With all these fancy ideas I’ve picked up here and there on how to lose weight, I seem to have forgotten that nothing really beats counting calories.

Gone are my Jenny Craig and Weight Watcher days when I had to maintain a very strict diet to the point that I had to weigh my foods …. still, I should have paid more attention to the calorie counting portion of both programs.

I think I got duped into the modern way of thinking that cutting out carbs, going vegetarian or even taking diet supplements can give me the edge in losing weight.

Groan … the thought of dating again is more than most women over 50 can face with any confidence, much less enthusiasm. For those newly divorced or widowed, even those still just looking, it quickly becomes painfully clear that the rules have changed since their 20s or 30s.

For those new to the dating scene, they may not be mentally or emotionally ready to date again, according to Barbara Bellman, a veteran of the dating wars and co-author of the new book, Flirting after Fifty: Lessons for Grown-Up Women on How to Find Love Again. “Newly single, middle-aged women are frightened at the prospect, vulnerable, and uneasy about the whole thing,” says Bellman. “What worked years ago may often seem ridiculous and ineffective now.”