Mental Fitness is as Important as Physical Fitness!

Hi everyone! The funniest thing happened to me the other day when I was visiting my family in Houston. We were all sitting in a restaurant having lunch when out of nowhere a woman came up to our table and greeted me warmly. "Hi Nancy! How are you girl?" I stared at her and drew a blank. I was completely mortified because she obviously knew me very well. My unease was apparent so she quickly told me who she was. Turns out she was a teller at my local bank back home in my little town who just happened to be visiting friends in Houston.  Even though this happened several days ago, I still feel so badly for this woman because I felt I was being rude for not recalling her name when she approached.  I also still feel the tinge of humiliation for being unable to recall her name. The truth is that as we get older our mental acuity is not as sharp as when we were young. Mental fitness is like physical fitness. Just as we should walk, bike, swim, etc. for our physical self we should practice exercising our minds as well. Growing older does not automatically mean you will lose your ability to think clearly, remember facts or be able to reason, but most people find that their memory slows down a bit as they age. Very often, however, the memory loss is related to stress, depression, medications, poor nutrition, changes in life such as retirement or even at times, grief. Research indicates that eating foods rich in antioxidants such as fruits and vegetables may help prevent the natural decline in brain function that comes with age. Research also indicates that exercise is one of the keys to keeping your mind sharp as you age. It helps to preserve the blood supply to the brain.  Regular exercise can help us all maintain quick reaction times and improve our brain power. The old adage is absolutely true, if your don't use it you lose it! Some suggestions for keeping your memory sharp are:

• Build routines into your day. Having a routine helps you remember more!
• Make lists. This helps your mind stay free of clutter. I keep a notepad by my bed to clear my mind before going to sleep.
• Do crossword puzzles or play on-line games with friends. I play Words with Friends daily on my computer or iPad. I have a first generation iPad, but am really looking forward to the new one coming soon. Recently, Apple unveiled its third generation iPad, which has been simply named "new iPad." It boasts remarkable features like Retina display and packs 4G LTE technology, which will enable faster streaming and downloads and should make playing games and working on-line crosswords much easier for all of us.
• Try making associations, especially visual connections, between what you are trying to learn and what you know.  Experts say the more ridiculous the associations, the better the chances of recalling things.

I hope what happened to me never happens again since it was so embarrassing! I plan to follow my own advice to keep my mind sharp in the future and hope you do too! Have a happy and healthy week everyone!