How to Keep Your Brain Healthy as You Age: My “Operation Save My Brain” Plan

I’m not afraid of getting older. I’m afraid of losing the ability to read, think, learn, and stay engaged with life.

My mom has always been a little dingy and, if I’m being totally honest, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

But it’s been getting worse as we’ve both gotten older.

I’ve noticed that I’m more forgetful. And when I’m tired, hungry, or stressed, I can feel the wheels in my brain slow down in a way they never used to when I was younger.

None of that particularly scares me because I know occasional forgetfulness and slower processing can be a normal part of aging.

What terrifies me is the possibility of dementia.

Getting older doesn’t scare me nearly as much as losing the ability to think, learn, and enjoy the things I love.

I’m More Afraid of Losing My Mind Than Getting Older

We recently lost my father-in-law to, among other things, dementia.

And when my grandmother and my father died, they were also experiencing significant dementia-related issues.

All three of them were voracious fiction readers. Toward the end of their lives, none of them could read fiction anymore because they simply couldn’t follow the story.

That detail has stayed with me.

I am also voracious reader of fiction. Reading is one of my most treasured pleasures in life. So, when I realized that each of these people I loved had eventually lost the ability to do something that had once brought them so much joy, it felt like a gut punch.

I would be devastated if I lost my ability to disappear into a book.

But instead of living in fear of losing my mind, I’ve decided to do something about the things I can control.

I call it Operation Save My Brain.

Operation Save My Brain

For the past five years or so, I’ve become a bit of a researcher into brain health.

I’ve spent the past five years reading, listening, researching, and generally going down the rabbit hole of brain health. One resource I’ve found particularly interesting is the Brain Docs. And what’s struck me most is how often the various sources I’ve turned to come back to remarkably similar recommendations.

And that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned:

There isn’t one magic brain-health trick.

There’s a whole collection of relatively boring, life-style things that, taken together, may help us keep our brains healthier as we age.

My plan certainly isn’t foolproof. There are no guarantees.

But I figure knowledge is power.

And if there are things I can do today that may stack the odds in my favor tomorrow, I’m in.

1. Exercise — Especially Strength and Balance

I knew exercise was important for overall health, but I didn’t realize just how important it is for brain health.

Regular physical activity supports brain health in a number of ways. And as we get older, strength, balance, flexibility, and mobility become particularly important.

The Brain Docs, for example, emphasize lower-body strength because maintaining strong legs can help reduce the risk of falls and their potentially serious consequences.

That makes sense to me.

So, I’m not just thinking about exercise as something I do to keep my body feeling strong and functional.

I’m thinking about it as brain insurance.

Strength training. Cardio. Balance. Staying mobile.

All of it counts.

2. Sleep

Oh, sleep.

I have spent plenty of my life treating getting enough sleep like an optional luxury when I had too much to do.

I no longer see it that way.

Sleep is incredibly important for the brain. While we sleep, the brain is doing some pretty remarkable housekeeping and processing work.

So, the old recommendation still applies:

Aim for roughly 7–9 hours of quality sleep.

3. Nutrition

This is a big one.

A nutritionist once told me that some people in her professional circles refer to dementia as “Type 3 diabetes.” That got my attention.

To be clear, that isn't a formal medical diagnosis. But the idea points toward something we already know: metabolic health and brain health are closely connected.

And once again, the recommendations are not particularly glamorous.

They’re the same things we’ve all heard approximately one million times:

• Eat mostly whole foods.

• Limit highly processed foods.

• Eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.

• Keep added sugar in check.

• Limit alcohol.

• Eat foods rich in healthy fats, fiber, and nutrients.

• Include foods often associated with brain health, such as berries, leafy greens, nuts, seeds, salmon, and avocados.

• Use herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, sage, and black pepper to add flavor and variety.

In other words, nobody has discovered the secret brain-health food that makes everything else irrelevant.

Unfortunately, it's still vegetables.

4. Stop Doing Things That Work Against My Brain

This category gets less attention, but I think it matters.

If I’m trying to keep my brain engaged and healthy, I don’t want to spend hours every day doing things that require absolutely nothing from it.

So, I’ve started paying more attention to:

Mindless screen time.

Especially endless social-media scrolling and other forms of passive consumption.

There’s a difference between intentionally watching something I enjoy and spending 45 minutes scrolling without even remembering what I saw.

I’m trying to choose the first one more often.

And yes, I’m putting limiting sugar and alcohol on this list too.

I know. I already mentioned them.

They’re worth mentioning twice.

5. Give My Brain Something to Do

This is my favorite category.

Because brain health doesn't have to feel like homework.

I love brain-teaser puzzle books like all these. I also love old-fashioned, real-life puzzles—the kind you can actually hold in your hands.

I love activities where I completely lose track of time, like mixed-media art and the various hobbies I’m always getting myself into.

And then there’s travel.

One of the things I love about traveling is that my brain can't run entirely on autopilot.

At home, I know where the grocery store is. I know which turn to take. I know where the coffee cups live.

Travel throws all of that out the window.

New places. New routes. New foods. Sometimes new languages. New experiences. New problems to solve.

Your brain has to pay attention.

And that's really good for it.

Want to Give Your Brain a Little Reset?

If you’re thinking, okay, I probably need to pay a little more attention to this, I made something to help.

The free Mind Reset Workbook is a simple, practical way to take stock of the habits that support a healthy, engaged brain—and choose a few small things you want to work on.

No complicated program. No perfection required.

I Don't Want to Just Live Longer. I Want to Stay Engaged.

These are the things I’ve consciously started incorporating into my life because I want to give my brain the best possible chance of aging well.

Not because I believe I can guarantee that I’ll never develop dementia.

I can't.

None of us can.

But I can make choices that support my overall health and give my brain plenty of reasons to stay engaged.

And ultimately, that's what this is really about for me.

I don't simply want to live a long life.

I want to participate in it.

I want to keep learning things.

I want to have hobbies.

I want to travel.

I want to make art.

I want to have interesting conversations.

And more than anything, I want to keep reading books until the day I die.

Preferably in my sleep.

Of old age.

With a book on my lap.

That's the goal.

Operation Save My Brain is officially underway.

Did I miss anything?

What are you doing to keep your brain healthy as you age?

Ready to Reset Your Second Act?

You don’t have to figure out your next chapter all at once. The free Second Act Reset Guide gives you simple prompts and exercises to help you reflect on where you are, what matters now, and what you want next.