reveals why every FOF should know the warning signs of Atrial Fibrillation

[Editor’s note: The essay below, by FOF Linda McCoy, is part of a series of personal blogs from our readers. Have your own story to tell? Email your idea to geri@faboverfifty.com.]

It started out as a routine visit to the doctor’s office. I was scheduled for lab work and a refill on my prescription for high blood pressure, which has been under control for years. The doctor quietly listened to my heart and asked the nurse to take a cardiogram. I wasn’t alarmed; I’d had Rheumatic Fever as a kid and been through many electrocardiograms.

When the doctor came back, she looked at me seriously and told me I had Atrial Fibrillation and that I needed to see a cardiologist right away. When I asked her to explain exactly what that meant, she told me my heart was not pumping correctly, and that blood was sitting in my heart chamber, which could cause it to form a blood clot.

I learned that during Atrial Fibrillation, the the upper chambers of the heart beat very rapidly and irregularly–“quivering” instead of contracting normally. By  itself, AF isn’t life threatening, but it can cause uncomfortable symptoms like palpitations, fatigue, dizziness, and nausea. It can also lead to other rhythm problems and congestive heart failure. The most serious complication is stroke: AF increases a person’s risk of having a stroke by five times the normal level.

My doctor arranged an appointment with a cardiologist for the next day. Meanwhile, I was sent home with a prescription for blood thinners and a heart drug. Of course, I had to find out what Dr. Google said, which made me more apprehensive. I spent a restless night worried about the next day’s visit.

My visit to the cardiologist confirmed my family doctor’s diagnosis. He explained that they don’t know what causes AF, but many people have it. He said I would have to remain on blood thinners and advised a procedure called cardio-version, during which an electrical shock is applied to your heart to regulate your heartbeat. A week later I got the cardioversion, but my “a-fib” came back. A month later, I got another cardio-version, but it didn’t work either.

Next, the doctor recommended ablation, a procedure where they cauterize the heart cells that are miss-firing. The decision to have it done wasn’t an easy one. Ablation is a long procedure, carries some risk, and there are no guarantees it will work. Sometimes it has to be done more than once. It took me a year to muster up the courage to go forward with it.

I arrived at the hospital pretty calm. I trusted my doctor, and, after all, I was going to be under anesthesia. They sent a young male orderly in to shave my groin area, since this is where the catheters are inserted into your legs. I sent him packing! ‘Can’t I please have a female nurse do that?’ When the nurse arrived with a razor in hand she told me what a wonderful young man the orderly was and that he had been there for years, surely trying to make me feel guilty. She did the deed with efficiency. Having the catheter put in wasn’t nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. Thank God!

Before they wheeled me into the operating room, my husband and daughter came in to say goodbye. There I was, in tears (is this normal?),  “bye then, see you later.” Next I found myself in a room that looked like the bridge of the “Starship Enterprise”–more computers than anyone could imagine. I was put completely out. I woke up seven hours later; I don’t remember being taken back to my room.  I was advised to lay flat for six hours and that the catheters (three in each leg) would come out when my blood reached a certain level. They allowed me to eat raspberry sorbet. I told my husband and daughter it was the best thing I ever ate. What was I thinking?  The blood level they were after was not obtained until seven the next morning.

They asked if I wanted a pain killer before they took the catheters in my veins and arteries out. The nurse said they sometimes make people sick,  so I declined. This REALLY hurt, and I regretted saying no. (Note to self: When the hospital staff offers a pain killer, take the drug and say “thank you!”) As soon as I was disconnected from the Foley catheter and intravenous fluids I was allowed to go home under strict instructions. The numbness and soreness in my legs bothered me.

My recovery is still in process, my left leg is still quite numb, which I am told will fade. My bruises, a dark bluish purple, will eventually disappear.  The most difficult part of the recovery is fatigue, which lasts about three months, until my heart heals completely. On the upside, my heart is now in normal rhythm and hopefully it will stay that way.  My sleep is undisturbed, my family wonders why I am so calm (is this the new me?), and importantly, I should be able to go off blood thinners in the near future.

