Help my brain (calming tidy environment, new learning, new physical activities, diet, fish oil, social connections, positive attitude / love+gratitude, meditation)

Calming tidy environment This is my hardest thing. I struggle with my mess. But I’m making headway, bit by bit. The 30 days of cleaning for 30 minutes I think is going to be really helpful.
New Learning I need to do more of this. I always mean to practice guitar or read a novel (or do my homework for school, at least!) but I keep drifting into habits of reading about the things I already know about and am already interested in. So, that’s got to be the next focus after I get the environment tidied up.
New Physical Activities Baby steps. Being physically active is another challenge to keep working on. The 30 days of Exercise goal will address this.
Diet BANGIN ON ALL CYLINDERS. I’ve got my diet healthier than its EVER been, and it’s starting to feel natural to eat this way without even thinking about it.
Fish oil Got it down. Daily can of sardines and the big jar of capsules on the bureau; pop them 2-3 times a day.
Social Connections Arg. We all know about my isolating problem. However, forcing myself to at least engage with people once a day at a meeting is a big step in the right direction (away from staying in my bed and not speaking to people except online)
Positive attitude/Love+gratitude: these feelings seem to emerge spontaneously once you start making a few improvements on the other brain-care activities. It’s come as a HUGE SURPRISE that without having changed a thing about my circumstances ($,job,love,friends,fitness,school: all still more or less in the same condition) my outlook has shifted so dramatically toward positivity and gratitude and love – just by changing what I put into my body and interacting with people on a regular basis who are striving to live better lives. I guess the spiritual focus of AA has also played an important part, but really the change is most dramatic since I cleaned up my food/alcohol intake.
Meditation Just started with taking a minute here and there during the day – Eckhart Tolle’s explanation of observing breath helped make sense of meditation. Also, now that my brain is running smoother from the diet changes, I’m finding it a LOT EASIER to meditate. I just felt like I couldn’t swing it before, it was too irritating.

• Socializing at meeting, then went for tea with some nice women, talked on phone with one friend (social connections).
• Played lumosity games, read a book (learning)
• Put away the dishes focusing attention entirely on the activity of putting away the dishes (meditation)
• Can of sardines and fish oil, to boot. Red peppers, Cabbage, Carrots, Green chilis, Almonds (high-healthy-fat + antioxidants brain diet)
• Listened to music and cleaned a bit (positive attitude + calming tidy environment)
  10 pushups (physical activities)
• Gratitude: I’m grateful I got out of my paralysis today and mustered up the energy to start cleaning. I’m grateful I had the idea of making some curtains. I can’t wait for that…

• Social connections: daily AA meetings, that’s a lot of social interaction and it’s making a shockingly big impact on my life. Isolating is not great for me.
• New learning: struggling with this one. Having trouble with getting my paper done because it requires lots of thinking about complicated things. But, it’s good to be reminded that that will help my brain if I can force myself to do it.
• New physical activities: have been jogging/walking. Took a ballet class at the gym last week (which I hated, but still) and am planning on trying at least one other kind of class this week
• Diet is okay. fish oil is occasional… gotta get back on the beam
• Tidiness… ugh.

OKay. I do need to get more conscious of this goal on a daily basis. That’s going to happen. Glad I’m back on top of reviewing my goals again.

... was working on creating that calming, tidy environment. I spent a good portion of the afternoon cleaning piles of paper off my desk. Sorting, filing, recycling. Even though it was not fun, now that I can see desk surface again, I feel much calmer.

Unfortunately, none of the missing items I am missing (goal #27) surfaced.

I bought fish oil capsules over the weekend. I think I must’ve come home with the most expensive ones! But I am sure my brain is worth it.

I read this goal under Jane’s list – she has since dropped it – and it really speaks to me. It’s complete and precise covering all aspects of my life including the physical body, how I live in my home, what I put into my body (food and mentally) and interact with others. Wow, awesome goal, thanks Jane! :-)

Prof. Art Kramer, of the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois, says there’s substantial evidence showing the benefits of aerobic exercise and physical activity on such executive-control brain functions as task coordination, planning, goal maintenance, working memory and the ability to switch tasks.

