LIVING LOUD LIVING LONG

Do you or someone you love experience urine leakage? It's a highly common issue for women. It is a major consideration for women who have it or their caregivers. Because you turn to us for hard-to-find insight and advice as your one stop community for women's health impacts, this is an important topic we couldn't ignore on the L4: Living Loud Living Long podcast.

• Seeing poor caregiving of older women in nursing homes who had to wear diapers limiting their mobility and causing worse health problems when she was a child inspired Cheri on a life-long mission to solve the common mid- to older women’s health problem of incontinence.
• Her goal is giving an option for active women and/or those caring for family members.
• Younger women can develop incontinence after childbirth, or it can occur with age.
• Women’s health is often overlooked. Doctors tend to reach for solutions that seem easy but interfere with healthy activities like running, playing sports or visiting friends.
• Should 50up women pay more attention to their health and how? Cheri gives us tips.
• Are startups better off with diversity in leadership? Cheri tells us how her startup benefits.
• Can women gain confidence as inventors? Cheri offers real life experience.
  

Click and listen now: Women's Health Episode 6

As a young girl, Sunniva was fascinated by exploring places few people have seen. Her passion for learning about nature and the farthest reaches of our world despite the challenges continues to grow and motivate her make a positive impact as a teacher, explorer, and voice for change.
Sunniva tells L4 about the physical and mental challenges faced when exploring in the Polar regions, especially the Antarctic, how she continues to explore as a 50up woman and how we can all use these lessons in our lives to be resilient.
We explore how getting outside the noise of our technology filled lives into the silence of nature can refocus and heal us.
Sunniva and Dr. Hughes discuss how being a female explorer has challenges, but how woman can help each other.
We talk about her new project in Canadian Arctic supporting the climate and collaborating with the Inuit people. We explore how together, regardless of who we are, what age we are or where we live, we can support nature through teaching, citizen science or as advocates.
"If someone gives you a hand up, put a hand down to someone else."
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About: Sunniva Sorby has multiple historic firsts as a woman explorer including team member for first all- woman group reaching the South Pole, first Canadian woman to ski to South Pole and first all-woman team to overwinter in the Arctic. Before becoming an explorer, she led and managed outdoor travel programs and taught outdoors skills. In multiple roles, she has been an advocate and teacher for women, and diversity as well as the climate. She was born in Tønsberg, Norway and raised in Montreal where she graduated from Trafalgar School for Girls and went on to pursue Economics at Champlain College & Bishops University, where she majored in Economics. Learn more about her: https://www.heartsintheice.com

It's that time of year when delicious food is every where. Our home smells of roasted turkey and pumpkin pie. A neighbor drops off apple muffins. What rich cinnamon goodness!
Just in time, we're launching our Healthy Bites food stories. Healthy Bites tells the story of sensory healthy food preparation, eating and nourishing your body. Healthy food can be visually enticing, aromatic, flavorful, quick, and modest cost. Many recipes are simple to prepare with limited ingredients.
What makes Healthy Bites different is our focus on how what your eating serves your body and makes it strong. Healthy Bites includes scientific research on the phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, vitamins and other important nutrients that feeds body and soul. We even include links out to the original research or medical articles so you can explore further on your own as you want.
Sure, you can find recipes in many places. What you don't get elsewhere is how that food fuels your strength.
Healthy Bites are only available to our Patrons. Articles are added throughout the year as they're  available.
To get access to Healthy Bites, sign up for our $15 per month Patron package on our PodBean Patron account- Click Here.
What better gift to give yourself and your community of 50up women?
By supporting L4, you help us bring you fabulous podcasts with inspiring women every month, our blog posts and other content as we grow and expand our mission-focused startup.

