Stronger, smarter with creatine?
You may be familiar with Creatine or you may never have heard of it. It is one of the most widely studied supplements out there and is very affordable. Let me show you why this amino acid is not going away anytime soon in gym culture but also why it is a valuable contributor to living a long and healthy life.
What is Creatine?
Creatine Monohydrate has long been used by athletes and gym junkies to give them that extra edge in performance and muscle building. Outside of the gym however, it’s not widely talked about.
Creatine monohydrate is an amino acid created by the aminos arginine and glycine and is stored in predominantly in the energy demanding skeletal muscles and brain (95%) and a little in the liver, kidneys and testes. As mentioned, it is one of the most studied substances and also one of the cheapest.
Supplemental creatine has traditionally been used to replenish the Phosphocreatine (Pc) in muscles. Pc is used for the fast energy pathway. It gives you that extra oomph for the first few seconds an exercise and high intensity exercise. Its anaerobic and doesn’t rely on oxygen to perform. Pc joins with Adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to create Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) for energy. It can also work the other way and breakdown Pc from ATP to replenish muscle Pc stores, ready for the next explosive bout. Sprinters, power lifters, tennis players, basketballs etc use the Pc energy source a lot during their sport. Whether or not you are involved in those sports, the everyday athlete (you, yes, you) can benefit. Sometimes life will require quick moves from you, ie, grabbing a falling object of various weight, size and velocity, and having your fast twitch muscles ready and able to cope with this sudden tension without damaging yourself (or others), is one of the keys to longevity.
Does it work?
In short yes.
In most people it increases the creatine content in muscle when supplemented. Studies show a 12-20% increase in strength and a 12-26% increase in power output when creatine was used in combination with an appropriate training program.
Concerned about your brain health? In those with lower creatine levels, which is generally those with low red meat and seafood intake, it will also aid in increasing alertness, memory, learning and cognition. or those with ample stores their seems to be no extra cognitive benefit.
Here is a list of other benefits from Examine.com (Examine has many links to studies there) :
DNA damage - Creatine appears to mitigate much of the DNA damage associated with exercise and may be useful for cancer therapy.
Lowers depression? - A few studies have shown a lowering in depression. It seems to help SSRI therapy and is more pronounced in females.
Heart disease - It has heart disease protective properties by lowering triglycerides, LDL and total cholesterol. It also is protective by lowering possibly homocysteine levels which are high in heart disease patients.
Anti-aging - topically applied, it has been shown to decrease lines and firm skin. (yes I’m looking further into that!)
Can be protective to the effects of stroke as it can work in an oxygen deprived environment.
Can I supplement it with just food?
Yes, kind of. Red meat and seafood contain higher levels of creatine. This will give your muscles and brain a fair bit of stored creatine to work with. However:
Those with certain gene mutations may not be able to create creatine their diets and use it efficiently.
It also may not be necessarily of benefit to eat too much red meat for other health reasons, such as heart disease risk from high saturated fat intake.
Cooking denatures creatine so to avoid destroying the creatine you would need to have your seafood raw and your steak quite under cooked.
If you do decide to follow a diet or predominantly diet way of supplementing, I would also recommend considering a broad spectrum digestive enzyme with your meals, to help your body digest and utilise the nutrients as efficiently as possible. Choose grass-fed beef and wild sourced seafood and only lightly cook them.
Are you vegetarian, vegan, sleep deprived or an older adult?
These groups are often lacking in ready creatine supplies and can benefit greatly from adding it into their diet.
Vegans and vegetarians are most likely to be deficient in stored creatine.
If you are older, then be aware that protein doesn’t digest as well, so your body won’t be able to take advantage of your food as much as say a 20 year old. Supplementation and adding a digestive enzyme will greatly enhance the uptake of creatine for muscle building and mental enhancement. You still have to lift the weights however creatine will counter act the older bodies from breaking down muscle as fast (probably due to its myostatin lowering effect which in high levels will facilitate muscle breakdown). It stops muscle wastage, builds strength and aids endurance.
Interesting
Creatine has been found to increase memory, learning and cognitive ability especially in older women.