He reviewed published research and found that several studies showed that regular moderate exercise that makes a person breathless increases the speed and sharpness of thought, the actual volume of brain tissue, and the way in which the brain functions.

Some studies found that six months of aerobic exercise reversed age-related decline and that older adults’ brains retained plasticity—the capacity to grow and develop. Other studies showed that adults with higher levels of physical fitness had less evidence of deterioration in gray matter (involved in thinking) than less fit peers.

In women going through menopause, a decline in levels of the female hormone estrogen is linked with poorer memory and declining brain power. But Kramer cited a study that found older women who were physically fit had more gray matter and did better on tests of executive control than less-fit women, irrespective of whether they had hormone replacement therapy.

There are still many unanswered questions, but, Kramer concluded, “we can safely argue that an active lifestyle with moderate amounts of aerobic activity will likely improve cognitive and brain function, and reverse the neural decay frequently observed in older adults.”

allegedly learning anything new, anything that’s a bit of a stretch and a struggle, promotes the growth of new neural connections. This includes learning new physical movements until they become comfortable and easy. Guitar and Tennis and Swimming all count. I bought a racket last week and have been promising my brother to try to learn so that we can play together around here. It may be a bit too cold soon, but I’m going to go out with him today and try to get a start.

Of course, I’m going from memory, so I may not have every detail right, but here’s a summary of what I learned about how to improve brain health, making you a happier, healthier, more effective and fulfilled person – which is what we all want on 43T! I’m going to spell it out in this goal so I can remember that without my brain and without managing my ADD, none of my other goals will get accomplished.

• Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes every day – it is the number one thing to do to improve clear thinking and improve mood stability.

• Take fish oil every single day – it’s very good for your brain function, both your cognition and your mood – not to mention good for your health.

• Maintain a healthy diet – lots of antioxidants from colorful fruits and veggies, and good, healthy fats (fish, olive, avocado, nuts and seeds). Also, maintain a healthy weight.

• Think positive – and speak positively about your situation. It’s not just a bandaid, it actually helps you function more effectively. Negative thoughts aparently actually damage your level of brain function, and in one study women friends who complained to one another about a negative situation were less effective at improving their moods than women who were assigned to complete a productive task instead. ALSO, the most important type of positive thinking is maintaining an attitude of gratitude. Focusing on things you’re grateful for and love about your life makes your brain healthier and stronger and clearer.

• Meditate. Meditation decreases stress – which ages the brain prematurely over time – and it also appears to improve cognitive functioning directly after you do it. People who took tests did better on the tests if they meditated for 15-30 minutes before hand. “Clearing your mind,” was expected to decrease activity in the brain but when they did brain scans, people who were meditating actually had MORE activity and stimulation all over their brain. They concluded that when you meditate you are clearing out the superficial thoughts but giving your brain the peace and quiet it needs to process deeper levels of information and knowledge and insight.

• Maintain a strong social network, go to church, get together with family, go out with friends… keeping up strong social connections is associated with improved brain function and decreases the aging of the brain. One study showed that people who were regular members of a church and had good bonds with the other church goers were less likely to suffer from dementia as they got older than people who were isolated.

• Keep learning new things. If you already know how to do something, like speak another language or play an instrument, play a game or a sport, or, gee, make dresses for example, then doing that stuff is good for you… but not as good as stretching to learn something NEW. When you’re in that state of feeling like a beginner where you really have to concentrate and try to make an effort to get something, it makes your brain healthier and stronger and increases the activity in all the areas of your brain.

• Participate regularly in 43T! Or do some similar types of “executive function” goal setting and planning and reviewing of goals. This activity and checking up on yourself to see how you’re following through on daily tasks and to-do lists and RELATING daily to-do lists to long-term goals… all these activities strengthen the functioning of your pre-frontal cortex and make you a more effective thinker.

• AVOID: Alcohol (keep to less than 3 drinks per WEEK), drugs, anti-anxiety medication, and fumes of any kind (car exhaust, paint, cleaning products, etc). All of these cause SERIOUS brain damage and each exposure in your life has an impact. Collectively over time these exposures really destroy your brain and you can’t fix it once it’s damaged.