Education — Mental Fitness

Joi March 22, 2011 3 Comments

Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease with the Internet

Below is a guest post by freelance writer Kathleen Hessing. The information and advice is the sort of thing we’re committed to here on Out of Bounds – keeping your brain sharp, strengthening your mind, preventing memory loss, and preventing Alzheimer’s Disease. The information is truly priceless.

Although the disease is incurable once it occurs, there are steps we can take to help prevent the development of Alzheimer’s. Keeping your brain alert has been proved to do just that.

Even if you have the busiest of schedules, you can work small things into your day to help you stay sharp. One way to do this is to use your non-dominant hand for everyday tasks like eating and opening doors. By doing this, you exercise the opposite side of your brain.

Mind-engaging puzzles like Sudoku and crosswords can increase brain activity as well. Several websites offer games and puzzles to entertain and challenge you. Here are a few to get you started:

WebSudoku.com – This website claims to offer billions of Sudoku puzzles. That should keep you busy for quite a while!
BoatloadPuzzles.com – When they say boatload, they aren’t kidding. You’ll find 40,000 free crossword puzzles on this site.
JigZone.com – Like jigsaw puzzles, but don’t have the space to lay them out and solve them? This site allows you to put together jigsaw puzzles made up of 6 to 247 pieces. You can play against a clock for more of a challenge, too.

Many local newspapers and magazines publish all kinds of puzzles, from Sudoku and crosswords, to word finds, acrostics, and Kakuro, which is similar to Sudoku, but involves math rather than just number placement.

Reading exercises your brain, too. Do it often. Experts say you should frequently switch up the topics you read so you’ll experience changes in vocabulary, thereby stimulating more areas of your brain.

Video games can actually benefit your brain in a big way, too. Instead of zoning out to TV shows or movies for hours on end, try playing a game. It can help improve your memory, your development of logic skills, increase your creativity, increase your mental speed, and improve your hand-eye coordination.

There are plenty of free gaming websites out there. For starters, try these:

Bored.com – This site boasts tons of games in categories such as puzzles, strategy, action, and arcade.
AddictingGames.com – You can either play games on your own, or get a friend to play a two-player game with you on the same computer. There are also games to play with friends via Facebook.
PlayedOnline.com – Play classics such as Super Mario World and Pac-Man, as well as many new games.
Pogo.com – Pogo has some of the most popular online games like Bejeweled, as well as classics such as Scrabble, Yahtzee, Risk, and Monopoly.
FreeOnlineGames.com – Not only can you play games on this site, you can get free games to install on your own website.

If you want to step up the quality of your games and interaction, consider spending some money on a video game console for your home. You can even play games on your cell phone if it has such capabilities.

Another brain-building activity you can try is learning a foreign language. You don’t have to spend any money on this—everything you need is at your local library. You can check out instructional books, CDs, DVDs, and tapes there. You don’t need to go for total fluency. Just learning some words and phrases is enough to get your brain working.

While all these activities can help keep your brain sharp, and can potentially help prevent Alzheimer’s, they can’t cure it. Once a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is made, it’s important to learn about the disease to be able to cope with it to the best of your ability.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, check out the Alzheimer’s Association website for information about the disease and its treatments. Researchers are always looking for ways to improve the lives of those suffering from Alzheimer’s. The site allows you to browse through the various medications that have Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval so you can talk to your doctor about which one is right for you or your loved one.

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease can become a heavy burden over time. It requires a lot of patience, but even then, it can be one of the hardest things to do in life. Taking care of a loved one with Alzheimer’s is an admirable endeavor, but it can become more difficult as time and the disease progress. If you ever find yourself unable to continue as a caretaker, consider looking into an elderly care facility that specializes in Alzheimer’s care. It’s a difficult decision to make, but you’ll feel better knowing your loved one is receiving the best care available.

Kathleen Hessing is a freelance writer who enjoys finding new ways to improve her life, and sharing them with others through her writing.