How do I take it?
Take 2.5 - 5 gms a day. It will increase the water stored in your muscles so make sure to have plenty of water when you take it. There used to be stories of needing a juice or source of sugar to enhance its uptake and avoiding caffeine as it can nullify creatine effect. Fortunately none of that is worth following and certainly adding sugar or juice is not recommended for a healthy body. An elite athlete however may notice a difference if taking creatine with berries or a healthy low glycemic carb meal. Please note that the extra uptake a low glycemic carb can give isn’t of much benefit for those that aren’t athletes whose diet is right on point where every small change can potentially make a difference in performance.
The time of day also, doesn’t seem to play any factor in the efficacy of uptake, so take your dose when its convenient. Although there is a little research that taking it too close to bed can interfere with sleep.
Do you need to load it?
Loading is a method to take a higher dose of a product to get higher levels into your system quickly. There is no need to load creatine, you can go straight to daily doses of 2.5-5 gms. This will mean it will take 2-3 weeks for noticeable benefits.
BUT if you want to fast track the benefits. Start by loading for 5 days with approx 20 - 30 gms a day, pulling it back to 2.5-5 gms daily thereafter.Be aware with higher doses that you may experience stomach upset and bloating. Water retention is often associated with higher intake too. Counter this with high water intake when you take creatine. If you find you have gained a pound or several with creatine in water weight then consider lowering the dose and even cycling your intake by giving yourself days, weeks off from taking it.
Cycling?
There is no study showing creatine should be cycled but it may be a useful technique as mentioned above to counteract the cycling.
Which creatine is best?
There are LOADS of creatine supplements out there and most say they have the best uptake into the body because of the type of creatine they use or the extra ingredients they have added into the supplement. All this means it will cost you more. There is no research out there yet that shows that any are better than your standard readily available creatine. Personally I would look for a brand with a good reputation, that is approved and goes through testing processes, just to ensure that the product is 100% creatine and not creatine with ‘extras’.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Creatine. Its a very interesting supplement and from my personal experience, it is one of the few supplements that I did notice that extra strength I suddenly gained. Its not much but every bit counts and now that I am fully aware of its neural protective and enhancing effects I shall be much more consistent with taking it. I will still cycle the product, as is my habit, but not leave it a couple of years as I have done. I’m back on it!
Please note that if you have a poor diet, creatine will not work miracles at all. Ensure that you are exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet most of the time before trying to get extra benefits from supplementation.
If you have any interesting stories or questions about creatine please comment below. If you would like a consult to upgrade your nutrition and fitness then don’t hesitate to contact me.
Vashti x
References and Links:
https://selfhacked.com/blog/creatine/
https://www.leafscience.org/geroprotectors-creatine/
Supplementation for a kick ass brain
I’m a happy supplementer … some would say a little too enthusiastic at times (or is that obsessive?) … So I don’t need much motivation other than it may be good for you, to try a supplement, however, many others feel a balanced diet should take care of any extra need.
In an ideal world a balanced diet would be easy to follow and would completely take care of everything our body and brain needs. Unfortunately most diets are extremely poor in the balance and span of nutrients. Environmentally we live in a more chronically stressed world which leads to a faster depletion of stored nutrients and our farming has changed, many of these vegetables and fruits don’t contain nearly as much of the good stuff as they used to early in the last century. Just bite an organic piece of fruit and compare with a store bought one…no comparison!
As always if you do decide to try any of the following supplements, please check with a doctor first, you never know how they will interact with your diet and current medications.
A fascinating study was done on 30 retired NFL players. NFL players are a great group to test cognition on as they have all been afflicted with head injuries in their playing life. Cognition later in life is very affected by any head trauma of the past, often even minor ones.
The ex players were encouraged to lose weight and take the following supplements for 6 months.
Vinpocetine 15 mg
Fish Oil - 1720 mg EPA and 1160 mg DHA
Ginkgo Extract 120mg
Alpha Lipoic acid 300mg
Acetyl -L Carnitine 1000mg
Huperzine A 150 mcg
N-actetyl-cysteine 600mg
High potency Multi Vitamin
After 6 months they were retested and significant increases were noted in attention, memory, reasoning, information process and accuracy. Scans showed increased cerebral blood flow throughout most of the brain!
