Mom Brain Challenge Details
Juggling all the responsibilities of being a mom can leave any mom feeling absent-minded, disorganized, and moody. We toss these feelings aside and chalk them up to “mommy brain” like it’s no big deal. The reality of it though is that it sucks to be in a constant state of mental chaos and disorganization. After the first few months of repetitive complete mental lapses trying to juggle work, household tasks and needs of the family, the exhaustion becomes unsustainable. A woman’s desire to stop existing and start living becomes stronger. It's time absolutely necessary to start taking action by re-framing your mindset about your new and improved mom brain. Come with me on a 30 day re-frame your mom brain wellness challenge and we will clear the mom brain fog together.
During this challenge each day of the week will have a theme based on an aspect of your physical health that has known benefits to your brain. This challenge will offer a well rounded approach to tackling your overall health. It will offer you a template for a weekly routine. Establishing and maintaining a routine that is dedicated to your personal health is one of the hardest things for moms to do because moms always put everyone else first. These simple daily tasks include regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, engaging in some intellectual stimulation, socialization and stress mitigation, oh and did I mention, regular exercise? Let’s start by breaking it down day by day so you know what to look forward to during our 30 day challenge.
I know at first glance these 7 small tasks will seem way too easy, but the challenge isn’t to go from zero to hero in 30 days, the challenge is to form a routine of healthy habits that are sustainable even on your most challenging days.
Meditation Monday
On Monday’s we will focus our attention on stress management by using meditation to calm our minds and release tension in our physical bodies. We will practice meditation in order to hone our ability to practice mindfulness so that we may live fully in the present moment. #stopexistingstartliving There’s no shortage of stress in a mom’s life and experts agree that meditation is one of the best ways to manage stress levels. Meditation helps improve your mindset. Mindset is a set of beliefs that shape our attitudes and influences all of our behaviors and feelings. Our mindset determines how we approach and manage failure and challenges. Doing just 5-10 minutes of meditation once a week is a great way to proactively manage stress so that you can slowly but surely wipe away the mommy brain fog.
Toning Tuesday
Every Tuesday we will focus our attention and energy on getting regular exercise by doing resistance training. We will do a 5 exercise circuit that only takes 20 minutes to complete and together we will tone our back, glutes, legs, and arms. Resistance training is a type of exercise in which your muscles contract against an external force in order to build muscle mass, strength or endurance. The external force can come from dumbbells, resistance bands or just body weight. Maximizing and maintaining muscle mass is crucial to your health. Increasing your muscle mass improves your balance and stability, makes you stronger and more able to do basic functional tasks on a day to day basis (i.e. mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc. etc.) Adding weight lifting to your routine once a week will do wonders for your stamina and strength throughout the week. Get out our favorite athleisure wear and tone up with me on Tuesdays.
Wiki Wednesday
Wednesday we will focus our attention on exercising our mental muscles by doing or learning something new. Practice a new hobby, read a new book, learn a new skill like crocheting or gardening, learn how to speak a new language or play a musical instrument. Much like we spend time exercising to strengthen our muscles, we need to spend time strengthening the muscles of our brain. Use it or lose it ladies!
Three Mile Thursday
Every Thursday we will focus our energy on getting regular exercise by walking, running or biking 3 miles. Heck, you could even swim 3 miles if that’s what floats your boat. Every step you take, whether you realize it or not, you are improving your brain health. Growing evidence supports the idea that regular exercise, including (but not limited to) leisure walking, has both direct and indirect brain benefits, plus it fits into just about any mom’s budget. It helps improve cognition by promoting heart health, improving blood flow to the brain, reducing inflammation and lowering our stress hormones. Aerobic exercise can also even change the physical composition of our brains and it’s neuroplasticity which helps with memory, problem solving and multitasking. These are all pretty important things for us moms.
Fueling Friday
On Fridays we will focus on fueling our brains with food that maximizes our energy and performance. Since our brain is arguably the most important organ in our body, it is essential to fuel it with food that helps it run efficiently. Out with the bad and in with the good. Every Friday during our challenge I will feature one type of food and give you tips on what to add and what to subtract in order to help clear the mom brain fog through your eating habits.
Stretch Saturday
On Saturdays we will focus on building stretching into our routines. Cardio and weight lifting is great for your health, but without proper stretching and concentrated exercises to improve your flexibility your muscles and joints have an increased risk of injury. Stretching reduces muscle tension which in turn improves the mechanical efficiency of the muscles and joints. The more efficient your muscles and joints are the better they will perform.
Social Sunday
Every Sunday we will focus our energy on staying socially engaged. The goal is to schedule regular social activities for yourself so that you stay socially active and avoid isolation. This socialization is proven to boost your brain power because it forces you to exercise the part of your brain that processes verbal and visual inputs from social circles.