Filed Under: Education, Improve Your Memory, Mental Fitness, Prevent Alzheimer's Disease Tagged: prevent Alzheimer's Disease, Prevent dementia, prevent memory loss

Joi February 23, 2011 2 Comments

Learning a Second Language May Delay Alzheimer’s Disease

As we’ve always known, learning a second language is great for your brain. However, its benefits seem to surpass anything we ever hoped for.

New studies show that learning a second language can pump up your brain in ways that seem to delay getting Alzheimer’s disease.

While the study focused primarily on individuals who mastered a second language previously (and have kept their skills sharp – as opposed to forgetting everything you ever learned in your high school Spanish class), experts tell us that even people who take up a second language later in life will benefit.

Naturally, the more proficient you become, the better, but “every little bit helps,” said Ellen Bialystok, a psychology professor at York University in Toronto.

As far as scientists know now, learning a second language does nothing to actually prevent Alzheimer’s disease. But once the disease does begin to rear its ugly head, the mental benefits of tackling a second language cushion the individual so that symptoms don’t become apparent as quickly, Bialystok said.

Amazon.com Widgets

Even if you take Alzheimer’s out of the picture, learning a second language (or, for that matter, anything NEW and CHALLENGING) stimulates your brain cells in fresh, new ways. The process keeps you sharp, prevents memory loss, and boosts your confidence. The brain loves to be stimulated and challenged and will reward you in many wonderful ways, including strengthening and improving your memory.

Give it a try! Pick a language that interests you and begin your own home study course. Of course, if you have the time and inclination, you could always take a college class. You’ll want a program that provides audio and/or video, so you can hear the words being properly pronounced. Just remember to keep studying and never give up. Your brain will absolutely love the challenge. Think of all you have to gain!

Filed Under: Brain Games, Education, Improve Your Memory, Prevent Alzheimer's Disease Tagged: Education, improve your memory, mental fitness, prevent Alzheimer's Disease, stay sharp

Joi February 15, 2009 2 Comments

The Benefits of Learning Something New Every Day

Never let your education end!

If you’ve read this blog (or my Self Help Blog) very long, you probably already know that I home schooled my three daughters from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Right from the start, I taught them the importance of learning something new every day. Beginning in Kindergarten, at bedtime, each had to tell me three new things they’d learned that day. Naturally, most nights saw them listing off more than just three – but they never went under.

It’s an approach that we should take to each day as well.

What would happen to our muscles if they didn’t get daily exercise? Imagine, for a minute, that you were confined to bed for months – unable to walk. Your leg muscles would become so weak that, when you were able to leave the bed, they would struggle to even support you, let alone walk or run.

Our brains need stimulation and activity to function as well. In fact, as we age, our brains need more activity – not less. Yet, the average person between the ages of 35 – 65 begin to stimulate and challenge their minds less. They become comfortable with what they’ve already learned in life, and frankly don’t see the need to expand on this knowledge.

Can you say, “Danger zone!?”

As a person gets older, they lose some muscle – that’s why it’s so important to exercise, physically. In addition, as a person ages, their brain loses its ability to withstand neurological damage that results from aging. This neurological damage can bring about memory loss and slow down the thought process.

However, we can give our brains the “muscle” it needs to fight off this decline by doing the following:

We need to eat a healthy diet – rich in vegetables, fruit, and fish.
We need to exercise daily. Walking is an activity that all experts agree on, whether your goal is weight loss, better heart health, increased lung capacity, or sharper minds.
We need to challenge our minds every single day. We should never become lax or content in our knowledge.

There are many important facets to eating and being healthy. One of the most important aspects is not overdoing alcohol consumption. Alcohol Rehab can help you get healthy and on track.

I’ve spent a few weeks focusing on the diet aspect and when it comes to the physical aspect, little more can be written than MOVE THAT BODY!

So, let’s shift our attention to, arguably, the most important of the group: Challenging our minds. Let’s make a pact, right now. We will start learning at least three new things each and every day. Then we should hold ourselves accountable each evening by asking, “What three things have I learned today?” What should you do on an evening when you can only name 2? Get out of bed and find #3, that’s what!

Each night of the week, try to remember each night before’s 3 as well. By the end of the week, coming up with the 21 may be tough, but your brain will absolutely thrive on the challenge.

