Five Fun Ways to Keep Your Memory Sharp

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If you worry about your memory and want to keep it sharp, here are 5 tips to boost your brain power.

Being an active learner throughout your life is a good way to keep your mind youthful, because maintaining sharp brain health requires constant learning. The more you use your brain, the more brain cells your body will generate. And, experts believe that the more brain cells you have in reserve, the lower your chance of developing age-related cognitive decline.

Here are some fun ways to stimulate and challenge your brain:

Memorize a Poem or Song: This kind of focus and concentration has been shown have positive effects on memory. Pick a favorite poem or song and look at it visually while saying it out loud to help you remember. Repetition is key to remembering something, so say it in the morning when you wake up, and again at night before you go to bed. Before long, you’ll have your favorite poem or song memorized.

Play Card Games Like Concentration: Any card game will help stimulate your brain and keep it working. Concentration is one game that’s great for your memory and can be played either alone or with a group of people. In this game, all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards.

Try Brain Teasers: These fun games really challenge your mind to look at something in a different way or focus and concentrate to solve a problem. For example:

Find the Familiar Word

If you cross out five letters in the group of letters below, the remaining letters (in their current order) will spell a popular fruit. What is the word?

B F I A V N E A L E N T T A E R S

(The answer at the bottom of this page)

Have a Chat: If puzzles and games are not your thing, try having a chat with someone. Memory researchers have found that spending just 10 minutes a day talking to another person can support your memory as much as puzzles and games.

Switch your routine. Try using your non-dominant hand to write, brush your teeth, hold your computer mouse, or switch the channels of your TV with your remote control. Yes, it will likely feel a bit awkward. And, it will take more time to do what you are trying to do. But, when you use your non-dominant hand for tasks, you are actually strengthening the pathways in the opposite side of your brain.

Answers to Brain Teaser

Cross out “fi-v-e-le-tt-ers” to make the word BANANA

This article is written by Lauren Kent the writer for Nutri-Health.com, an online High Quality Health Supplements and Health Store.  Assisting people and helping them find quality natural supplements and health products online is what Lauren has been doing for several years.  Nutri-Health.com carries Digestive Supplements to Probiotic Supplements to Joint Health products.

6 Steps to Supercharge Your Immune System this Season

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My friends at Nutri-Health.com (thank you!!) offered to send me a guest post on ways to boost your immune health. Read on for these helpful tips!

 

This time of year you probably have a thousand things to do. Between the cooking and cleaning for incoming guests, to the shopping for your loved ones, the last thing you need is a runny nose and cold to slow you down. Here are six ways to help keep your immune system in tip-top shape so you can fight off the bugs and stay healthy this season. Read more →

Skip resolutions and do this instead

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NYE photo 12-31-2014

Photo credit: Katie Kaleita Higgins (Heman and I at New Year’s Eve dinner)

New Year’s brings about so much anticipation about going all out to be our super perfect best self and no less will do (oh the pressure!). We get overwhelmed in an instant and then it’s tough to want to step forward and take action.

 

It doesn’t have to be this way.

 

Focus on making one small positive step a day. Here’s a few small steps you can take. Choose one or two daily. I hope this inspires you to make up some of your own.

 

One positive step a day to better health:

1. Drink water with lemon first thing in the morning to hydrate and give your body a natural energy boost. I use fresh squeezed lemons or lemon essential oil, must be Therapeutic Grade so it’s safe to consume, I use doTERRA.

2. Have a piece of fruit or sliced veggies as a snack instead of a candy bar.

3. Make a healthy dinner. Keep it simple. Baked fish and a healthy salad. Try my recipe: http://blog.vitacost.com/recipes-2/baked-mahi-mahi-with-roasted-garlic-salsa.html

4. Exercise first thing in the morning before getting ready for work. Create a workout schedule at the beginning of each week, pencil in that weight-lifting session or spin class, then get up and go in the morning.

