There are currently around 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, this is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.  Two thirds of the cost of dementia is paid by people with dementia and their families.  Unpaid carers supporting someone with dementia save the UK economy £13.9 billion a year.  There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease or any other type of dementia (source the Alzheimer's Society).

​The long goodbye ....

Dementia is something that has come to challenge me and my family, now and in the past.  There are very few families untouched by this cruel disease and yet there is no cure and it is very difficult to access help, carers feel alone and forgotten.  Care is horrifically expensive and many don't even know how they can get help.

Dementia has many causes (and sometimes there is confusion over the term dementia and Alzheimer's), Alzheimer's is a disease that causes dementia.  Other causes of dementia include vascular dementia, lewy body dementia and Parkinson's disease for example.  However, Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia.  The Alzheimer's Society explain it here.

September is World Alzheimer's Month with World Alzheimer's Day being today, Monday 21st September 2020.

​And I wanted to do my part to raise awareness.  Especially now.  The situation for visiting loved ones in care homes due to the Covid-19 restrictions is horrifying and really unacceptable.   The suffering for those living alone with dementia and the way lockdown exacerbated decline for dementia has been dreadfully sad.  So many forgotten victims of Covid-19.

This blog post is as much about me researching osteoporosis as it is about giving my readers some information of what it is all about.  My knowledge up until now has been that women are more at risk of osteoporosis than men (but men can get it too) and that our declining hormones in midlife are a risk factor, I also know that taking HRT and doing regular exercise, especially strength training can really help reduce your risk.  But when I was approached to write a blog post about it, I obviously wanted to find out more and check my facts ... and there is much more to it, for starters I learnt that as well as osteoporosis there is osteopenia and brittle bone disease as well - read on!

Now as you know I am a huge supporter of women taking HRT if they possibly can and that doing regular exercise and especially incorporating strength training into your routine can have a massive positive impact on our health overall in midlife.  And maintaining a healthy weight is important, we all know the risks associated with obesity but losing a lot of weight can also reduce our bone density.

What do you have for breakfast?  Buttered toast just isn't good enough any more, the more we learn about nutrition and understand about the importance of protein with every meal, well we do need to up our game a bit!  I have a few 'go to' healthy breakfasts ...

Overnight oats (you can find my recipe here)
Poached egg and avocado on wholemeal toast
Smoothies
Banana pancakes with fruit and yoghurt
Granola or Muesli with yoghurt

I know that any of these fit in with my calories, I know they are quick and easy and I know they are healthy.  I have for many years only had Lizi's Granola, I've tried others but always go back to Lizi's and I serve it with a generous dollop of Fage Total 2% Yoghurt plus I add in some flaxseeds for their extra health benefits.  So when I was asked if I'd like to try Lizi's Super Muesli, recently launched, I guessed it would be as good as her Granola.  But how to serve it?  I researched and found out that this traditional Swiss breakfast should be served with fruit juice which I didn't have in the fridge so I used yoghurt - which still gives me the protein with every meal which is so important (to keep us fuller for longer).

I haven't done a healthy eating and exercise update for a while and with lockdown I think we have all been a bit tempted by homemade cakes, wine or a G&T or two.  So inevitably a few pounds might have been gained here and there.  I started off well with plans to exercise at least twice a week and daily walks.  Then the sun arrived, and my sun lounger was more tempting and the rose wine at 5 pm became an excellent idea.  But with lockdown easing and normality slowly returning I thought it was time for me to get back to some sort of healthy lifestyle!

Remember, it is important to live a life too.  To incorporate an 80/20 approach.  And to not beat yourself up about the occasional slip up or not doing enough exercise.  Stress is one of the biggest causes of weight gain!  So first of all relax (yeah I know, not easy).  Then the next thing to focus on is a CALORIE DEFICIT.  How ever you measure your food intake (logging calories, writing a diary, or just using common sense and portion control) you will not lose fat unless you are consuming less calories than you burn off.  So any of the fad diets work on this principle - keto, slimming world, low gluten, gluten free, healthy eating - they only work because they put you are in a calorie deficit.

For this post I am really highlighting the importance of small, sustainable changes and not a sudden effort to cut calories, stop eating carbs, give up alcohol and exercise five times a week.