Of course, it goes without saying, if the three a day and 21 a week isn’t challenging enough – increase the number!

This is my own, personal approach. I’m a huge history buff. Huge, huge, huge. So it’s no surprise that one of the areas I challenge myself daily is in one of my favorite subjects: History. I also love spelling, Grammar, and literature – so I also try to learn something new every day in this area as well. The following are some of my favorite websites when I’m on an educational scavenger hunt:

Links for American History Buffs

White House.org

The History Channel

American Revolution.com

Civil War.com

I have each of the above historical websites bookmarked and visit them regularly. I love to take a period of history and delve into it as deeply as I can. I try to find out everything I can about each individual, each place, each battle, etc. I’m trying to branch out from my favorite periods of history (named above!) and explore the World Wars, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, World History, early settlers, etc.

I actually started this year with every intention of learning all that I could about China and it’s fascinating history. Somehow, though, I wound up sitting at the table with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Paul Revere. All they wanted to talk about was Valley Forge, the Boston Tea Party, and the Declaration of Independence (Mr. Jefferson’s favorite subject). I was outnumbered, so I gave in. Confucius said he’d wait for me.

I also have committed myself to learn more about geography. Places simply

Literature Websites

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

Books and Classic Literature

Classic Authors.net

While reading, period, is great for our minds – reading more challenging material is even better. It really doesn’t get more challenging that Shakespeare or the classics, does it? A funny thing will happen along the way, however – you’ll fall head over heels in love with them and wonder how you ever survived without them. Shakespeare is beautiful and fascinating. His stories make today’s television shows and movies pale in comparison. Big time.

I’m going to begin giving little DID YOU KNOW? nuggets at the end of my posts as well as a quote. Memorizing the facts and quotes will, hopefully, prove to be a delicious little mental workout.

Tomorrow, I’ll post some other great educational websites – covering science, math, foreign language (personally, I’m brushing up on my Spanish, then I want to move along to Italian), geography, and world history.

Just remember, your education should never, ever stop. Just because most of us are no longer in a structured school any longer doesn’t mean we can’t learn just as much as we did when we were. In fact, we should be able to learn more! Our brain cells won’t know what hit them – but they’ll feel better than they’ve felt in years.

Make each moment count double,
~ Joi

DID YOU KNOW?
When George Washington died (in 1799), Martha Washington was so overcome with grief that she was unable to attend his funeral. She reportedly burned all of their letters to one another to protect their privacy. However, it appears a few which had been kept in her desk were spared.

Martha closed off their bedroom as well as George Washington’s study to guard herself from painful memories. She, herself, died in 1802 from a “severe fever.”

QUOTE

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company. – George Washington

Filed Under: Education, Mental Fitness Tagged: brain fitness, history, learning new things, Literature, mental fitness, mental workouts, Shakespeare

Joi February 3, 2009 Leave a Comment

Serving Up a Dish of Mental Fitness

Salmon and Salad. Eating. It’s something we do every single day. In fact, most of us do it at least three times a day. We try to watch and make sure the food we fix and eat is healthy for our body. After all, we realize that eating good foods and avoiding bad foods will mean we’ll live longer and be healthier. The thought of less trips to the doctor and more trips to the lake keep us canvasing the produce aisles.

We’re actually racking up a fantastic bonus when we approach our diets from this standpoint. Many of the foods that pamper and strengthen our heart, lungs, and other inner necessities do the same for our brains.

Below are some of the foods you should make certain you’re getting enough of and the reasons why.