Lets look further at each supplement and see what it is that made such an incredible difference
Fish Oil
“The human brain is nearly 60 percent fat. We’ve learned in recent years that fatty acids are among the most crucial molecules that determine your brain’s integrity and ability to perform. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are required for maintenance of optimal health but they can not synthesized by the body and must be obtained from dietary sources.”
Fish oil is anti inflammatory, and we just don’t get nearly enough in our diet, unless you eat fresh salmon a few times a week. Not all fish oil is created equal its worth looking for a good quality one. You can easily check the one you have bought by either piercing one capsule, if the oil smells bad, then its rancid as it should be relatively odourless, OR store the fish oil in the fridge….if it looks cloudy, its likely to be poor quality. For a real anti-inflammatory synergistic effect, pair your fish oil with turmeric and a bit of black pepper (pipeline).
Vinpocetine
Vinopocetine is a man made chemical created from the periwinkle plant. It is thought to increase cerebral blood flow and is used to enhance memory and prevent alzheimers. Its sometimes used to prevent a stroke or at least prevent disability from one as it prevents blood clotting and that can help reduce the likely hood of clots stopping blood flow to the brain, therefore keeping oxygen and nutrients flowing through and reducing neuronal death.
Ginkgo Extract
Ginkgo biloba increases blood flow in the brain like vinpocetine.
Alpha lipoic acid
Alpha lipoid acid increases antioxidant activity which reduces the harmful effects of oxidation in the hippocampus. It is also helpful in reducing blood brain permeability, a leaky brain.
Acetyl L-carnitine
Acetyl-L-Carnitine might enhance NSC proliferation and adult hippocampal neurogenesis by regulating proneural genes and cell survival related signals
N-acetyl cysteine
N acetyl cysteine increases antioxidant activity, reducing oxidative effects by increasing glutathione levels (These levels are found to be much lower in a stressed brain environment)
Huperzine A
Huperzine A increases nutrients for neurotransmitters through acetyl choline and may support proliferation of hippocampal neural stem cells.
This is a big stack, and it worked.
These were sportsmen with acknowledged cognitive difficulties due to past head trauma and they all benefited. That makes this stack a very interesting one to consider.
For the Everyday person
Perhaps you have no or little concern for your cognitive health but would like something easy and simple to supplement with to protect and strengthen your brain and keep yourself from developing any issues later.
These other supplements are also recommended by experts in the field of brain health.
First, they all seemed to agree that a high potency multi/vitamin mineral and quality fish oil supplement is a staple. The following ones are also recommended.
Vitamin D3
Most of us are Vitamin D3 deficient. This is due to our diet and more particularly our lifestyle. Get your levels checked and make sure to have your supplement with a fatty meal or with the fishtail as this will help the body absorb it. Vitamin D may support the synthesis of neurotrophic factors and neurotrophin receptors, and thereby support NSC proliferation and differentiation, neuronal maturation and growth, neuronal survival, and synaptogenesis.
Magnesium
Consensus seems that we are all magnesium deficient. Magnesium is part of over 300 enzymatic reactions in our bodies, so is extremely important to keep topped up. The kind of magnesium is also important, most forms bought in stores are not very bio available to the body. Magnesium Threonate is hard to find, but has some interesting studies stating it can cross the blood brain barrier very well, so grab that one if possible. If not choose either a glycinate or citrate version. Dr Mark Hyman, an American GP and a loud voice in natural health and preventing brain decline, recommends 300-400mg of magnesium taken before bed to relax the brain, nervous system and muscles.
He also recommends Vit D 3, Omega 3, High quality, potent, bio available and broad spectrum Multivitamin / mineral and to make sure the magnesium is a citrate or glycinate form.
Creatine
Creatine is a wonderful supplement to increase your strength and power but did you know its also really helpful as a nootropic (substances that increase cognition). It can have a neural protective effect by slowing down neuronal cell death. It also can increase levels of glutamate (a neural transmitter), aid learning, memory, and even help with depression! This study found it worked to improve memory and cognition in older and stressed people.
