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YOUR BODY: GET MOVING People who exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Exercise improves blood flow and memory; it stimulates chemical changes in the brain that enhance learning, mood and thinking. Be fit. Be smart. | EAT SMART, THINK BETTERYou are what you eat. As you grow older, your brain is exposed to more harmful stress due to lifestyle and environmental factors, resulting in a process called oxidation, which damages brain cells. Rust on the handlebars of a bike or a partially eaten apple gives you an idea of the kind of damage oxidation can cause to your brain. Food rich in antioxidants can help fend off the harmful effects of oxidation in your brain. | CONTROL MEDICAL RISKSHypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, head trauma, higher cholesterol, and smoking all increase the risk of dementia. You can control and reduce these risks. Get your annual check-up, follow your doctor’s recommendations and take medications as prescribed. Get engaged in a brain healthy lifestyle for your body and your mind. |
YOUR BODY: GET MOVING
EAT SMART, THINK BETTER
You are what you eat. As you grow older, your brain is exposed to more harmful stress due to lifestyle and environmental factors, resulting in a process called oxidation, which damages brain cells. Rust on the handlebars of a bike or a partially eaten apple gives you an idea of the kind of damage oxidation can cause to your brain. Food rich in antioxidants can help fend off the harmful effects of oxidation in your brain.
CONTROL MEDICAL RISKS
Hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, head trauma, higher cholesterol, and smoking all increase the risk of dementia. You can control and reduce these risks. Get your annual check-up, follow your doctor’s recommendations and take medications as prescribed. Get engaged in a brain healthy lifestyle for your body and your mind.
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REST WELLSleep energizes you, improves your mood and your immune system, and may reduce buildup in the brain of an abnormal protein called beta-amyloid plaque, which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Practicing meditation and managing stress may help fend off age-related decline in brain health. Stay positive. Be happy. | YOUR MIND: USE IT OR LOSE IT. Mental exercise is just as critical as physical exercise in keeping your brain fit and healthy. Mental exercises may improve your brain’s functioning and promote new brain cell growth, decreasing your likelihood of developing dementia. Like your muscles, you have to use your brain or you lose it. | STAY CONNECTEDLeading an active social life can protect you against memory loss. Spending time with others, engaging in stimulating conversation, and staying in touch and connected with family and friends are good for your brain health. Studies have shown that those with the most social interaction in their community experience the slowest rate of memory decline.
Source: Cleveland Clinic |
REST WELL
Sleep energizes you, improves your mood and your immune system, and may reduce buildup in the brain of an abnormal protein called beta-amyloid plaque, which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Practicing meditation and managing stress may help fend off age-related decline in brain health. Stay positive. Be happy.
YOUR MIND: USE IT OR LOSE IT.
STAY CONNECTED
Leading an active social life can protect you against memory loss. Spending time with others, engaging in stimulating conversation, and staying in touch and connected with family and friends are good for your brain health. Studies have shown that those with the most social interaction in their community experience the slowest rate of memory decline.
Source: Cleveland Clinic
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Identify Cues Something has to trigger a habit, and a cue can be anything. Maybe stress makes you crave chocolate, or the sound of your alarm triggers you to hit the snooze button. Identifying cues helps you understand what puts your habits into motion. | Disrupt Once you know the cues, you can throw bad habits off track. If the alarm cues you to bash the snooze button every morning, put the alarm clock on the other side of the room. Trekking across the cold floor will likely disrupt the snooze habit. | Replace Research shows that replacing a bad behavior with a good one is more effective than stopping the bad behavior alone. The new behavior “interferes” with the old habit and prevents your brain from going into autopilot. Deciding to eat fruit every time your mind thinks “cookie” substitutes a positive behavior for the negative habit. |
Identify Cues
Disrupt
Replace
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Keep It SimpleIt’s usually hard to change a habit because the behavior has become easy and automatic. The opposite is true, too: new behaviors can be hard because your brain’s basal ganglia, (the “autopilot” part), hasn’t taken over this behavior yet. Simplifying new behaviors helps you integrate them into your autopilot routines. | Think Long-TermHabits often form because they satisfy short-term impulses, the way chewing on your nails might immediately calm your nerves. But short-term desires often have long-term consequences, like nasty, splintered, chewed up fingers. Focusing long term while trying to change some habits will help you remember why you’re investing the effort. | PersistResearch has shown that what you’ve done before is a strong indicator of what you’ll do next. This means established habits are hard to break. But the good news is, if you keep at it, your new behaviors will turn into habits, too. Persistence works — at first it might be painful to get up at 5am for that jog, but soon it will be second nature.