Many people walk around with undiagnosed atrial fibrillation. Some of the symptoms I missed? I was nervous, tired, agitated, my face was flushed, I had sleepless nights, and loud noises made me jump out of my skin. I am 64 and past menopause, so I should not have ignored these symptoms. I could feel my heart jumping around, although like many people I didn’t want to think it might be something serious, and I attributed it to my penchant for coffee. This is an incredibly common medical issue. Millions of people have it, doctors don’t know what causes it, but one thing is for sure: if you find yourself with these symptoms, you owe it to yourself to make a visit to your doctor. It can be managed. Heads up on this one FOFs!

{Health} You may be at risk for a gallbladder attack, and not even know it.

In 2001, FOF Teresa Gordon, 53, experienced “excruciating” stomach pains one day while at work. “It’s was like a knife cutting me from my stomach to my back,” says the Utah resident. She began having sudden attacks like these almost weekly, and for six months doctors couldn’t figure out what was causing the pain. An MRI finally determined the source of her agony–“sand-like” particles in her gallbladder.

Gallstones occur in nearly 25% of American women by age 60, and as many as 50% by age 75, according to a research report published by the University of Maryland Medical Center. The good news: You can prevent gallstones from ever becoming a painful attack, like Teresa’s did. The bad news: If you ignore the signs, it can lead to a serious infection or in rare cases, be deadly.

Here, two Harvard-trained gall-bladder experts, Dr. Dixie Mills and Dr. Chung-Jyi Tsai, explain why FOFs are especially at risk for this painful problem and what we can do to prevent it.

Dr. Dixie Mills describes the gallbladder as “a cute little sack, like a cloth jewelery bag, that collects extra bile from our liver.” Sounds important… is it? “It’s more essential than the appendix, but it’s not critical–you can live without it,” she explains.

Gallstones occur when bits of hardened bile accumulate in the gallbladder “over years,” according to Dr. Mills. Dr. Tsai approximates that 80% of people with gallstones don’t even know they have them. The stones becomes a problem only when they begin to irritate and inflame the gallbladder tissue–as with Teresa’s gallstones. In other cases, “gallstones get so big, they can block the entrance or exit to the gallbladder, which also causes a painful attack,” says Dr. Mills.

Gallbladder Disease in FOFs
“I have several friends who’ve had gallbladder problems, including my best friend who is 5 years younger than I am,” says Teresa.

Teresa’s observation reflects a larger trend: Studies have shown that peri-menopausal and menopausal women are at greater risk for gallbladder stones and attacks than the general population. “Women have more estrogen then men, which is why they are more prone to gallbladder disease,” says Dr. Mills. “In the simplest terms, estrogen is broken down or metabolized in the liver, which makes the liver work harder. This, in turn, produces more bile and puts stress on the gallbladder. During peri-menopause, estrogen levels are a bit higher than normal which is why we may see an increased risk for gallbladder attacks to women in this group.”

As for women who have undergone menopause, “body-weight change is the most common risk factor for gall bladder problems,” says to Dr. Tsai, and as we already know weight gain is very common during and post-menopause.

The major risk factors for gall bladder are summarized by Dr. Mills as “the 5 F’s:”

  • Female, Forty. (addressed above)
  • Fair. “It seems to be related to people of Scandinavian background which may be genetic or may be based on their diet, we don’t really know,” says Dr. Mills.
  • Fertile. “Because estrogen is elevated during pregnancy, some women get gallbladder attacks or gallstones during this time,” says Dr. Mills.
  • Fat. “Being overweight can increase the risk of gallbladder problems,” says Dr. Mills. “Fat tissue contains estrogen or cholesterol, which influence how the liver metabolizes lipids.” One study published by Dr. Tsai, found that women with a larger abdominal circumference had a higher risk of gallbladder problems that required surgery.

Diet also plays a role.  “Consumption of higher glycemic index food carries a high risk of gallbladder problems including a gallbladder attack,” says Dr. Tsai. (Read: List of 100 foods and their glycemic indexes.) A diet which consists of too much saturated fat may also lead to gallbladder trouble. “Saturated fats are more difficult to break down,” says Dr. Mills. Weight fluctuation or “yo-yo dieting” can also increase your risk.

