What This Blog is About

Greetings! You know how when you're reading a great article or see something fabulous in a magazine and just don't know what to do with it so you end up with a thousand torn-out pages? Well, that's what this blog is for. It's a place for me to share the best things I find in magazines! I am hoping to use this as sort of a log to keep all those wonderful articles, items I just have to have, and tips I've learned in one place. My goal is to share with the world, the awesome things I've learned and seen in my many magazines. I subscribe to many varieties and read them daily. I hope to post at least three times a week, eventually, daily. Please support my blog by becoming a follower and checking out the things you like! My dream is to write for a magazine so I figured this might be a good place to start. ;) Thank you all for joining me! Please leave your comments because I'd love to hear your thoughts!

XO ~ Amy Jo (aka AmyJRockstar)

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Important Information for Women in Their 30s - Memory Loss

OMG, okay... so we all know when you hit the big 3-0 lots of things in life start changing... Most of your friends are already married, with kids, your body starts changing and doing weird things, your skin isn't as dewy as it once was, cellulite starts showing up (even if you're thin), but - hey, this is supposed to be the best time in your life, right?  You are more confident.  You are learning how to shine.  You know (well most of us anyways) what we expect from ourselves and what is acceptable and unacceptable in our relationships.  We have a sense of self,we didn't have in our 20s.  Our 20s were spent learning.  Our 30s is the time to start using what we've learned to build a better life for ourselves... to stat catering to our own needs and learning it's okay to say no when you need to and yes when you want to.  We are in our most beautiful phase (or so I've been told), but then a big bombshell hits like this one...

When I was taking a little "me time", reading my Women's Day Magazine (Aug. 2011) I learned something so distressing that I decided to start this blog!  I felt the info was so important that everyone should be aware of this!  So what I learned is that for you 30 something gals (like myself), your hippocampus starts to shrink!  Hippo- what?  It, along with the frontal lobes, are two parts of your brain that handle most of your memory processing (and they are shrinking)... Yikes!  So what's that mean, you ask?  Well, for starters, it means we need to cut down on the stress.  Impossible?  Maybe not entirely.  My tip is this:  add a little "you" time to your day.  Seriously.  It's important.  Read on and you'll learn one more of the zillion reasons why...

"Women who are chronically stressed at mid-life {apparently, 30s are now mid-life} are more likely to develop dementia as they get older." - Richard Laliberte

Have you noticed yourself forgetting where you parked your car? Repeatedly asking the same questions?  Always looking for your keys or notes you have just written?  Yes, I realize this happens to everybody, but truly, I don't remember being this scatter-brained in my 20s and now I'm beginning to understand the scientific reason why this is happening so much more and that worries me!  Basically it means, I have have way too much stress.  Sound familiar?  I'm sure it does!

Now, apparently we are unable to change this entirely, but the process can be slowed down.  The methods recommended in the 'zine are:

  • Stress less - Really?  Hmm.  Who'da thunk?  If anyone has any pointers on this one, puh-lease let me know!
  • Move more - Again.  Pretty well tried and tested for every aspect of life. If you want to be healthy. you gotta get up and shake that jelly!
  • Make sleep a priority - Oh trust me; I do!  However, sleep and I don't get along very well.  I have a crazy sleep schedule, due to Fibromyalgia, and unfortunately, sleep for me is never quite restful.  Sometimes I sleep all day and all night, other times I'm up all night and all day, and then there are times when I sleep quasi-normally.  Tonight is one of those nights when sleep is elusive.  It's 1:00 AM and I've taken two prescription sleeping pills, two heavy duty narcotics (prescribed of course), and a muscle relaxer and anti-anxiety med.  Am I sleeping yet?  Hmm..  I don't think so.  Sure would be nice to solve this problem!  If anyone has any real tips on how to get the right amount of sleep at a normal time, you might just save my husband's sanity! ;0)
  • Eat your vitamins - What they mean by this is, try to get most of your vitamins directly from the food you put in your body, rather than through a pill.  Granted, multivitamins are a must for everyone since our food sources are so depleted of their nutrients; however, shopping organically and eating fruits and veggies (leave those skins on!) will help you to "eat your vitamins".
  • Stay at a healthy weight -  Okay, we all know what this one means.  I must say, for me personally, a person who has been uber thin her whole life, putting on weight inexplicably has been very distressing for me and I have no idea where to begin with "dieting".  I have never had this issue in my life, until Fibromyalgia hit full force.  I went from 85 lbs. at my lowest point (and no, I did not have an eating disorder) to almost 140 lbs. in a matter of months w/o any real explanation or drastic changes in diet!  Talk about stressful!  I can no longer fit into my clothes, my belly looks like I'm ready to give birth any day now and I have no clue what to do since, with Fibro, I cannot do full impact cardio and strength training.  Any pointers?  Feel free to leave your input!

Thanks so much for following my very first post.  I hope you enjoyed it and learned something new!  For the full Women's Day article please click here.

XO ~ Amy Jo

*Disclaimer - Most of the information on this blog is my own interpretation of articles I have read.  I give credit where credit is due and in no way should anyone take this and use it as medical advice.  I cannot claim any responsibility for what you do with this information.  This blog is solely for pure enjoyment and education based on my own opinion from the articles I read.  Please visit the actual website of the magazine (listed in my post when available) for the full article and to learn more about these topics.  I am a freelance writer, not a medical doctor and please keep that in mind when reading my posts.  Use the information how you wish, but my intentions are not to treat, diagnose or cure any ailments you may be experiencing.

2 comments:

Linda Simpson said...

Well Hello my Friend, I have just read your rather interesting article. Me, well I hit 50 last year and was gradually gaining weight so I joined Weight Watchers. I have lost 14 lbs since February and need to loose another 6 lbs to reach my goal weight. Not a lot of weight to loose you might think!!!!!!!! Well I am only 5 ft 2 in tall so loosing this weight I have lost the inches which means I have dropped 2 dress sizes which is great and I intend to maintain this weight now. So I can fully appreciate how you feel with your own weight gain. I absolutely detest going to the Gym but I don't mind going for a run, but don't do it as often I perhaps I should. I just eat healthily now and try not to eat after 8.00 pm in the evening.

Will be popping back again to see other comments and I have become your first follower.

Lots of Hugs
Linda xxx

Xenia said...

Congrats on the new blog, Amy Jo! I've always blamed my scattered memory on being a mom, but I have no doubt that the stress is a contributing factor... I really need to take these tips to heart otherwise I'm not going to remember my own name soon!

Looking forward to seeing more of the great things you find in the future!