Fish. Oily fish (mackerel, kippers and salmon) are especially rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Eating fish not only improves concentration, it can actually speed up brain waves.
Wholegrain food. Be sure your diet has a beautiful mix of wholegrain foods such as cereals, wheat bran, wheatgerm and wholewheat pasta. Studies show that wholegrain foods help our memory and concentration.
Blueberries. Mental Fitness experts absolutely love blueberries and can’t say enough good things about them. They actually improve short term memory loss which means they not only strengthen and improve a mind that’s functioning well – they can heal one which isn’t doing so well.
Tomatoes. We all know that lycopene is a powerful antioxidant found in tomatoes. We also know how much our hearts love lycopene. Research now shows that the lycopene found in tomatoes can actually help protect against free radical damage to cells which leads to dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s.
Cocoa (!). The antioxidant concentration in a cup of hot cocoa has been found to be higher than that found in either red wine or green tea.
Remember Your Vitamins. Alzheimer’s patients are found to have higher levels of homocysteine than other people. Folic acid and vitamin B12 help prevent homocysteine from building up in the body, which gives an extra level of defense against dementia. Fortified cereals are an excellent source of vitamin B12.
Pumpkin Seeds. Snacking on pumpkin seeds provides you with your recommended daily amount of zinc. Just a handful a day is all it takes. Zinc is vital for enhancing memory and thinking skills.
Oranges and Orange Juice. Vitamin C is believed to have the power to increase mental agility.
Sage. The herb that no good cook would even attempt dressing or stuffing without has a strong reputation for improving memory.
Curry. Scientists tell us that a chemical found in the spices curry and turmeric help the immune system clear amyloid-beta from brain tissue. Amyloid-beta is the substance that forms the plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
Green Vegetables. The folic acid found in green vegetables improves memory.
Cranberries. In lab tests, cranberries have been shown to preserve brain cells.
Eggs and Skim Milk. Studies have found that boosting choline can improve memory. Egg yolks are among the richest natural sources of choline. Experts tell us that skim milk also contains choline.
Green Tea. I’ve been preaching the virtues of green tea forever when it comes to physical health. Now, research proves that green tea is just as important for mental health. A Japanese study of 1,000 people over the age of 70 found that those who drank the most green tea showed the least signs of the cognitive decline.
Vitamin E. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology reports that vitamin E might help to prevent poor memory. Good sources: Nuts, leafy green vegetables, seeds, eggs, brown rice and whole grains.
L-Carnosine. L-Carnosine is a strong antioxidant which appears to protect the brain from plaque formation that can lead to senility and Alzheimer’s. L-Carnosine is found in chicken and lean red meat.

**The Heavenly salmon at the top of the post is from a Country Living Recipe: Horseradish-Crusted Wild Pacific Salmon. Personally, I don’t like salmon’s attitude, so I need a recipe that’ll bring out flavor it didn’t even know it had. Click the link for the recipe.

Pumpkin Seeds.

Filed Under: Brain Food, Education, Motivational, Tough Love! Tagged: brain foods, mental fitness

Joi December 5, 2008 3 Comments

Review: The Language of Emotional Intelligence

The Language of Emotional Intelligence by Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. is one of the most fascinating books I’ve read in a while. I should have known it would be, given the fact that the author’s previous book was another must read, Raising Your Emotional Intelligence: A Practical Guide .

I LOVE books that are more than just books – ones that (upon reading) literally feel like a completed college course! That’s my kind of higher learning: On my own time and less than $20 a course.

If you were like me, you probably never thought of the phrase “Emotional Intelligence.” I remember the first time I ever saw the book, Raising Your Emotional Intelligence: A Practical Guide. I thought, “Whaaaaat?” Naturally, being an inquisitive (nosy?) person, any what with that many a’s warrants an investigation.

At the risk of dangerously over-simplifying, emotional intelligence deals with our ability, or lack thereof (depending upon our individual level of emotional intelligence) to handle life as it comes at us, as it came at us, or as it will come at us. This is a term that was often, in my opinion, referred to as “emotional maturity.” However, Jeanne Segal ‘s approach lets us know that this is something we can work on. You no longer have to just say, “Well, I’m emotionally immature (or he is, or she is), there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

Jeanne Segal’s exceptional books give the reader the power to say, “I can raise my emotional intelligence and open up a whole new world!”

Relationships can… and will… improve.

Outlooks can… and will… brighten.

When I write book reviews, I normally focus on one book, and one book only. The problem is – I completely and thoroughly want you to read BOTH of these books. You can, of course, gain a wealth of information, inspiration, and motivation from reading just one. But if you read both? Look out!