Try 2 or more milligrams a day.
Probiotics
The brain and the gut are inextricably linked. If our gut isn’t happy, neither will the brain be. A whole food diet will do a lot to restore the integrity not the gut lining and bacteria. These beneficial bacteria can improve your digestion, reduce food allergies, and reduce gut inflammation. Gut health plays a powerful role in brain health. When you don’t have the right gut diversity, inflammation and things like leaky brain can occur, setting the stage for diverse problems ranging from brain fog to dementia.
Add a quality, broad spectrum pro and pre biotic to your diet to facilitate gut health. Pre biotics include fibre such as psyllium husk and glucomannan. These two make excellent thickners in soups and sauces. Fermented foods include apple cider, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha etc.
Always try to get the best quality possible as there can be quite a difference in efficacy of these foods and probiotics. Its hard to find a high quality and brand spectrum probiotic…often these supplements contain very little live bacteria….an expensive exercise, so best to stick with fermented foods where possible.
Is that it?
NO!
There is a whole field of nootropics out there from the Racetams to Modafinil. Some freely available, some prescription only. This is another huge bag of interesting things but I won’t be covering that today, however, please send me a question if you are all curious. Its an interesting field.
Is supplementation worth it?
Obviously this is up to you. Unfortunately the food is not like it was 100 years ago. The fruits, meats grains and vegetables are less nutritious and even now inflammatory (in the cases of grain fed meat and modern grains). Our lifestyle is more prone to chronic low level stress, less activity, poorer posture, more estrogenic (poorly metabolised versions such as is found in cling wraps, plastic containers) and all this leads to our bodies and minds needing additional nutrition to make up the lack and further nutrition to counter those environmental antagonists we are all subject to as mentioned above.
Of course always check what supplements you want to take with a doctor or nutritionist before hand. Also do yourself a favour and get regular blood tests to check all levels and create a baseline for you to compare changes. This will provide a really useful history you can reflect back on in the years to come.
With all supplementation, cycling your intake is often recommended, and of course this keeps the costs down. Supplementation can be quite costly. Join the mailing lists of your favourite sites and shops and look out for their specials and buy up.
The following are some useful sites I have used in the past (I have no affiliation with any of them)
iherb.com.au
Good Australian sites:
Bulknutrition.com.au
Createyourownsupplement.com
If you have any good sites or supplements you would recommend, please write them in the comments section below as well as what country you are from.
Thanks again, and happy supplementing!
Nutrition for Brain Health
“The research makes it clear: Diet plays a clear and determinant role in every aspect of brain function, literally shaping our thoughts, actions, emotions, and behaviors...If your job depends on your brain, it depends on your diet.”
Previously I talked about how to use exercise to improve your cognitive health, today we will have a look for the ways you can heal and rejuvenate your brain with diet.
But, before we talk broccoli and chicken, lets have a quick look at what happens to the brain as we age.
The brain depends on blood flow to deliver oxygen and nutrients for neuroplastcicty, and neurogenesis. This cerebral blood flow is delivered through tiny capillaries that surround the neurons . As we age, the brain naturally experiences hypoprefusion, which is a slowing of cerebral blood flow (interestingly ... women a little less so, heheh). This diminished blood flow is associated with cell injury, cognitive impairment and alzheimers. To quickly even the gender bias above, unfortunately women are more susceptible to alzheimers than men….damn! Scientists are still hypothesising why this is…….
…… Now, when there is any kind of interruption to this flow, your neurons can be killed or injured and that causes nerve damage and restricts blood flow.
Things like any kind of head trauma can hasten this hypoperfusion and damage. Aging can thicken veins, degrade capillaries, and a poor diet will hasten this degradation further. A poor diet causes high blood glucose, and high inflammation with an intake of vegetable oils, foods you may be allergic to, processed sugars and commercially raised meat.
What can diet do for your brain?
The brain is a very hungry organ.