​Technology is integral to how we work, learn, and build career skills. The pandemic put this trend on steroids. Our community of 50up women balancing work and family, technology is a lifesaver.  While Zoom fatigue has become a part of life, the positive is that employers have seen in real time that productivity is often higher among employees working remotely. Remote work enables flexible work hours and saves time since commuting and preparing to commute are no longer are needed. Many large corporations have already developed plans for hybrid work which can expand work options for 50ups who want to continue or return to work. (1, 2) 
Now is the time to explore new and innovative job opportunities in your current field or a new one. Opportunities range from a career change (pivot), to starting a business, to looking for more work flexibility. The professional world is evolving rapidly and opening new opportunities. For instance, work opportunities for freelancers (independent contractors) are exploding, facilitated by the growth in online platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork. These online freelance marketplace platforms connect freelancers and potential contract job opportunities reducing the work of selling your service. An estimated 59 million people were doing freelance work in the U.S in 2020, an increase of 6 million from 53 million freelance workers in 2014. (3)
For our active L4 Community who plans on continuing to work, there are numerous resources available. Besides our L4 educational resources that are tailored to 50up women like our blogs, podcasts and more, there are numerous online education sources, mentoring, and coaching to help you through your journey, whatever trail you choose to blaze.  Online learning platforms supply a broad array of degree and non-degree (certificate) programs and offer courses across many fields of study at competitive rates, and in some cases, for free.  Courses offered can be self-paced or more structured.  There are other learning platforms, like TEDx and TEDEd (owned by TED.com), that post free online talks from subject matter experts. LinkedIn Learning (previously Lynda.com) is a subscription-based online education platform that offers a video tutorial library.  Teachable enables individuals to create online courses and coaching services to monetize their know-how into a knowledge business. 
If you’ve been keeping your dream of changing up your life but leaving it on the back burner, we say, “Carpe Diem”. The time is now.  If you are thinking of changing your career but are unsure what you want to do, start by doing some soul searching and asking yourself a few questions: what energizes you, what activities did you love when you were young, what soft and hard skills do you excel at, ask a family member or a good friend what they think your strengths are. If you want to take the leap and envision yourself as an entrepreneur, then gather the information like you would any research project – only this time it is about you and your idea. Nothing can be more exciting than to create something new. 
It is also essential to update your LinkedIn profile and resume and highlight those transferable skills to the industry and job you are seeking.  “People aged 50 and over are in a unique position to have plenty of workforce experience to bring to a new career, while still being able to obtain the knowledge they need to take on something new.” (4) 
To escape the procrastination or indecision stage, create an action plan and work through it, one small step at a time.  Achieving incremental milestones will help you build your confidence and fuel your drive to continue executing your plan.  Seek the support of those around you who celebrate your decision to set new goals, seek new opportunities, and avoid getting deflated by naysayers. 
If you are starting on a new career path, consider applying for adult internships and even a part-time or flexible job in your new area of interest to decide if the type of position and industry generally meets your expectations. (5)
If you haven’t changed up your resume, online profiles or biography in a number of years consider soliciting the assistance of a career coach. Career coaches help you prepare and organize application materials (cover letter and resume), review your LinkedIn profile and identify those experiences and skills that highlight your professional abilities or areas where you may need to build or strengthen your skills. You can improve their resume by demonstrating that they proactively and regularly engage in continuous learning.  You can continuously learn by attending professional courses, earning a new certification(s) or credential, or earning an undergraduate degree or college graduate degree. Furthering your knowledge and skillset is especially important when applying for Technology jobs to demonstrate that you have proficiency in multiple current virtual platforms and programs. Show prospective employers that you’re willing to leave your comfort zone and learn new things. (6)
The takeaway is that You Can! Your new career can bring back that missing fizz in your life.  Plan, be open and proactive about learning new things, and build the relevant skills you need so you are comfortable and confident with taking that first step on your new career path. We’re here for you and we know you’re amazing.
 