Symptoms of a gallbladder attack
“An attack can bring a wide spectrum of symptoms, from vague nausea to sharp, debilitating pain.” says Dr. Mills. “Some people have even likened the pain to appendicitis or an ulcer. It can be hard to differentiate, but the pain from a gallbladder attack is usually on the right side and may radiate to the back. It can often come on after a fatty meal.”

“It seems like food had a lot to do with my attacks,” says FOF Teresa. “Spicy food, citrusy food, greasy food, and milk products tended to bring them [attacks] on. We went to dinner one night and I had a steak and a margarita. I woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain.”

To operate or not?
After multiple attacks, Teresa had laparoscopic surgery to remove her gallbladder, a minimally-invasive procedure requiring only small keyhole incisions. “90 percent of gallbladder surgeries are now done this way,” says Dr. Mills. Teresa was able to go home the same of she was operated on and says it was neither invasive nor painful.

But surgery is not always necessary. “It depends on how many attacks you have and how severe they are,” says Dr Mills. “A patient with gallbladder attacks may not need surgery, especially if she is willing to implement some lifestyle changes including changing their diet, increasing their exercise, losing weight and maintaining their weight.”

Prevention
Dr. Tsai recommends focusing on “low-cost,” “low-risk” methods, including “eating healthy and maintaining a healthy weight.” One of Dr. Tsai’s studies indicated that “higher consumption of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids could prevent the occurrence of gallbladder disease.” Monounsaturated fatty acids include olive oil, peanut oil, avocados and nuts. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are mainly found in vegetable oils (safflower, corn, canola) and fatty fish such as salmon and tuna. Dr. Mills says detox cleanses done under the guidance of a healthcare provider could “help your digestive system a lot and cool down the gall bladder.”

Since Teresa’s surgery, she has implemented her own dietary changes. “I’m Hispanic, so we eat a lot of Mexican food…it was a big change to eat food that was less spicy and not as fried. I’m more conscious about what I eat now.”


Dixie Mills, MD, FACS is a Harvard-trained general surgeon and women’s health expert. She is currently a surgeon with the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. She is a former practitioner at the Women to Women Healthcare Clinic and a co-founder of Women to Women’s Personal Program. She formerly served as Medical Director at the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation in California.

Dr. Chung-Jyi Tsai, M.D., Ph.D. is a gastroenterologist with the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Tsai has a doctorate from Harvard Medical School where he and his colleagues have done extensive research on gallstones and gallbladder disease. These studies have been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the American Journal of Gastroenterology and other leading medical publications.

{Fashion Flash}

Fashion Flash time! This week, it’s hosted by glam gals Deborah Boland and JoJami Tyler of Fabulous After 40a blog with simple tips for updating your style! Learn how to find your best look and enjoy all the other links from our fab Fashion Flash friends.

{Beauty} A Cancer-Survivor Comes “Clean” About her Beauty Products

A year ago, FOF Tracey Brown was willing to put just about anything on her skin. As the founder of the popular beauty blog Blinging Beauty, and a former Sephora executive, she received mountains of sample products. Creamy foundations, luxe lipsticks, smoothing peels and hydrating lotions–Tracey tested every one. She admits to especially loving super-powered cosmeceuticals: “If something burned me to death or turned my skin red–that was my thing,” she says. “I liked to feel it working.”

Then, in 2010, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Specifically, chronic lymphocytic leukemia–the very blood disease that had killed her mother at 67 and her grandmother at 98.

Suddenly, she saw beauty products differently. “Having cancer made me want to use less chemicals on my skin. Period.” she explains. “Your skin is your largest organ, and what you put on it is absorbed into your bloodstream. It also made me think about my own daughters and what they use.”

According to a report from The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a nonprofit that lobbies to keep dangerous chemicals out of consumer products, “more than 1 in 5 personal care products contain chemicals linked to cancer and 56 percent contain penetration enhancers that help deliver ingredients deeper into the skin.” While the chemicals in any one product are unlikely to cause cancer in an individual, there’s simply no definitive research on the cumulative effects of being exposed to multiple products every day.