It uses approx 25-30% of our daily energy intake. Its made of lipids (fats) and water, and it relies on what we eat to heal and rebuild itself. If your diet is low in fats for example, the brain is unable to build new cells and facilitate its neural pathway processes. Dehydration is also very important to avoid as well.
A lot of us are eating foods that inflame our bodies, such as processed starches and grain fed meat.
Putting petrol in first is a more efficient idea
To compound this we also tend to eat diets low in anti-inflammatory foods such as oily fish and green leafy vegetable. Like persistently putting vegetable juice in your petrol tank and getting frustrated that the car is not driving like it should. To state the obvious, cars need petrol (or electricity, thank you Tesla), and humans need a range of nutrients.
Most of us and yet looking at many diets you can see that this is not happening.
Fortunately a little know how and motivation to subtly change what we eat, should be all thats needed to give our brains the best chance of getting healthy and staying healthy.
Special mention to our second brain - THE GUT
The gut’s microbiome is basically our second brain, and more and more are we finding how important it is to our brain health. Many hormones and processes we thought were initiated by the brain are actually done by the microbiota in the gut. No wonder everyone is getting on the pre and pro biotic bandwagon. We need a healthy gut (happy bug colonies abounding) to have a healthy brain. The one influences the other.
“These hundred trillion bacteria that live within your gut are so intimately involved in your brain at a number of levels. They manufacture neurochemicals, for example. Things like dopamine and serotonin. They manufacture important vitamins that are important to keep your brain healthy. They also maintain the integrity of the lining of your gut.” - Dr D Perrlmutter
Feed the gut microbiome with fermented foods such as kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha and prebiotic foods, those high in fibre, garlic, dandelion greens, jerusalem artichoke.
What to eat for your brain
Fortunately its not that complicated to eat for brain health. If you make some small changes, you won’t have to wait till you are in the midst of a major health issue like onset dementia. If you wait till then, adjusting your diet will still make a vast difference.
If you aren’t interested in much detail, let me put this in a nutshell:
Vegetables good ………….
………….. Sugar bad
Why Vegetables?
Dr. Martha Clare Morris is an interesting lady. She is Professor of Epidemiology, Director of the Section of Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology in the Department of Internal Medicine, and Assistant Provost of Community Research at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago……….what a mouthful!
For the last twenty years she has been researching factors involved in the development of alzheimers as well as other health concerns for older adults. Her research found that people who ate the least amount of vegetables had the fastest cognitive decline, but that this slowed and cognition was even protected with higher intakes of vegetables.
Her research found that eating two or more servings of vegetables per day offered a statistically significant reduction in cognitive decline. Green leafy vegetables, in particular, were associated with slower decline, and people who ate green leafy vegetables at least six times a week exhibited much slower cognitive decline — researchers estimated it was like being 11 years younger in age…
Greens such as spinach and kale contain lutein and zeaxanthin. These two carotenoids are associated with faster learning speeds and applying learning and knowledge in older adults. This study showed that lutein increased thickness in areas of the brain associated with learning and slows cognitive decline in older adults.
Spinach and eggs anyone?
What about Fruit?
In her studies Dr Morris found fruit did not offer this protection, but berries did. Dr Richard Isaacs, Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, Memory Disorders Program, and Neurology Residency Training Program at Weill Cornell Medical College, also is a firm proponent of eating a diet full of vegetables and blueberries …thank goodness…I love a blueberry!
So all kinds of berries were protective with strawberries being the gold standard for Dr Morris and blueberries for Dr Isaacs.
Shingos Coffee Lounge - Shepparton Victoria, Australia.
Coffee
Coffee appears to play a protective role in the risk for MS, alzheimers, Parkinson’s and perhaps even early mortality. This maybe partly due to its role in reducing inflammation that is associated with reduced cognition. We certainly are all aware of its stimulating effects which is in its ability to block an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, adenosine. Adenosine can reduce mental stamina and make you feel tired. It also activates our Nrf2 pathways that fight off oxidative stress and protectactivate our Nrf2 pathways, helping to fight off oxidative stress and protect against neurodegenerative diseases,
This study showed that by drinking 3-5 cups a day in midlife had a significantly lowered chance of getting Alzheimers and dementia by a HUGE 65%.