5. Be good to you. Take that 5 minute break when you know you really need. Ask for a hug when you need to feel loved.

 

I am all about creating goals that are specific and measurable instead of resolutions which are usually vague and unrealistic. I encourage you to start simple then expand by writing down your short and long term goals. For professional support in reaching your health and wellness goals, contact me at pam@totalhealthcounseling.com.

 

Wishing you abundant Health & Happiness in the New Year!

XO,

Pam

Healthy Baking Swaps for the Holidays

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Got a cookie exchange or holiday party to attend soon? December is practically cookie month with all of the cookie trays going around. I know members of my family love to bake tons of cookies to give away as gifts for the holidays. You know those delicious plates filled with several kinds of cookies. How can one resist!
 What if you could swap out ingredients to make your cookies and baked goods a little bit healthier without sacrificing taste? It IS possible. Check out my tips to clean up your cookies yet still taste decadent.

 

Healthy Baking Swaps:
  • Instead of 1 cup sugar use ¾ cup sugar, no one will even notice, that is 4 tablespoons less sugar right there!
  • Use less processed sugars like raw honey, maple syrup, turbinado sugar in place of refined white sugar. This is a 1:1 swap.
  • Use fresh or frozen berries in recipes instead of dried fruit to cut back on added sugars.
  • Instead of 1 whole egg, use 1 tablespoon ground flax plus 3 tablespoons water. Mix and set aside 5 minutes to allow flax egg to gel. This adds extra fiber and cuts down on fat.
  • Instead of 1 cup oil use ½ cup oil and ½ cup applesauce or mashed banana or cooked pumpkin.
  • Replace ½ cup of baking flour with rolled oats or quinoa flakes for extra nutrition, protein, and fiber.
  • Use gluten free all-purpose baking flour with 3 grams fiber per serving instead of all-purpose white flour.
  • Use ½ cup of mini chocolate chips instead of 1 cup of regular size chocolate chips to reduce sugar and fat.
What are your best baking swaps? I’d love to hear from you.

What’s On My Thanksgiving Table This Year

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Happy Thanksgiving this week! We will be celebrating with family and looking forward to some fun and relaxation.

I wanted to share with you what we’ll be enjoying this year.

Thanksgiving Menu:

*Greenwise Turkey (humanely raised without hormones or antibiotics, fed a vegetarian diet)

*Traditional dressing (Southern dish made with cornbread, breadcrumbs, eggs, butter, turkey broth)

*Sweet Potato Soufflé (you know the one made with sweet potato and marshmallows on top)

*Garlic Lime Broccoli (garlic and broccoli sautéed with a squeeze of fresh lime and pinch of salt)

*Roasted delicata squash (roasted whole, then sliced)

*Citrus Cranberry Sauce

*Wild Rice (healthy recipe below!!) Or you can make this other version of mine featured on Vitacost.com

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Sweet & Savory Wild Rice (proudly featured on SloBody.com/blog!)

Ingredients:

1 cup wild rice blend (or wild rice if you prefer) soak in water 30 min to 4 hours to remove phytic acid

2 medium carrots, diced

1 medium apple, diced (leave peel on)

1 organic zucchini, diced

1 organic yellow squash, diced

Spices:

1/2 tsp each cumin + coriander

1/4 tsp. each ground cinnamon, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

1. Soak rice 30 minutes to 4 hours to remove phytic acid, rinse rice and set aside before cooking.

2. Wash apples and veggies well then dice.

3. Heat medium-sized sauté pan (4 quart) to medium heat, add apple and veggies to cook about 10 minutes. Stir often.

4. Measure out spices then add to sauté pan.

5. Add wild rice and 2 cups of filtered water to pan, bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer

6. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is done.

7. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

8. Serve warm or at room temp.

 

Yield: 5 cups

Dish can be prepared a day or 2 in advance.

 

What is going on your Thanksgiving table this year?