For Tracey, finding products that were safe, but also effective, became a priority. “When it comes to skincare, I’ve gone 100% to clean products,” she says. “There’s no easy way to know what’s safe. A product labeled ‘natural’ can have some pretty scary ingredients. I look at the labels, at all the ingredients (not just the active ones), and compare them to the list of chemicals that we know are dangerous.”

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recommends checking against this list of the 12 most harmful chemicals found in cosmetics, which includes pthalates, parabens, fragrance, petroleum and sulfates.

The good news: “The new generation of ‘clean’ products, as I call them, is amazing,” says Tracey. “I use them now because I actually prefer them to the products I used to use.”

Check out Tracey’s favorite products, below, and tell us in the comments, is there any ingredient you avoid when buying cosmetics or skincare products?

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Tracey Brown and her staff try out all sorts of products for her fab blog, Blinging Beauty. (But she uses the products above “day in and day out” she says.)

{Health} The Queen Of All Diets?

The Dukan Diet helped one famous FOF shed the pounds, but is it right for the rest of us? FOF investigates.

When Kate Middleton and her FOF mother, Carole, arrived at the Royal wedding this past April, BBC newscasters couldn’t stop talking about two things: their clothes and their weight loss.

Carole–who had lost 2 dress sizes–publicly credited her svelte new physique to 69-year-old French diet doctor, Pierre Dukan. Kate has never revealed her own diet plan, although rumors swirl that she used Dukan as well.

Since the wedding, Dukan’s book, The Dukan Diet, has sold millions of copies and been translated into 14 languages. “I am a hopeless romantic, so of course I watched the royal wedding,” says FOF Patricia Hancock, a lifelong yo-yo dieter who bought the book in April and has since lost over 30 pounds following Dukan’s advice.

The diet has been touted by celebs including Salma Hayek and Jennifer Lopez.  But it’s also been controversial, with some medical experts alternately calling it everything from “unaffective” to “dangerous” in the press.

What’s the truth? Here, FOF presents the facts and talks to FOF Patricia about her experience.

For a chance to win your own copy of The Dukan Diet, read on, and then tell us in the comments below, would you try this diet? (3 FOFs will win!)

Dr. Pierre Dukan, MD, began his general medical practice over 35 years ago. According to his book, he became interested in nutrition after an overweight patient asked for a diet plan that didn’t restrict meat. Dukan advised the man to consume nothing but lean meat and water for five days. In that time, the patient lost 12 pounds. Encouraged, Dukan began studying nutrition in an attempt to create a diet that would help his overweight patients lose weight permanently–without feeling deprived. He spent the next 35 years perfecting his plan and gaining a reputation as a uniquely effective “diet doctor” in France. Today, his plan is consists of 4 phases:

Phase 1: Dukan calls this “The Attack” phase, during which you jump-start your weight loss by spending anywhere from 2 to 7 days (depending on your start weight) eating only from a group of 68 high-protein foods, including lean meats, fish, tofu, Greek yogurt and eggs. You’re also required to eat 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran a day to help you feel full. Unlike The Atkins Diet, with Dukan “you are not allowed fatty meats and cheese,” says Simone Gloger, a registered nutritionist who recommends the Dukan diet to her own patients. “Saturated fats found in these foods can cause cardiovascular disease. Atkins is high protein and high fat. Dukan is high protein, low fat and low carb.”

During this first phase, you also calculate your “true” weight–a number based on your age, height and dieting history. “This differs for everyone,” says Simone Gloger, “It’s a realistic number that is actually maintainable for life.” (You can calculate your “True Weight,” here.)

FOF Trisha, 57, was about 25 pounds overweight when she started the diet earlier this year. Heavy since she was a young girl, (“I grew up being called ‘Patty Fatty’”) she had tried everything from Weight Watchers to Atkins to aerobics, but was never able to keep the weight off for good. At just 4’11”, Trisha’s top weight was 181. When she started the Dukan diet, she was about 145. Today, 7 months later, she weighs 107.