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence

Never underestimate the importance of emotional intelligence. I’ve read that even major corporations are now bringing in consultants to boost employees’ Emotional Quotient. And why not? The emotional health of an individual affects every single corner of his or her life.

Have you ever known someone who was “book smart” and had a great deal of common sense? When you watch a game show with them, they seem to know every answer and a conversation with them leaves you convinced that they know a little something about everything. BUT, their emotional intelligence leaves a great, great, great deal to be desired. You find yourself asking, “How can anyone who is so smart act so stupid?” After all, smart people don’t yell at other drivers, get hung up on petty little differences, or blow things way out of proportion, right?

Well, they do if their emotional intelligence isn’t as high as it should be.

If you recognize yourself or someone you know in the description, I honestly urge you to click one of the links and buy BOTH of these books off of Amazon. Used copies are available as well as new copies, so you can save money (always a great idea, but especially this time of year!).

The Language of Emotional Intelligence

The Language of Emotional Intelligence includes simple and fun exercises and self-quizzes that give you a really good look inward. I’m all about self knowledge, so I absolutely love these exercises.

The author also includes some beautiful calming exercises that can take you from 250 to 0 in mere minutes.

Whether emotional intelligence is something you feel YOU, personally, need to work on or it is an area you want to help someone you love with, I wholeheartedly recommend these books. If you HAD to just buy one today and save the second one for another day, I’d suggest you buy The Language of Emotional Intelligence first. It’s just a very special book and I’m anxious for as many people to read it as possible. I believe it’d do a world of good. Change is a beautiful buzz word right now and I know this book could bring a lot of change about for a lot of people.

Here’s a self check about stress that can be found in Chapter 3: Why Stress Cripples Communication:

When I feel agitated, do I know how to quickly calm down?
Can I easily let go of my anger?
Can I turn to others at work to help me calm down and feel better?
When I come home at night, do I walk in the door feeling alert and relaxed?
Am I seldom distracted or moody?
Am I able to recognize upsets that others seem to be experiencing?
Do I easily turn to friends and family members for a calming influence?
When my energy is low, do I know how to boost it?

A quick look at these descriptions makes it easy to see why so many relationships are shattered – some people are, emotionally, ticking time bombs.

This chapter does a brilliant job of explaining how stress cripples relationships as well as letting the reader know what they can do to turn things around.

Other favorite chapters are..

Chapter 4 – Tool #1, The Elastic: Stress Busting

Chapter 6 – Raising Your Emotional Intelligence

Chapter 7 – Tool #3, The Pulley: Nonverbal Communication

Chapter 8 – Speaking Louder Without Words than with Them

Chapter 9 – Tool #4, The Ladder: Playfulness and Humor

Chapter 11 – Tool #5, The Velvet Hammer: Conflict Resolution

Chapter 12 – Turning Mad into Glad

Click any of the links within the post to read more about these fascinating books.

Filed Under: Education, Mental Fitness Tagged: book review, Emotional Intelligence, Jeanne Segal, relationships, The Language of Emotional Intelligence

Joi September 2, 2008 Leave a Comment

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation? You’re Kidding, Right?!

Long ago, summer vacations were instituted for young people who were needed, by their family, for working on the farm, in the fields, or in the kitchen. You know, places where few young people can be found spending their summers today.

Even today, for high school and college students summer vacations still serve a purpose. A lot of kids use the summer months to work to save money for college. But for the younger grades, the only purpose I can think of is convenience for family vacations.

The drawback to taking a few months off for summer vacation is that young brains tend to forget a lot of what they’ve learned.

According to Psychology Today.com:

University of Missouri psychologist Harris Cooper finds that children typically forget between one and three months’ worth of schooling during the summer. Math and spelling skills suffer the most, while reading is least affected by the break.

Now would be a great time to spend an extra hour each night with your little Einstein in the making. Buy a few scholastic workbooks (you can find a great selection in the book section of just about any store and an even better selection at Teacher Supply Stores). Even if your Eistein isn’t so little, extra mental activity is always a good idea.

