5 Ways to Improve Memory After 50

Improve Memory After 50

How to Improve Memory After 50

George Burns once said, “By the time you’re eighty years old, you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.” How much can you remember now in midlife?

According to an article on The Guardian, memory loss can start as early as age 45. As the years go by, the effects can worsen.

By the time we’re eighty, we’ll likely struggle with absentminded queries (like where we put the phone) as well as major milestones (like when we got married.) This can be devastating for many people who want to keep their memories alive, not knowing if they’ll suddenly disappear into thin air.

However, this is not the time to give up and accept the fact that you’ll lose every single memory to age. At this stage in life, you have the opportunity to preserve your memory after 50 and even enhance it so those moments you hold dear aren’t lost to time.

Proactive choices made on a regular basis can help strengthen your memory skills, even during midlife.

Foods

Now, one of the easiest ways to improve your memory after 50 is to change your diet. We don’t mean overhauling your entire menu, but substituting a meal or two for something more mentally beneficial. Here are a few recommendations:

Eggs

For memory, eggs can be an asset. Why? They contain large amounts of choline, which helps form stronger mental cognition.

In fact, a study referenced by CNN even potentially found a link between higher levels of choline in midlife and a reduced risk of dementia.

For better brain function, they’re “eggs”actly what you need!

Salmon

Getting your omega-3s in can be a major deposit to your brain’s memory bank. Not all fish contain high-levels of omega-3s, but salmon is an exception.

According to Reader’s Digest 3.5 ounces contains 1.5 grams of omega-3s. For comparison, catfish only possesses 0.3 grams.

Guess the catfish is out of the bag now (or rather, the grocery bag!)

Walnuts

Walnuts are another great source of omega-3s. Actually, the levels of DHA (a type of omega-3) in walnuts have been known to aid cognitive function in adults and prevent decline later in life.

Not only that, they also play a role in maintaining a healthy heart by lowering the risk of high blood pressure.

These little guys are “nut”hing short of fantastic!

Mental Strategies

In order to build strong muscles, your body needs a proper workout. So does your brain. Here are some memory-boosting strategies that will help lift your brain power to new heights:

Mnemonic Devices

Need to remember a grocery list? What about a group of tasks you need to accomplish? Use a mnemonic device, which is simply just a condensed method for remembering lengthy information. T

he most common devices include acronyms, rhymes, and the Method of Loci.

In this method, you imagine each of the rooms in your house and associate everything you need to remember in one of the rooms.

So, do you need to buy copier paper? Place it in your mental computer room. What about toilet paper? Imagine your bathroom and place on a roll on the counter.

The Method of Loci may seem loco, but it really works!

Repetition/Assimilation

It may be difficult to recall the name of that caterer you hired last year or that co-worker you rarely talk to, but what about the person you just met?  You can choose to remember, just as you can choose to order a plate of salmon (which you might want to start doing more often!)

Memory isn’t typically thought of as a conscious choice, but when it’s something we label as important, we do choose to keep that information in our minds longer, since we’re more concerned with its retention.

And when we encounter issues with this retention, that’s when repetition becomes key.

Repeating a name back over and over can help the information sink in. By hearing it or writing it down, we familiarize ourselves with it so thoroughly, we don’t have to think about it anymore. This is crucial if we want a strong, durable memory, but it can only happen in conjunction with assimilation.

Assimilation is the process of associating current information with something previously learned in order to form a lasting connection.

In other words, repetition is the glue, but assimilation is the adhesive — nothing would stick without it. Finding as many similarities as possible is what helps our brain process the information more efficiently and make them easier to recall.

So make as many mental connections as possible. By doing so, you’ll create a delicate framework by which all your memories can be stored for future use.

Savor those Precious Memories

Our memory is sacred, and it should be treated as such. Filling our bodies with good food and increasing our mental capabilities with simple tricks are just some of the ways we can prolong our ability to recall our treasured memories. And by remembering the past clearly, we can continue to be our best selves well into our senior years.