Trisha’s “phase 1” lasted 5 days, during which she mostly ate eggs, chicken and fish. “I love protein, so that was not a problem,” she says. “And it wasn’t very long–just Monday to Friday.”

Phase 2: During “The Cruise Phase,” you add on 32 different vegetables, including some high-carb options such as carrots, pumpkin and beets.  “You’re on this until you reach your true weight,” says Gloger.  “Typically, that’s about 3 days for every pound you want to lose.”  So if you wanted to lose 30 pounds, you’d be in this phase for about 3 months. According to Dukan, the diet makes up for lack of variety by allowing you to eat as much as you want in any combination you prefer.

This type of high-protein, low-carb eating is especially effective for FOFs, says Gloger. “As you age and enter menopause, your body loses muscle mass, your metabolism slows and you gain weight. Eating protein speeds your metabolism and helps you build muscle. It also helps reduce water retention and improves collagen production–which makes your skin look better.”

“The hardest part for me was not eating cheese,” says Trisha of her Cruise Phase. “But I liked that I could eat as much protein as I wanted. When I did Weight Watchers, I was only allowed 18 points. I was hungry and thinking about food constantly. On Dukan, my husband and I would cook out, and I would eat a humongous, juicy hamburger, and the next morning I would have lost weight.”

Phase 3, “Consolidation,” starts once you’ve reached your “true weight.” It is designed to reintroduce a variety of foods back into your diet without causing the rebound weight gain that typically occurs after losing a lot of weight. You can add 2 slices of bread and 1 portion of fruit and cheese into your daily diet as well as 2 servings of carbs and 2 “celebration” meals per week. You remain in this phase for 5 days for every one pounds you’ve lost. “This phase is about learning how to eat properly,” says Gloger. “You can go out to dinner, enjoy wine and bread and fruit—but all within reason.”

Both Gloger and Trisha point out that they exercised some personal discretion during this phase–not following the rules exactly, but staying within a “safe” zone. “If you’re wheat or gluten intolerant, you can substitute the wheat bread for other grains,” says Gloger.

“I didn’t always give up my wine,” says Trisha. “But I’d have half a glass in the evening instead of a full glass.” It was during this phase that Trisha developed her food routine, a daily menu that she says has worked great for her. “I’m not a very creative person–I don’t come up with fancy recipes. I get up every morning and have Greek yogurt with fruit, followed by an apple or some other snack around 10.  For lunch I’ll have tofu mixed with tuna and some little pita pockets or maybe a hard-boiled egg sandwich. In the evening I might have salmon with lots of salad, some bread and wine.”

Phase 4, the permanent stabilization phase, is designed to last for, well . . . the rest of your life.  And it’s surprisingly non-restrictive. You can eat whatever you want as long as you spend one day a week on a pure protein diet (as in phase 1), continue to eat your 3 tablespoons of oat bran every day, and take the stairs instead of escalators and elevators. So what’s to keep you from eating pizza and ice cream for every meal?  Both Trisha and Gloger insist that just isn’t a problem.

“By the time someone has finished the first three phases, they’ve really changed,” says Gloger. “They’ve learned how to eat so that they feel better and look better and they don’t want to give that up. Also, after they eat indulgent foods, they don’t feel good.”

“I don’t want to go back to not feeling good,” confirms Trisha. “I love being able to go into the store and pick out a size 2–my whole life I was looking at sizes from 13-18. And I find that when I indulge, I really feel it. If I have a cupcake for example, I feel sick afterwards. I don’t want to overeat.”

While both Trisha and Gloger insist the diet could work “for anyone,” Trisha does admit that it was particularly tailored to her: “I love meat. I’d rather have a big juicy steak than a slice of pizza. I’m also patient, and I like to do things slowly and carefully, so I was willing to read the entire book and learn the science behind it. It made sense to me. I would say to anyone who is considering this diet, read the book first. Really read it. If it makes sense to you, it will work for you.”

For a chance to win your own copy of The Dukan Diet, tell us in the comments below, would you try this diet? (3 FOFs will win!)