Of course, the best thing to do is to stock up on these workbooks before the summer months and require a certain number of pages to be worked each week. Since most schools are already back in full swing, it’s too late for that. Not to fret, though, you can still make up for lost time by grabbing workbooks and setting aside a little time each evening for a month or two. Some parents and grandparents would balk at the idea thinking that it wouldn’t be a very ”kind” or “fair” thing to do to the child. (What they’re really saying is that it won’t make them very popular with the young person.) But you and I know that it would be the most kind and fair thing to do for the child. It could make a huge difference in their upcoming school year – give them a little edge (and that’s always nice to have.)

You really wouldn’t even HAVE to buy workbooks. Plain, old-fashioned pencil and paper will do just fine. Come up with 10-20 problems for them to work through each night and give little spelling quizzes. The benefit with workbooks would be this: You’d know the problems were age-appropriate. However, if you’ve been following thier school work, you should have a pretty good idea what they should and shouldn’t know. If in doubt, get out their papers and books from the previous year.

Believe me, when they “get” problems that their peers are struggling with, you’ll gain that popularity back and then some.

A really cool bonus is that you’ll be giving your own mind a nice little workout each night. If the child is really young, you probably aren’t going to benefit from revisiting math or spelling on their level (unless your math skills are as loatesome as mine!), but when we challenge ourselves to explain something to someone else in a language they understand, we push ourselves outside of our own comfort zone – and that’s always a good thing to do, mentally.

As if we needed another benefit, let’s not forget the sweetness of extra quality time with some of our favorite people on earth!

Make each moment count double,

~ Joi

Filed Under: Brain Games, Education Tagged: Education, helping with homework, helping your child in school, homeschooling, mental fitness, tutoring kids

Joi August 27, 2008 1 Comment

Are You Mentally Growing Each and Every Day?

We adults make many and varied mistakes, you’ve got to give us that. But one of the worst mistakes we make is when we get too comfortable and overly content with our knowledge. When we stop challenging ourselves, mentally, we stop growing mentally. That, as you can imagine, doesn’t lead anywhere worth going.

I’m not suggesting that we have to enroll in college classes. In fact, the bulk of my own education hasn’t been acquired anywhere near a classroom. What I’m suggesting is this: Each day, go out of your way to learn at least one thing that you didn’t know the day before. It’s as simple as that. You could “tackle” a new subject each week (or month, depending upon the depth of the subject).

For example, when I was homeschooling our 3 daughters, we had our regular subjects each day. But for the last hour of the school day, we had what we called “Unit Studies,” where we dove into subjects that varied by the week. One of the funnest things we did, at the beginning of each school year, was to come up with the different subjects we’d be covering in our Unit Studies.

The subjects (some weekly/some monthly) below are a few of the ones I recall off the top of my head:

The Underground Railroad
Tigers
Mary Todd Lincoln
Madagascar
Cleopatra
Bach
Beethoven
African Elephants
Sharks (I timed it to coincide with Discovery Channel’s always amazing Shark Week. Yay, me.)
The Renaissance
Vincent Van Gogh
The US Government
Shakespeare
The Bronte Sisters
Eagles
Thomas Jefferson
Dinosaurs
Snakes
Harriet Tubman
Polar Bears

Etc… etc… etc…

Subjects such as these would make wonderful “Unit Studies” for all of us to pursue. If we took a different subject each week and nightly read online articles and/or library books about our subject – within a year, we’d be experts on over 50 different subjects!

I know I don’t have to tell you how much our brains would love all that stimulation. Quite frankly, it’d make us more rounded, much more interesting people as well.

You can use the subjects above, or round up some of your own that interest you. Listed below are my favorite educational websites. They’re the perfect place to find subjects AND informative articles.

My Favorite Online Educational Websites

Of course, you can also Google your subject and act accordingly. The main thing is to just get started and, then, to keep it up once you do. Have fun with it. Your brain is going to love every educational moment.

Make each moment count double,
~ Joi

Filed Under: Brain Games, Education, Mental Fitness Tagged: brain, brain power, Discovery Channel, educating yourself, Education, homeschooling, learing, mental fitness, online learning

Joi June 14, 2008 3 Comments

Truly Amazing Tools to Life

Tools For Life !

