Today Is Your Day Boomer

Today is your day Boomer! Baby Boomers, another health benefit is back! It is backward walking and the trend-often associated with the 1980s-is making a return as grey-haired wonders, like you and I, look for new-or-newish ideas to help keep us fit! According to cbc.ca, "walking backwards has shown that there's less impact on the joints by using these different muscles — and it can increase flexibility and even help alleviate back pain." One 62-year-old Boomer says "Every time I walk, I just do a little twirl and walk backwards for a bit, and I'll do it just a few times during my walk." It may look a little unusual and may get a few laughs from passersby....by consider the actual benefits. Clinical exercise specialist André Noël Potvin says "When you start to walk backwards, you actually start to rebalance the forces around the ankle, knee, hip and lower back." This really helps Boomers recovering from knee surgery and older Boomers who are havi...

Today is your day Boomer! He is not a Boomer at age 90, but he remains a wise scientist, activist, and environmentalist....with words of caution and advice for all of us re: climate change. David Suzuki, in a recent CBC interview, said this: "[If] you want to be liked by everybody, then you're not going to stand for a goddamn thing," Suzuki remembers his father saying. "Humans are performing an uncontrolled, unprecedented experiment with the only home we have." He argues that political will has weakened, pointing to a shift in rhetoric among global leaders....singling out the American president who has repeatedly characterized climate change "as a hoax, as fake news, as a sham." "The science has said, ‘We have passed a tipping point, we cannot go back.'"Survival in a warming world, he says, will increasingly depend on the resilience of local communities — and preparation must start now." And his final words of wisdom: "in the...

Today is your day Boomer! This week, my family is joining the thousands of Canadians going on holiday in Mexico. Two co-workers, several friends and family members are also going or have recently gone....despite the recent cartel incidents. Also, I have other friends and family--most of whom are Boomers--that are on trips to Croatia, Turkey, New Zealand, and Thailand. Meaning, we going travelling to anywhere that is NOT America! Why? According to Forbes Magazine, "U.S. government policies, trade practices and political statements have made Canadians less likely to travel to the U.S. in the next 12 months." Some media outlets call this the "Trump Slump" as tourism visits by air and land are down 30-40% since Trump took office in January 2025. This translates into almost 5 billion lost dollars per year for American tourism operators and hundreds of thousands of lost jobs. Adios Boomers; have a good calming, non-confrontational trip in the sunshine. Cheers!

Today is your day Boomer! Booze is becoming a bummer Boomers! That's right, we are drinking less...way less, according to the researchers. In fact, drinking rates across Canada have just reached a 20-year low. Stats Canada numbers look like this: "On average, Canadians bought the equivalent of eight drinks per week between March 2024 and March 2025, down from 8.7 a year earlier and 9.7 a decade ago. Beer, wine, and spirits sales all fell in both dollar amount and volume. Ciders and coolers were the only category to grow in that time period."(cbc.ca) This trend is especially prevalent in younger people, who maybe are turned off by the high cost of alcohol, their increased use of cannabis, and the social trends of having fun without suffering the next day. I don't see any numbers for Boomers yet....but I bet we remain as a near-the-top consumer as we grew up with booze as a recreational mainstay. By the way, some so-called experts say we are now entering a "po...

Today is your day Boomer! A perfect topic for Superbowl Sunday....a day when many Boomers sit around, watch the game, and consumer large quantities of food and alcohol. Yup...that's us, many with bulging waistlines(see picture)! But...is this really most of us? Because a lot of Boomers I know are very active, fit, and pretty slim. One recent study from the University of Alberta states "Weight gain in this cohort is driven by metabolism slowing around age 60, hormonal shifts, and sedentary lifestyles." In fact, obesity is rising in our generation Boomers! Maybe....because...we are retired and sitting more, maybe our addiction to television, our padded wallets which allow us access to more restaurants and pubs, or maybe....our older, slower arthritic bones which discourage us from exercising. Lots of good excuses out there, but we need to stand( not sit!) tall in the face of this bigger belly problem. How bad is it? One publication(Simcoe.com) says it this way: "I...

Today is your day Boomer! As I head off for my weekly coffee with golf friends, I think about things like this: Ten things that used to be free and now cost money. (1)free refills at the coffee shop, uh uh. No way. You pay for what you get, even with big corporations like Tim Hortons. (2) Speaking of restaurants, what about free water and bread? Maybe tap water in nations like Canada, but not bubbly water. (3) Grocery bags used to be free, plastic and paper, but now? You may spend $200 on groceries, but they won't give you a 25 cents bag for free! (4) At the gas station, wasn't air for your tires free? Now, bring lots of loonies. (5) Also at the pump, didn't we get "fill-er up" for free....along with our windows washed? Gone now. (6) On airplanes, checked luggage was free; not so much anymore! (7) No service fees on chequing accounts at banks....bye bye, as major banks look to make even more money. (8) Television used to be free; get me a good set of rabbit ...