{Fashion Flash}

This week it’s our turn to host Fashion Flash! We love being part of this amazing group of bloggers and look forward to reading their weekly fab fashion and beauty advice. Here’s a roundup of their best posts this week:

Can casual and classy co-exist when it comes to weekend dressing? Discover the perfect style recipe for this sought after look at Fabulous after 40.

Are you at risk for heart disease? Staness Jonekos, co-author of The Menopause Makeover, reveals the latest life-saving information in her interview with top heart doc Chrisandra Shufelt M.D.

Is your makeup aging you or making you look younger?  Fab Over Forty shows us steps on how to use makeup to look younger.

Female Fat Loss Expert, Shawna K is in love…it may not be exactly what you think, check it out here. Maybe you’ll fall in love too!

Black Cat Plus discusses how the trend continues as the fashion industry uses innovative measures to meet the demand of plus-size women’s fashion needs.

Think all accessories are made equal? Not so, check out the creme de la creme in shoes at Obsessed with Shoes.

No-Nonsense Beauty Blog looks at the triggers and treatments for brown spots and splotches.


{Health} Bringing the Dermatologist’s Office Home

Doctor’s-office cosmetic procedures, such as laser treatments, micro-dermabrasion and peels, are generally considered a luxury. Perfectly realistic for the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills–less so for the average FOF on a budget.

But recently, a number of products that employ medical-grade technology have been approved for home use, from “skin-renewing” lasers to “body-smoothing” eletromagnetic pads. These items aren’t cheap (the Palovia Skin Renewing Laser is $500 and the Brazilian Skin Peel is $78) but when compared to their in-office counterparts, they’re a steal.

The question is–do they work?

We looked at 6 new at-home anti-aging products that employ medical-grade technology and asked Dr. Joshua Zeichner, Director of Cosmetic and Clinical Research Mount Sinai’s Department of Dermatology, whether their science made sense. Then we asked real FOFs who had tried the product to tell us what they thought. Check out the slideshow below to see them all.

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from →  ,

{My Story} To Heal My Mind, I Had to Fix My Body

[Editor’s note: The essay below, by FOF member Mary Gobbo, is the first in a series of personal blogs from our readers. Have your own story to tell? Email your “What I Know Now” idea to geri@faboverfifty.com.]

I got my life back.

It’s as simple and as complicated as that.

For years, I struggled with my weight. I stand just under 5 foot 4 inches tall, and a year ago, I weighed 315 pounds. My health was in shambles. My kidneys were failing. I had an ocular hemorrhage. My blood pressure and blood sugars were out of control. According to one of my physicians, I was rapidly heading to the point of no return.

My children, all five boys, were very worried that I would not be around for them. I was worried too. I obviously wasn’t worried enough to do something serious about it, though. Oh, I tried Weight Watchers, the Rotation Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet. With each one, I’d lose a little, only to get discouraged when I hit the inevitable plateau, at which point I’d gain back what I lost, plus several more pounds for good measure.

My primary care physician asked me repeatedly to consider weight loss surgery. I always refused, believing I could do it on my own. But when my kidneys began failing from diabetes, I knew it was time. I wanted a normal life. I deserved a normal life.  (We won’t discuss at this point what caused my weight gain. A team of psychologists is not needed. Suffice it to say that I had issues. I knew what they were, but I didn’t know how to really deal with them effectively. I just knew I wanted to live.)


I scheduled an appointment with a recommended surgeon.

After talking with the doctor about the four basic bariatric surgeries, I chose a procedure called the “duodenal switch” which minimized the risk of vomiting, “dumping” (a rapid rush of food into the small intestine, which causes nausea, faintness, sweating, etc) and, most of all, gaining the weight back. I could write a whole other essay about the different surgeries, and maybe that will be my next post!

When I set the date for the surgery, I was nervous, but one final incident gave me the motivation I needed.