For additional tips on memory and other health-related subjects, visit Beachbody.

Don’t worry — we’re easy to remember!

 

How to Achieve a Healthy Sex Life During Midlife

Sex Life During Midlife

When you’re thinking about your health, sex may not seem like a major focus during middle age.

Performance issues can often plague the experience and workday stressors take a lot more energy out of you than they did during your 20s.

That doesn’t mean you need to give up your favorite bedtime activity, however.

Despite what many people believe, sex can actually improve with age, especially for women.  A study referenced on Health found that women are more likely to enjoy sex in middle age because they’re more confident with their bodies and feel freer to experiment.

Men may have to worry about ED ruining the moment, but even they have been shown to be satisfied with their sex lives, up until their 90s according to The Telegraph.

Clearly, sex is not just for the young.

So what can be done to make your sex life during midlife more fulfilling?

Exercises

At any age, exercise is crucial for strengthening muscles and keeping our bodies in peak form. It can also be helpful in maintaining peak bedroom performance.

Weight-lifting

Need help between the thighs? Try working on the arms. Best Life recommends lifting weights, even small ones, two times a week.

Doing so will increase testosterone levels, which can likewise, increase sex drive.

But even if you don’t lift weights twice a week, do not give it up completely.

Best Life counts weightlifting as one of worst habits to neglect for people over 40 due to the loss of muscle mass known as sarcopenia. That’s why weight-lifting is key to keeping yourself healthy and sexually active as long as possible.

Kegel Exercises

Better sex requires help from all your muscles, not just the ones in your arms. In fact, squeezing your PC muscle, which runs from your pubic bone to your tailbone, can be a strong assistant in controlling your orgasm.

If you’re not in the mood for an entire workout, MindBodyGreen recommends doing a form of bathroom kegel exercise in which you stop the flow of urine before you have an empty bladder.

Your body will lift from the tight clench, benefiting your pelvic floor muscles.

Communication

Open communication is necessary for any relationship, whether that be romantic or non-romantic. Your partner and your doctor are two people that require direct, honest feedback from you about your sexual needs and dysfunctional issues.

Your Partner

You and your partner need to be on the same page when it comes to what you both enjoy in the bedroom. You’ve grown together and learned about each other’s personal preferences so it’s time to put that knowledge to good use.

This is one of the reasons sex gets better with age. Knowing and being able to give your partner exactly what they want can only come with time.

Not only that, having a comfort level with your partner encourages you to think outside of the box.

Try a little experimentation. Set up a dinner date or a lingerie night, or practice a new position. You and your partner have the potential to explore different avenues that can lead to higher satisfaction rates.

Yet, it’s important to speak honestly and listen attentively. You never know what you may come up with!

Your Doctor

We all know how embarrassing it is to talk to your doctor about your sex life. It can be emasculating and downright uncomfortable.

That doesn’t mean you should shy away from asking the serious questions regarding your sex life.

By having a consultation with your doctor, you can address any issues with pain or complications with medications. Be specific. Finding the source of the problem is only achievable through remaining observant and admitting the truth about what you’re experiencing.

Relinquish any fears you may have going in and, in the long run, it can benefit both you and your partner.

Benefits

By adjusting your workout routine and having a conversation with your partner and doctor regarding your individual needs, you’ll reap many rewards, in and out of the bedroom.

In fact, here are 10 advantages to having a meaningful sex life after 50:

1.) Improved Self Esteem

2.) Better Sleep

3.) Greater Life Satisfaction

4.) Higher Marital Satisfaction

5.) Fewer Symptoms of Depression

6.) Lowered Risk of Prostate Cancer

7.) Less Stress

8.) More Youthful Appearance

9.) Stronger Immune System

10.) Longer Life

If and when you decide to have sex during midlife, you are not setting yourself up for failure. You’re choosing a path that will ultimately improve your relationship with your partner,  strengthen your body, and ease your mind.

