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Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

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Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#21

Post by eurasiantiger »

arieswar wrote: post #9

Exercise, specifically following powerlifting programs. It makes me tired so I can sleep without stressing over what I need to accomplish work during the next day. It also makes me crave healthier food. It's a feedback loop, and it makes me sharper mentally. If I skip 1-2 days, I immediately notice the negative effects by the end of the week: cloudy thoughts, less motivation, etc. Powerlifting also gives me goals to…

Do note that these mental effects of powerlifting/strength training are mediated by the concommittant increase in circulating endogenous opioid peptides.

These people are effectively using and getting dependent on opioids.

While it may seem healthy at first, the cravings for more lifting can increase until one cannot control themselves any more, leading to constant overtraining, muscle/skeletal injuries, and eventually PAIN which requires actual opioids prescribed by a doctor.

Do you want to guess what happens after a person, unbeknown to themselves an endogenous opioid addict, gets a hold of exogenous opioids?

What the parent is noticing after a couple days of not working out are the withdrawal symptoms.

Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#23

Post by dorkwood »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #12
clintonwoo wrote: post #4

Quitting my job did wonders for me. After years of hard working it takes it's toll on the mind. This may or may not be an advisable plan though Sleep is incredibly important also. Earplugs and a face mask help with sleep in disrupting conditions.

Same. Quitting and working on my own small projects are such a joy.

How do you fund your lifestyle, if you don't mind me asking?

Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#24

Post by kimburgess »

volkfish55 wrote: post #17
arieswar wrote: post #9

Exercise, specifically following powerlifting programs. It makes me tired so I can sleep without stressing over what I need to accomplish work during the next day. It also makes me crave healthier food. It's a feedback loop, and it makes me sharper mentally. If I skip 1-2 days, I immediately notice the negative effects by the end of the week: cloudy thoughts, less motivation, etc. Powerlifting also gives me goals to…

Can you share what programs to look into to start powerlifting?

Stronglifts 5x5 is really nice for simplicity. Its pattern of continuous, small progression is great for feedback and that feeling of reward.

If you can, get someone to help teach you proper form when you start. It’s much easier to learn once, without needing to break bad habits.

Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#25

Post by tkgally »

arieswar wrote: post #9

Exercise, specifically following powerlifting programs. It makes me tired so I can sleep without stressing over what I need to accomplish work during the next day. It also makes me crave healthier food. It's a feedback loop, and it makes me sharper mentally. If I skip 1-2 days, I immediately notice the negative effects by the end of the week: cloudy thoughts, less motivation, etc. Powerlifting also gives me goals to…

I vote for strength training in general. I don't follow a specific goal-oriented program, but I work out with weights every day and definitely notice the mental benefits--as well as the mood drop if I miss a couple of days.

Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#26

Post by [deleted] »

jfim wrote: post #19
eurasiantiger wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that hard to believe.

Which part do you find hard to believe? That people with aphantasia can have a hard time with the method of loci, or that aphantasia is more common for software engineers than in the general population?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#27

Post by ramblerman »

eurasiantiger wrote: post #21
arieswar wrote: post #9

Exercise, specifically following powerlifting programs. It makes me tired so I can sleep without stressing over what I need to accomplish work during the next day. It also makes me crave healthier food. It's a feedback loop, and it makes me sharper mentally. If I skip 1-2 days, I immediately notice the negative effects by the end of the week: cloudy thoughts, less motivation, etc. Powerlifting also gives me goals to…

Do note that these mental effects of powerlifting/strength training are mediated by the concommittant increase in circulating endogenous opioid peptides. These people are effectively using and getting dependent on opioids. While it may seem healthy at first, the cravings for more lifting can increase until one cannot control themselves any more, leading to constant overtraining, muscle/skeletal injuries, and eventual…

You could have just said you don’t feel like working out

Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#28

Post by jstarfish »

eurasiantiger wrote: post #21
arieswar wrote: post #9

Exercise, specifically following powerlifting programs. It makes me tired so I can sleep without stressing over what I need to accomplish work during the next day. It also makes me crave healthier food. It's a feedback loop, and it makes me sharper mentally. If I skip 1-2 days, I immediately notice the negative effects by the end of the week: cloudy thoughts, less motivation, etc. Powerlifting also gives me goals to…

Do note that these mental effects of powerlifting/strength training are mediated by the concommittant increase in circulating endogenous opioid peptides. These people are effectively using and getting dependent on opioids. While it may seem healthy at first, the cravings for more lifting can increase until one cannot control themselves any more, leading to constant overtraining, muscle/skeletal injuries, and eventual…

That's an interesting extrapolation, but you do realize exercise itself releases the same endorphins as opiates?

Sure, you do go through a form of withdrawal once you stop doing it, but it has nothing to do with opioid abuse.

Same thing makes fast food "addictive" (unnatural levels of salt and fat), caffeine, and capsaicin (peppers).

Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#29

Post by ChaitanyaSai »

eurasiantiger wrote: post #18

Completely removing all alcohol, coffee and tobacco consumption from my life. I still consume caffeine and nicotine. I’ve found that my cognition is improved by them; in the case of nicotine, I might just as well have regular pauses from work, though. Coffee and tobacco, however, contain a host of other psychoactives which tend to bring about an easily distracted, impulsive frame of mind. So many impulse buys are con…

What's a good easy way to get caffeine without coffee?

Re: Ask HN: What lifestyle choices have led to improved cognitive function/memory?

#30

Post by JetAlone »

Having more adventures. There's plenty good that can be done by trying out some routines and input chemicals, but at the end of the longest day, what memory is there in a forgettable life? A good adventure is sort of like a mnemonic, we encode stuff very well in stories. So in much of what we do, we ought to make an adventure of it.
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