The week before I was scheduled to have my procedure, I went on a choir trip to New York City with my youngest son. When I arrived at the bus, there was only one seat left. The man sitting next to me did not speak to me during the five-hours before our first stop. I was more than a little uncomfortable.  After our stop for dinner, I learned that he had told his son and a number of his friends that he didn’t want to sit next to “that FAT woman.” Devastated, I secured a seat in the very back of the other bus for the rest of the trip.

One week later, Dr. Marek Lutrzykowski performed the awe-inspiring, but intensive procedure. I spent a few days in intensive care. Recovery was challenging. I hurt! But I got through it. Once home, I made sure to walk several times a day and eventually hit the treadmill for 30 minutes a day. The weight started falling off.

Five months later, I am down over 100 pounds. I have 85 pounds to go to get to my ideal weight. Physically I’m so much stronger. But the emotional change is even more profound. With perspective, I can look back and admit how much my weight had taken over my life before the surgery. The truth: I had no self esteem. I didn’t want to be around other people. I hated myself.

Before my surgery, I came up with every excuse to avoid going out. Where would I park? How far did I need to walk? How many stairs would I need to climb? I recall a basketball game I attended at our local university. We were seated in the last row. On the way up, I had to stop several times to let other people pass. My heart was pounding and I could barely breathe when I got to the top. Once the game started, I had to go to the bathroom, but I held it in, knowing once I went down I would never make it back up the stairs.

This past weekend I attended a basketball game where we were seated, again, high in the stands. I made it up with my breath intact. The next night, I attended a Sting concert. My husband Steve, a very outgoing individual, had been very unhappy with how introverted I’d become. He loves getting out and about. Now I do too. We are going to Hilton Head for the holidays, and I intend on renting a bike to go all around the island and down the beach. I would never, ever have considered doing any of these things before May 18, 2011, the day I had my life changing surgery. It is now a pleasure putting on clothes. I take care of my hair now, and actually wear (a minimal amount of) makeup. I do my nails. I care again.

I saw a very good friend today.  I recounted to her that I just saw the man from the bus at a recent choir concert. My husband sat beside him, not knowing he was the one. I did not acknowledge him. Later, my husband asked me why I didn’t point him out so he could have said something to him. I replied, “That’s why. You can’t fix stupid.”  The truth is, I’ve forgiven him. Actually, I would love to say to him some day, “do you recall when you said those horrible things about me?  Well, THANK YOU!  It was because of you that I moved forward with my surgery, and now I have my life back.”

I want to help the many ladies out there who find themselves in the same boat I was in. I know I have many “sisters” who could benefit, and I hope to guide them through the troubled waters that are our lives.  Waters that can be calmed. They were for me.

Thank you for listening.

FOF Mary Gobbo, 56, is originally from Long Island, New York. She currently resides in Lansing, Michigan, and works part time for the State of Michigan as a secretary and part-time from home as a medical transcriptionist. She is now considering going back to school to complete her college degree.  She is also at work on a novel about a woman who “comes of age” at 45.

{Giveaway} Win a 30-minute healthy, sexy body “makeover” from an FOF nutrition guru

FOF nutrition guru, Rosie Battista, of Sleeping Naked After 40, is giving away a healthy, sexy, body “makeover”–a 30-minute, personalized phone session designed to get your nutrition back on track. To enter, ask her a nutrition question here.

Thank you for entering. This contest is now closed.


On the precipice of her fiftieth birthday, FOF Rosie Battista was in crisis mode.

“I had to sell my house in a bad housing market,” writes Rosie on her website. “I had a broken-up relationship, a lost, messy floundering business, topped off with seemingly insurmountable life issues… All of this toxicity evidenced itself in the most obvious symptom of a lifestyle gone awry, an overweight, uncomfortable body.”

In an effort to get her confidence up and her body in shape, Rosie tackled a life goal: compete in a body-building contest. In four months, she toned up, lost 35 pounds and placed in the competition.

How’d she do it? Rosie took on an intensive dieting and training program and developed a system of nutritional “tricks” to keep herself on track.

Read 5 nutrition secrets excerpted from her books Cooking Naked After 40 and Mini-Treats, then enter the contest below to win a 30-minute phone session with Rosie.