References :

1. shrm.org: https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-news/pages/hybrid-work-model-likely-to-be-new-norm-in-2021.aspx
2. Bloomberg.com: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-01/return-to-office-employees-are-quitting-instead-of-giving-up-work-from-home
3. Statista.com: https://www.statista.com/statistics/685468/amount-of-people-freelancing-us/
4. learnhowtobecome.org: https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/career-resource-center/career-changes-after-50/
5. flexjobs.com: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/tips-starting-new-career-after-50-v2/
6. flexjobs.com: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/tips-starting-new-career-after-50-v2/

Resources:
Living Loud Living Long: Blog (current page) and Podcast
Fiverr®: https://www.fiverr.com
LinkedIn Learning:  https://www.linkedin.com
Teachable: https://teachable.com
TED.com (TEDx, TEDEd): https://www.ted.com
Upwork: https://www.upwork.com

I don’t know about you, but I definitely have more days with minor aches and pains as each year goes by. On the one hand, it’s normal for our body to change with age, for our joints to wear and muscles to lose power more quickly if we don’t stick to an exercise routine.
Research has shown that exercise can reduce risk of most common illnesses in 50 ups like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression and osteoporosis. Even once you have the disease, you can improve your health with appropriate exercise, such as walking regularly after having breast cancer. (Warburten, 2006)
There’s a long list of reasons we tell ourselves (and, hey, I’ve used them too) for why we aren’t exercising: a) we don’t have time; b) we look bad in exercise clothes; c) it’s embarrassing; d) we don’t know how to do it; e) we have a condition, injury, phobia, etc that prevents exercising; f) it’s too expensive to join a gym or buy equipment.
Everyone of these are just mental blocks we put up to avoid changing our routines, because….Let’s face it, changing our routine or doing something new is uncomfortable, hard, takes mental effort and some days we can’t do it.
Here’s what I say to all that, “Yes, you can!”
I know you can because I click play and push through my favorite exercise app, Daily Burn, or walk or cycle nearly every day. I am no more motivated or fitter than your average person and have never been a high performing athlete.
What can 50 up athletes achieve? Listen to the story of Enzo Appiano. He is 92 years old, lives in Turin, Italy, and is still climbing mountains. A hobby he started in 1940s. He says climbing keeps him fit and youthful. (Bailey-Millado, 2019) Martina Navratilova won the Grand Slam tennis competition when she was nearly 50 years old, the oldest person to win this title. (Martina Navratilova) Caroline Adams, 56 years old, resumed competitive swimming after not having swum since college. She is now ranked 11th in the United States and, credits swimming with helping her feel centered and happier. (Hochwald, 2018)
Let’s break down those blocks.

1. You don’t have time: Incorporate exercise into your day. Walk to nearby places instead of driving. Walk from the parking lot to store. Climb stairs at every chance. Make time. Prioritize you. Do you really need to reply to emails most of which are junk? Use an exercise tracker to motivate yourself and see how you’re doing more each day.
2. You feel unattractive in exercise clothes or feel embarrassed: Exercise at home. Use an app. Buy weights. As those work, you’ll become fitter and feel comfortable wearing track pants or even leggings.
3. You don’t know how to do the exercises or worry you’ll hurt yourself: Hire a personal trainer. Watch exercise videos or use an app with videos.
4. You can’t afford a gym: See Number 2. Even with a small home or apartment you can do many routines right in your living room or bedroom. Use cans of soup for weights. Go outside and walk around your block or in a park. Be creative.

Summer is the perfect time to launch an exercise routine. Go for a walk early in the morning or late in the day before it heats up.
Most of all, have fun. Bring along a friend or two. Once you start, you’ll find you can’t stop. Instead of feeling too tired to exercise or just feeling poorly, you’ll start to feel tired and poorly when you DON’T exercise. Exercise really does make us happier, healthier and fitter.

References
(n.d.). Retrieved from Martina Navratilova: https://www.martinanavratilova.com/biography
Bailey-Millado, R. (2019, January 24). Retrieved from New York Post: https://nypost.com/2019/01/24/this-90-year-old-climbs-mountains-like-its-nothing/
Hochwald, L. (2018, January 14). Retrieved from Parade: https://parade.com/636232/lhochwald/age-is-just-a-number-4-inspiring-athletes-over-50/
Warburten, D. e. (2006, March 14). Retrieved from National Center for Biotechnology Information: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1402378/