So don’t give up on love; just keeping making it!

For even more tips on maintaining a healthy body and outlook on life in your 40s and 50s, check out Beachbody. We’re here to help!

 

The Benefits of Exercise for Middle-Aged Men {Stats and Facts}

People think that your 40s and 50s are a time after your peak when your body starts to show signs of wear and tear. You see, by the time we’ve reached that milestone in our lives, we may not feel we have the energy or stamina to keep up with the younger crowd.

By all accounts, however, somebody who keeps up their fitness routine, eats well, and doesn’t smoke can maintain a healthy body and mind throughout their lives.

In fact, researchers are starting to realize that it’s not the number that tells us how old we are, but something else entirely. According to Time, “the concept of biological age, as opposed to chronological age, is gaining traction.”

In other words, it’s the way our bodies function, not the age itself, that determines how healthy we are. And the choices we make often affect how our body responds to this aging.

One of the best, and most beneficial, choices we can make is sticking to a daily workout schedule.

That doesn’t mean going to the gym for an hour as that becomes increasingly harder to do over the years. It means adjusting to a schedule that fits your needs and accommodates your changing lifestyle.

So here are just a few of the benefits that exercise provides during your 40s and 50s.

Benefits of Exercise for Middle-Aged Men

The 3 Benefits of Exercise for Middle-Aged Men

1. Better Living Later

A remarkable study began in 1970 by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Cooper Institute in Dallas, comparing the health of subjects in midlife to their health records from 1999-2009.

What they discovered was that subjects who were considered the least fit in middle age suffered from serious or chronic diseases earlier in life than those deemed the fittest.

While this may seem daunting to those that are already healthy, the fact is that if you continue your routine throughout your life, you have a greater chance of living longer without the pain and stress of chronic illnesses.

Keeping up the exercise now serves as a preventive measure, helping you maintain your lifestyle for a very long time. It means doing the things you want to do longer; and who doesn’t want that?

2. Decreased Mortality Rate

If you’ve never been one for exercise, that doesn’t mean you can’t start later in life and still reap the benefits.

Harvard Health Publishing references a study that asked American men and women between the ages of 45 and 64 if they possessed these four important health traits and habits: consumed five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables, didn’t smoke, weren’t obese, and maintained regular exercise.

Out of the 15,708 people studied, only 1,344 possessed all four.

Fortunately, the study followed the subjects six years later and found that another 970 now possessed all four traits, increasing the amount to over 2000.

So what did this mean for their health? A 40% lowered death rate than the subjects who did not change their lifestyle.

So, not only can you live longer without disease, you can live longer, period.

It’s studies like this that continue to support the age-old adage — the sooner, the better.

3. Stronger Heart

Our heart is the vessel that pumps blood through our body, but we see our heart as so much more than that.

It’s a life-giving, love-bringing, warm-feeling organ that we associate with all the best aspects of ourselves and others. When we care about someone, we heart them.

You see, caring for yourself is caring about your heart.

study done by Dietrich Rothenbacher of the University of Heidelberg compared the differences of a group of 312 patients, ages 40-68, who suffered from coronary heart disease against 479 volunteers identical in age and sex.

The subjects who described themselves as being active throughout life saw a 60% decreased chance of getting heart disease while participants who said they started becoming active after age 40 saw a 55% decrease.

And if you think you have to start running to get results like this, just getting up and walking can have amazing benefits for your heart.

So treat your heart to a little bit of exercise. It’ll thank you for it.

It’s Never Too Late

By altering our exercise routine, even just slightly, it can have powerful repercussions down the line for our quality of life, longevity, and even just our heart.

And for additional help, Beachbody offers tips, reviews, and recipes that will have you feeling better than ever. It doesn’t take much to make a difference for your health.

So get up, get moving, and get living!