The following is a sponsored post. It’s been a while since I’ve done one, so let me remind you what thay means. In a sponsored post, I’m paid to “review” a book, product, service, or website. I’m not paid to like it or tell my readers that they’ll like it – simply to tell you what I think about it. Fortunately for everyone involved, in my years of web publishing, I’ve noticed something – people who are willing to pay people to “see what they think” about their product or service usually have a great deal of confidence in what they’ve created. If they didn’t, why would they risk it?! I’ve noticed something else. The confidence exists for a very good reason.

Tools To Life

People who are truly interested in improving their world are in a constant process of gathering information, books, and products (or tools) that will help them. They know that the only way to improve their world is to improve themself. After all, first things first, right?!

I’m excited to be able to tell you about one of the best Self Help Programs I’ve ever seen. Tools to Life is a completely free, online self help coaching system and support network that their publishers refer to as a labor of love. They have been helping people loose weight, improve their relationships, resolve depression, overcome anxiety and get better careers for over 20 years! They wanted to bring this success “online” so they could reach even more people ith Inspirational motivation and community support.

The article archive is amazing. The titles below are just some of the subjects covered:

Why Go Vegetarian? – 12 highly compelling reasons are presented, and I was ready to board the train by number 5!
Choices – Your Life is a Choice – Another one of my favorite articles is about the choices we make each day, whether or not we even realize a choice has even been made.
Boost Your Metabolism, Lose More Inches - I don’t even have to tell you what makes this article a must-read, do I?? The title pretty much says it all. If it’s not enough, I have another phrase to catch your eye: Swimsuit season. This article will tell you how you can burn calories while you sleep. I kid you not! It’s a great read.

The articles I listed above are just a few of the hundreds and hundreds offered on Tools to Life. I haven’t read them all yet, but I’m working on it. I’m giving my printer a workout, since each one makes the “worthy of being printed out” grade.

Another section of the site that you’re going to love are the Inspirational Videos. I watched them and wished like mad there were more. They’re as addictive as they are motivational and inspirational.

The website provides a wealth of information, inspiration, and motivation. However, its real charm lies in the way it has built a community of people who want to not only improve their own world, but the worlds of others as well. That sort of mindset inspires you to move in amongst them, doesn’t it? Life Coaching Support Groups quickly become like close friends who are there for you. In this case, they just happen to be friends who can help you lose weight, improve your relationships, resolve depression, overcome anxiety and get a better career! With friends like that, who’d have enemies?!

I urge you to go (now’s as good a time as any – nudge, nudge) to Tools to Life and have a look around. Sign up and become part of the community, it’s 100 percent free. Some people honestly pay for this type of life coaching and advice! Visit Tools to Life and start a fun, exciting, and productive new journey – a journey we all like to call Self Improvement.

I love one of their sayings on the website, “Achieve your success in 15 minutes a day.” When you think of it like that, it’s as though all of our goals, hopes and dreams are on the table across the room and all we have to do is walk over there to claim them. What are we waiting for?!

Filed Under: Education, Inspiration, Mental Fitness, Motivational, Positive Affirmations, Tough Love! Tagged: advice, life coaching, self help articles, self improvement, tools to life

Joi January 13, 2008 2 Comments

Fight Against Alzheimer’s and Protect Your Heart at the Same Time

Fruits and Vegetables

There’s a reason we’re seeing Alzheimer’s in the news more and more – sadly, it has become more prevalant. Five million Americans suffer from this devastating brain illness, to say nothing of the suffering of their loved ones.

So, naturally, we’re all on the look out for ways to protect ourselves against this beast. At the same time, we’re always looking for ways to improve our overall health, including the health of our all-important heart. Fortunately, many of the things that are beneficial to one part of our bodies are also beneficial to the other parts. This is never more true than when it comes to the brain and the heart. In fact, the heart actually plays a very big role in keeping the brain healthy.