Rosie’s 5 nutrition secrets:

1. When cooking and eating, remember these simple rules: The simpler, the less ingredients, the easier, the cleaner, the lighter, the purer — the better.

2. Three things to have in your fridge at all times are: a bowl of leftover brown rice, 3 or 4 baked sweet potatoes, a container of homemade applesauce. It will take about one hour of your time to prepare these items but having them ready will help you get healthy meals together in minimal time. Designate a few hours each week to prep for the next week.

3. Ezekiel breads are the only way to go. Ezekial is one brand of sprouted bread and contains no flour or refined sugars. You’ll find these breads in the freezer section of your grocery store because there are no preservatives or processed flours, making the shelf life short. The bread will last weeks in your freezer.

4. You may think “hippy” when you think “hemp” — but, actually this small seed is a nutrient rich powerhouse and a great source of fiber, magnesium, iron, zinc and potassium. Use this super seed mixed in to granola, yogurt, soups, smoothies or baked goods.

5. Dark leafy greens are the best and only way to get the phytochemicals and plant nutrients we need for ultimate health. One way to get these greens into your diet is to use collard leaves as sandwich wraps.

Enter to win a healthy, sexy body “makeover,” a 30-minute phone session with Rosie. One FOF will win. To enter, ask her a nutrition question here.

Plus! Get 3 more secrets to a healthy, sexy body after 40 right now, when you sign up for Rosie’s newsletter.

(See all our past winners. See official rules. One winner is chosen at random from all those who ask a question. Contest closes June 30, 2011.)

{Giveaway} Secrets to a breathtaking bod

FOF Rosie Battista is giving away the secrets that transformed her body from this:

Thank you for entering. This contest is now closed.

Enter to win, by commenting below and answering: What part of your body do you love the most?


As she approached her 50th birthday last year, Rosie Battista experienced a true mid-life crisis:

“I had to sell my house in a bad housing market,” writes Rosie on her website. “I had a broken-up relationship, a lost, messy floundering business, topped off with seemingly insurmountable life issues… All of this toxicity evidenced itself in the most obvious symptom of a lifestyle gone awry, an overweight, uncomfortable body.”

In an effort to get her groove back, Rosie decided to tackle one long-held goal: Compete in a body-building contest. Over the next four months, she completely transformed her body through an intensive dieting and training program. She lost 35 pounds, toned up and placed 17th in the competition.

“I was the oldest one in the competition and my 19-year-old daughter who trained and competed with me was the youngest,” says Rosie. “At 50, I am finally comfortable in my own skin and have the confidence to say it. Confidence enables and entitles me to sleep naked!”

Now, Rosie spends her time spreading the love…teaching others how to love their bodies and enjoy their food. She authored three brilliant books: Sleeping Naked After 40, an e-book which includes Rosie’s weight-loss and confidence-boosting lessons, Cooking Naked After 40, a cookbook of the recipes that transformed her body and Mini-Treats, a collection of dessert recipes without refined sugar.

Bonus! Preview one of Rosie’s recipes from Mini-Treats by clicking here.


“I LOVE chocolate, but that doesn’t mean I have to eat chocolate bars, candy and sugar-laden layer cakes. It is possible to sweeten your life while reducing the sugar you consume.”

Chick Pea Brownies

These are a favorite in my house because they freeze so nicely and actually taste like fudge when you remove them from the freezer. With no white flour and no refined white sugar, these treats are delightful and your whole family will be amazed.

Ingredients
1 bag dark chocolate chips
2 cups of garbanzo beans
2/3 cups of agave nectar
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
Walnuts/almonds (optional)

Instructions
1. Melt chocolate in double boiler
2. Mix beans, agave, baking powder, eggs in a blender and mix in chocolate.
3. Pour in pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.

(These keep great in the freezer!)

Enter to win Rosie’s books, Cooking Naked After 40, Sleeping Naked After 40 and Mini-Treats plus a 30-minute phone consultation with her by commenting, below: What part of your body do love most?

(See all our past winners, here.)

(See official rules, here.)

Contest closes February 17, 2011

[Read more about Rosie here]