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.
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
Identify Cues
Disrupt
Replace
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
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
