Wedding Day!

I Love You Michael!

Exercise Your Middle-Age Memory Back In Shape!

Well, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything new, dear readers. I thank you for your patience.  I have been doing some personal research on the middle-age memory issue.  Would you like to know what I've discovered?

Well, I discovered that planning your parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration, along with your own wedding both of which take place within a month of each other; starting back to work part-time after three years of being off, all the while navigating general life issues in between such as your washer breaking and having to lug laundry around town for a month, death in the family and other various and sundry matters, does not help the middle memory issue at all!  

My research has lead me to conclude that the primary cause of middle-age memory issues has more to do with this being the most diversely busiest time of life ever!  EVER!

While everything so far has been a success, there are small details along the way that simply get forgotten.  But all in all, it is an exciting and challenging time of life!

Seriously though, I was pleased to discover that, while memory loss is certainly part of the aging process, it is manageable and even possibly reversable according to a recent study at Columbia University.

How do we help ourselves?

Exercise.  Plain and simple.

Exercise boosts brain power.

According to the article:

  

Tests on mice have shown them to grow new brain cells in a brain region called the dentate gyrus, a part known to be affected in the age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most humans.

 The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging scans to help document the process in mice - and then used MRIs to look at the brains of people before and after exercise.

They found the same patterns, which suggests that people also grow new brain cells when they exercise.

Now we have a new motivation for exercising these middle age bodies!  Reduce or reverse memory loss!

According to the study, the more fit people got, the more blood flow was sent to the dentate gyrus and the more their memory improved! 

What's next in the study?

"Our next step is to identify the exercise regimen that is most beneficial to improve cognition and reduce normal memory loss, so that physicians may be able to prescribe specific types of exercise to improve memory," Small said.

So, if you find yourself walking into a room forgetting what you went in there for, putting milk in the cupboard instead of the fridge, forgetting who you just dialed on the phone...then dust off those dumbbells, stop using your treadmill for storage, oil up that bicycle and pump up the tires, and start exercising and growing new brain cells!

Oh, and maybe slow down a little too on the busy-ness.  I'm hoping after my wedding next week to see some significant improvement in my memory. 

Gee...I hope I remember to show up to the church on the right day and time.... 

I'll let ya know how it comes out!

We Remember...

I Remember Not

I previously did a series on Reinventing Middle Age that was fun and yet emphasized the positive aspects of navigating through mid-life issues; health, REALationships, psychology and other issues. Not only was it fun to write and research, but it helped some of you as well as myself make positive, more healthy decisions in this season of life.

A new development has occurred in my middle-aged journey though, and I'd like to share with you. It is a topic that I'm sure is on every middle-aged person's mind...when they can remember it. 

It is the dreaded middle-aged memory issue.

The idea to include middle-aged memory in my Reinventing Middle Age series came to me one particular morning when preparing breakfast (I can't remember how long ago...possibly a couple of months). I reached into the cupboard to get the cooking oil, and instead, I found a half-gallon of milk.

My first reaction was extreme annoyance that one of the other family members had been absent-minded when putting the milk in the cupboard instead of the refrigerator. "Great," I said, "Someone just wasted a half-gallon of milk!" I huffed it over to the sink and promptly dumped it down the drain. Far too annoyed to speak, I continued on with the breakfast preparation, and tried to think of how long it must have been in there and who used it last. My strategy was to interrogate each of the two primary suspects in this mindless household crime to see which one had a late-night bowl of cereal or other snack involving milk.

Unfortunately, my stealth interrogation yielded no confession. The other family members appeared just as perplexed as I was at this mystery crime. In fact, they even found it comical which annoyed me even more. But, before breaking out the CSI Crime Scene Junior Investigating Kit to dust for fingerprints, or the Spy Gear Lie Detector Kit, I thought I would take another approach. I was determined to get a confession and scold accordingly.

However, the investigation took a surprising turn when, before I could finish cooking breakfast, my middle-aged memory kicked in and I remembered that I had used the milk to make mashed potatoes the night before for dinner. If the others had truly not used the milk after that - it could only mean one thing...

I WAS THE CRIMINAL WHO PUT THE MILK IN THE CUPBOARD INSTEAD OF THE THE REFRIGERATOR!!!

I truly did not remember doing that!

Thus was born the idea to address the issue of middle-aged memory as part of my Reinventing Middle Age series.

On a lighter note, being the youngest one in the household has its advantages.  A couple days later someone found the dry cereal in the refrigerator rather than the cupboard and I did not do that one, so apparently I am not the only one who suffers memory lapses around here.

So, I will be addressing the issue of memory in middle age in upcoming posts.  Stay tuned for more fun and frivolity as we take both a comical and realistic look at memory issues for middle-agers and what we can do to help ourselves navigate through this challenge while travleing through this season of life!

Hey. If you don't see a post from me for a while, please send me an email and remind me to continue...