The sweet spot seems to be 2-5 cups a day. So make it organic and put that kettle on!
Green Tea
High-dose green tea extract was found to scavenge oxygen free radicals, enhance antioxidant potential, decrease lipid peroxide production, and reduce oxidative DNA damage. The high-dose group had better spatial learning and memory than saline-treated rats.
Eggs
Eggs contain lutein and choline. Choline is of particular importance for your neuronal membranes and is the precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
Acetylcholine is important for learning and memory, as well as deep sleep. Some of the drugs approved to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, a fatal memory disorder, work by boosting levels of acetylcholine in the brain.
Unfortunately our bodies are only able to produce a small amount of choline so its very dependant on dietary intake.
Chocolate
The theobromine and polyphenols in chocolate correlate to better cerebral blood flow, improved cognition. Just make sure you eat a quality chocolate source at least 70% cacao bean and preferably higher, like 85% with low sugar.
More frequent chocolate consumption was significantly associated with better performance on the Global Composite score, Visual-Spatial Memory and Organisation, Working Memory, Scanning and Tracking, Abstract Reasoning.
Water
Our brain is mostly water, with fat coming a close second…enough said!
Kind of. Being an electrical system, the brain needs adequate water to function efficiently. The brain will react to even the smallest amount of dehydration which can cause brain fog, faitgue, dizziness, confusion and brain shrinkage. So drink those 8 glasses at least, a day. Go for quality water high in minerals and natural electrolytes where possible.
Fats
Here we need the good oils found in avocado, olive oil, MCT oil, quality fish oil. The brain can only rebuild itself with the right equipment and that is fats. Make sure your fats are from good sources and bear in mind the change that some fats go through if they become overheated such as olive oil. It will quickly become rancid and inflammatory when heated, so just save it for salads and dressings.
Protein
Quality protein is important and as we age we need a little more. It doesn’t appear as important before the age of 65 (check the research of Dr Longo), but after that, make sure to get a few serves in a day. Animal protein should be grass fed and free range. This is particularly important with red meat. Grain fed cows have meet that contains a large amount of omega 6 which is essential but not in large amounts. Grass fed cows have meat that is rich in th perfect ratio of 6 to omega 3.
“... you are what you eat ate. Yes, that’s right: you better think twice about whether your steak ate grass vs. GMO corn, your chicken ate bugs vs. herbicide-laden grains or your fish ate worms vs. pieces of other dead fish ground up with fish farm meal. Nowhere is this truer and more applicable than when it comes to fueling your brain”
Now its very important to know……
……… What to Avoid
Ideally you would want make sure your diet has none of the following:
Vegetable oils
Heated nuts and seeds
Processed sugar (always check the sugar levels in the ingredients of foods. There are a lot of hidden sugars lurking around)
Grain fed meat and farmed fish (full of omega 6, have an omega 3 capsule with these if you must eat them to balance the 6:3 ratio)
Processed starches and grains
I hope this article will inspire you to take control of your brain health and those around you.
Knowledge is power.
Don’t let the above doesn’t overwhelm you with information and do’s and don’ts. Keep it simple, its never to soon to increase your brain health. Remember Alzheimers starts more than 10 years before diagnosis is made.
Have a look through your pantry and fridge. Take note of what you are regularly eating and see how many of the mentioned foods you are there. Try writing down it down in two columns and see how it measures up. Are there more ‘avoid’ foods? More ‘eat more’ foods?
The beauty with that little exercise is we that we know where you and your household are at now. Each day,
incorporate more brain health foods and less of those to’ avoid’ foods.
Especially if you are currently feeling in a healthy state, you can take your time with this and not be too militant. If you or a loved one is experiencing brain fog, early signs of cognitive difficulty, or is right in the midst of dementia, then try everything you can to improve the food choices you make for yourself and others. Please bear in mind I am no doctor and please run any major changes past a doctor and get an ok first. For example, if you are on blood thinners then increasing fish oil can be hazardous as that also thins the blood. So you need to make sure.