Source: American Heart Association |
Keep It Simple
It’s usually hard to change a habit because the behavior has become easy and automatic. The opposite is true, too: new behaviors can be hard because your brain’s basal ganglia, (the “autopilot” part), hasn’t taken over this behavior yet. Simplifying new behaviors helps you integrate them into your autopilot routines.
Think Long-Term
Habits often form because they satisfy short-term impulses, the way chewing on your nails might immediately calm your nerves. But short-term desires often have long-term consequences, like nasty, splintered, chewed up fingers. Focusing long term while trying to change some habits will help you remember why you’re investing the effort.
Persist
Research has shown that what you’ve done before is a strong indicator of what you’ll do next. This means established habits are hard to break. But the good news is, if you keep at it, your new behaviors will turn into habits, too. Persistence works — at first it might be painful to get up at 5am for that jog, but soon it will be second nature.
Source: American Heart Association
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Chocolate Covered Strawberry GhostsIngredients · 1 pint of fresh strawberries · 6 oz. white chocolate melting wafers · small tube of black icing Instructions 1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. 2. Place white chocolate wafers in a small bowl. 3. Put in microwave in 30 second increments until chocolate is melted and smooth. 4. Dunk strawberries in the chocolate and place on prepared baking sheet. 5. Continue process until all strawberries are covered. 6. Place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to let the chocolate harden and cool. 7. Remove from oven. Using a small tube of black icing, make two eyes and a mouth with the icing. (as shown in the photo) 8. Serve!
| Veggie SkeletonThis snack idea is the perfect way to get your kids excited about eating their veggies — no bones about it! Let them help arrange the skeleton: When kids are involved in the cooking process they're more likely to give foods a try when it comes time to eat. You'll need: Veggie dip, Celery sticks, Baby carrots, Mushrooms, sliced, Cucumbers, cut into rounds, Pea pods, A few lettuce leaves, Pimiento olives, Red bell pepper Directions Scoop veggie dip into a small bowl and place at the top of a long platter. Begin to build the skeleton by arranging veggies: a celery stick for the neck, baby carrots for the arms, mushrooms for the hands, cucumbers for the spine, red pepper slices as the ribs, mushrooms for the hips, celery for the legs, and pea pods for the feet. Give your skeleton hair with lettuce leaves, eyes with olives, and a mouth with a sliver of red pepper. | Chocolate Halloween Pretzel BitesIngredients: Classic twist pretzels Chocolate wafters for baking Candy Eyeballs
Simply: Lay pretzels on a baking tray lined with baking paper Pop a chocolate disc on top of the pretzel Pop into a preheated oven for 2 minutes to melt the chocolate Pull the chocolate pretzels out of the oven and place a candy eye on top Allow to cool completely so everything is stuck together Store in the fridge until ready to eat
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Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ghosts
Ingredients
· 1 pint of fresh strawberries
· 6 oz. white chocolate melting wafers
· small tube of black icing
Instructions
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Place white chocolate wafers in a small bowl.
3. Put in microwave in 30 second increments until chocolate is melted and smooth.
4. Dunk strawberries in the chocolate and place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Continue process until all strawberries are covered.
6. Place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to let the chocolate harden and cool.
7. Remove from oven. Using a small tube of black icing, make two eyes and a mouth with the icing. (as shown in the photo)
8. Serve!
Veggie Skeleton
This snack idea is the perfect way to get your kids excited about eating their veggies — no bones about it!
Let them help arrange the skeleton: When kids are involved in the cooking process they're more likely to give foods a try when it comes time to eat.
You'll need: Veggie dip, Celery sticks, Baby carrots, Mushrooms, sliced, Cucumbers, cut into rounds, Pea pods, A few lettuce leaves, Pimiento olives, Red bell pepper
Directions
Scoop veggie dip into a small bowl and place at the top of a long platter.
Begin to build the skeleton by arranging veggies: a celery stick for the neck, baby carrots for the arms, mushrooms for the hands, cucumbers for the spine, red pepper slices as the ribs, mushrooms for the hips, celery for the legs, and pea pods for the feet.
Give your skeleton hair with lettuce leaves, eyes with olives, and a mouth with a sliver of red pepper.
Chocolate Halloween Pretzel Bites
Ingredients:
Classic twist pretzels
Chocolate wafters for baking
Candy Eyeballs
Simply:
Lay pretzels on a baking tray lined with baking paper
Pop a chocolate disc on top of the pretzel
Pop into a preheated oven for 2 minutes to melt the
chocolate
Pull the chocolate pretzels out of the oven and place a candy eye on top
Allow to cool completely so everything is stuck together
Store in the fridge until ready to eat
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