Obesity’s effects are often seen on the outside, as it’s not easy to detect how weight affects us internally, especially psychologically. It’s not just your body’s shape that changes when you’re obese; your brain does too. Shrinkage in brain regions responsible for learning, judgment, and memory is caused and exacerbated by extra weight. These changes in the brain mirror that of Alzheimer’s. For those struggling with obesity, forgetfulness may be challenging to recover from. However, routines can be crucial for preventing worse outcomes, not only by fostering healthy habits but making it easier to remember to do them.
Here’s how obesity impacts memory and how routines can help mitigate the effects:
How obesity affects memory
Many are aware that excess weight can be unhealthy for the body, but its effects on the mind are not as well-known. The marginal difference on the BMI scale that defines overweight vs obesity can make all the difference for your mental health. Being overweight has associated health problems, but not typically inflammation. A person with obesity has extra fat, which makes blood sugar regulation more difficult for the body and increases inflammation, linked to over 200 health issues, including cognitive decline. Inflammation can affect the physical structure of the brain, damaging healthy brain tissue and neurons. The blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from harmful substances, also becomes disrupted and constantly triggers the inflammatory response, further affecting the brain and exposing it to harm. This can lead to various brain problems like memory decline and loss and the development of diseases like dementia.
A healthy lifestyle is crucial for preventing more adverse effects on the brain and body. However, simply saying you want to change is easier than actually taking action. When you find it hard to build healthy habits consistently, routines are essential for making it easier by integrating these activities into everyday life. Here’s how routines can help manage obesity’s effects on memory loss:
Forming habits
Building healthy habits such as eating more nutritious meals and exercising regularly to improve obesity can take some time before they become integrated into your everyday life. Some habits take longer to form than others, and it may take up to two to three months before they start feeling automatic. Consistent success isn’t easy to come by, especially when dealing with memory issues, but that’s why routines can make it easier to get used to new healthy habits. If you want to start exercising more often, creating an exercise schedule and carving out a specific daily time for physical activity integrates this healthy practice into your routine. For healthy eating, creating a nutritious meal plan and scheduling cooking times to batch cook meals you can eat throughout the week can help you stay on top of your nutrition. After some time, you’ll get used to working out and eating well without constantly reminding yourself to do something healthy.
Creating a cue
As mentioned above, finding success and consistency when building healthy habits and developing routines can be challenging. It’s easy to forget when to exercise, take medication, or even eat and drink water, especially if you’re wrapped up in something else. In this case, it’s not enough to say that you’ll do a specific action at a certain time, but creating cues can help jog your memory and improve consistency. Customizable reminders can help you be more mindful of your routine by targeting your specific needs and preferences. You might brush over a generic reminder, but when you customize it to make it more appealing to you, your attention is more easily grabbed, and you’ll be able to carry out the action more often. These reminders can be crucial for forming an everyday routine, making the most mundane activities seem fun and personalized.
If you want reminders to work when building a healthy routine, Orka’s talking alarm clock can help make that happen. Its custom reminders and other features make remembering things more enjoyable and efficient, so you never miss a workout day or skip your medication. Taking control of your habits with our aid can help you accomplish your goals.