I’ve included an easy PDF printout you can stick on your fridge to help remind you of what choices are best. Please download and use that if you would find that helpful.
If you have any questions at all contact me or comment below. Check out my regular updates and tips on my Facebook page too and its another great place to message me :-).
Next blog will be on supplements that have been shown to improve brain health.
Further Good References:
Books that may interest you:
Genius Foods, Max Lugavere
You Can Fix Your Brain, Tom O’Bryan
Deep Nutrition, Dr Cate Shannahan
Longevity Diet, Dr Valter Longo
Brain Maker, Dr David Perlmutter
Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power, Dr Lisa Moscow
Comfort Zones
What was the last thing you did or didn’t do because it made you feel uncomfortable?
Morning jog in the rain? Or did you just skip it that day?
Faced hunger for half a day? Or thought about it and didn’t?
Spoke in front of a group of people? Or opted out ?
One thing I have always conversely tried to do and tried to avoid…especially the older I get.. is getting out of my comfort zone.
I resist it, although,
I KNOW its important to do it
I KNOW the challenge is great for resilience, experience, character development….and, quite frankly, if we don’t get out of it semi regularly, life is pretty beige.
(On a brain health note, it also activates certain pathways that is very very healthy in the brain. We don’t want those atrophying.)
However
Its nice to say its good for you, but its often another to do it. I’m a classic for excuses, are you?
My latest challenge was going to a concert. To clarify, going to a Pink concert.
Half of you are now saying, “what!…what kind of challenge is that!?…give me that damn ticket!”
…and I suspect, there a few out there who read the above and immediately knew what a challenge it was.
Everything in life is pretty subjective, whats hard for one is easy for another. I try to keep that in mind when I want to criticise others. For me, going to a concert is tricky on many levels.
I don’t like crowds, they make me edgy
- I don’t like loud noises
- I like early nights, and this wouldn’t be one
- I like to workout and eat healthy and the ramifications of a late night means I will want to eat more than normal and be too tired to exercise.
- I got up the concert morning for work at 4.20am…big day!
- Driving there and back in the concert traffic, trying to find a park that isn’t a marathon away and in a safe enough zone.
I could so easily have not gone, give me a choice and I would have stayed home all warm and cosy….but I knew …I KNOW…. That I would feel soooo much better if I went. Like when you are due for a workout and thats the last thing you want to do BUT you KNOW its good for you and you’ll be happy after. When you want a yummy snack, and theres only apples left in the house, and ermmm…noooooo it just won’t do! (First world problems hey!)
Fortunately, and I am so very fortunate, my wonderful partner is the exact opposite. He likes filling the days with experiences and friends, and he works damn hard on top of that. He constantly challenges my zones, happily and unmercifully challenges them, and thank goodness. I would be living so beige without that.
SO, I made sure not to think about the concert all day and just potter through my daily schedule of work, exercise and dogs. Much more relaxed…. I think I’ll try that next time too hmmmm
Well, what a concert! We were entertained fully! I’ve never seen a show like it. This woman is absolutely amazing.
There was also a side thought hovering throughout the concert.
I had treated my daughters to tickets to the show (birthday gift a few months before) on another date a few days after our show. Those that know my story know I unfortunately have been forced to disconnect from them (I look forward to that being reversed one day *quick prayer*). My joy in getting communication with them when they received the tickets was huge, but sadly since then I have heard nothing and minimal to no response from messages. Its normal, but it always hurts. So this was at the back of my mind during the concert. I was thinking how wonderful an experience it will be for them to see this incredible show which is also chock a block full of female empowerment, glamour, awesomeness. All around were women and mums with their daughters having a lovely time. It was bitter sweet to see, but more sweet, as in a strange way it is something we will have to connect us. Our shared experience and joy in this show.
So Pink and my wonderful, crazy, fun partner, I thank you.
Another challenging situation faced and an incredible experience for my reward.
In the words of a dear person
“How lucky am I"
postscript: my daughter did msg me..... thanking my partner only. One message in 3 months. I nearly threw my lunch up. Kids can chop your soul down so easily can't they.....