We know the things we should do to keep our heart strong: Avoid smoking, get regular exercise, and eat a diet heavy in fruits and vegetables. These steps improve the health of blood vessels leading to the heart – so, in turn, they improve our heart’s health. What we don’t realize (until now, of course!), is that they also improve the health of blood vessels to the brain – so, in turn, they improve our brain’s health.

We should all start doing the following to protect and strengthen our hearts AND minds:

1. No Smoking! If you smoke, stop. Find a way. Make a way. This should be the year you do the smartest thing possible for your health. It’s absolutely critical for your heart and your brain.

2. Exercise more. Find ways to become more active!

Buy an exercise dvd or even just an exercise mat. Wear comfortable clothes around the house, then you’ll be more apt to work out on or with your new fitness tools.
If at all possible, buy a treadmill or exercise bike. Place it right in front of your television and work out while watching your favorite show. 30 minutes will pass quickly and you can feel good knowing that you got your work out in for the day!
Park a little further from the door each time you go to the store. Once you’re inside, take the longest route possible to what you came for. Then take the longest route possible to the check out. It may not seem like much at the time, but all the steps add up, and your brain, heart, and overall health will thank you for it.

3. Eat more fruits and vegetables! I think we’ve all seen those words so often that we’ve become almost immune to them. Think about it, we started hearing about the dynamic duo before we were even old enough to read. “Eat your fruits and vegetables…. Don’t eat so much of that! Eat your fruits and vegetables..” To children, they can become the enemy pretty fast. On one hand there’s Ice Cream sandwiches, Sweethearts, and hot dogs – while on the other there’s fruit cocktail, lima beans, and carrots. Once we were able to read, we read about fruits and vegetables in health class every semester – they were always there, taking their rightful place in the food pyramid, in all of their colorful glory.

Today? They’re still everywhere we look. The articles about losing weight tell us to eat more fruits and vegetables. The articles about heart health extol their virtues. And now, even information about keeping our mind’s healthy tells us that we should eat more of these wonder foods.

The thing is….we really should! The nutrients and vitamins our bodies and minds need are right there in nature’s finest. We can’t allow our eyes to just glaze over when we read the words – and we can’t say, ‘”I had mashed potatoes for supper last night and fries for lunch…I’m doing okay.” Wrong! First of all, if the only way you can claim to get your fruits and vegetables is through the almighty potato, you need to rework your diet entirely. And I won’t even get into the fries…

Start finding ways to get more vegetables and more fruits into your day. Think of it as a color’s game, see how many different colors you can work into a meal. It won’t take long to see that those white potatoes don’t provide a great deal of color or variety.

Here are a few ideas from a fruit and vegetable fanatic:

Keep fruit on hand and in a central location. You’ll find yourself grabbing an apple on the way out the door or a pear as you head to the sofa. I love to take a bowl of grapes with me to the bath. My inner Cleopatra is totally into that sort of thing.
Buy fruit juice. Apple juice is about as yummy as anything you can pour into a cup…anything that doesn’t answer to the name of coffee, that is.
Make your own fruit cocktail with grapes, strawberries, orange wedges, pineapples, blackberries, etc.
Add fruit to Vanilla Yogurt and top it all off with granola. It’s dessert-quality delicious, even kids will think so.
Buy a new Vegetables only cookbook and experiment. Read my post about the book Being Vegetarian - you’ll see just how fun and creative Vegetables can be.
Add bananas to peanut butter sandwiches – thank you, thank you, very much. Long live the King’s sandwich of choice.
Look up great Smoothies recipes and have fun whipping up different varieties.

Once you start experimenting with ways to work more exercise and good food into your life – you’ll have so much fun AND feel so much better, you’ll never want to stop. The trick is to start – and there’s no time like NOW!

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

Filed Under: Education, Mental Fitness

Joi December 26, 2007 Leave a Comment

Nuns Donating Their Brains for Alzheimer Study

Here’s a really great story about Nuns who are leaving their brains to science, in the hopes of aiding the battle against Alzheimer’s: Nuns Leave Their Brains to Science.

Good for them!

Filed Under: Education, Mental Fitness

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