There are two basic principles to keep your brain healthy and sharp as you age: variety and curiosity. When anything you do becomes second nature, you need to make a change. If you can do the crossword puzzle in your sleep, it’s time for you to move on to a new challenge in order to get the best workout for your brain. Curiosity about the world around you, how it works and how you can understand it will keep your brain working fast and efficiently. Use the ideas below to help attain your quest for mental fitness.

1. Read a Book

Pick a book on an entirely new subject. Read a novel set in Egypt. Learn about economics. There are many excellent popular non-fiction books that do a great job entertaining you while teaching about a subject. Become an expert in something new each week. Branch out from familiar reading topics. If you usually read history books, try a contemporary novel. Read foreign authors, the classics and random books. Not only will your brain get a workout by imagining different time periods, cultures and peoples, you will also have interesting stories to tell about your reading, what it makes you think of and the connections you draw between modem life and the words.

2. Play Games

Games are a wonderful way to tease and challenge your brain. Suduko, crosswords and electronic games can all improve your brain’s speed and memory. These games rely on logic, word skills, math and more. These games are also fun. You’ll get benefit more by doing these games a little bit every day-spend 15 minutes or so, not hours.

3. Use Your Opposite Hand

Spend the day doing things with your non-dominant hand. If you are left-handed, open doors with your right hand. If you are right-handed, try using your keys with your left. This simple task will cause your brain to lay down some new pathways and rethink daily tasks. Wear your watch on the opposite hand to remind you to switch.

4. Learn Phone Numbers

Our modem phones remember every number that calls them. No one memorizes phone numbers anymore, but it is a great memory Skill. Learn a new phone number everyday.

5. Eat for Your Brain

Your brain needs you to eat healthy fats. Focus on fish oils from wild salmon, nuts such as walnuts, seeds such as flax seed and olive oil. Eat more of these foods and less saturated fats. Eliminate transfats completely from your diet.

6. Break the Routine

We love our routines. We have hobbies and pastimes that we could do for hours on end. But the more something is second nature, the less our brains have to work to do it. To really help your brain stay young, challenge it. Change routes to the grocery store, use your opposite hand to open doors and eat dessert first. All this will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again.

7. Go a Different way

Drive or walk a different way to wherever you go. This little change in routine helps the brain practice special memory and directions. Try different side streets go through stores in a different order anything to change your route.

8. Learn a New Skill

Learning a new skill works multiple areas of the brain. Your memory comes into play, you learn new movements and you associate things differently. Reading Shakespeare, learning to cook and building an airplane out of tooth picks all will challenge your brain and give you something to think about.

9. Make Lists

Lists are wonderful. Making lists helps us to associate items with one another. Make a list of all the places you have traveled. Make a list of the tastiest foods you have eaten. Make a list of the best presents you have been given. Make one list every day to jog your memory and make new connections. But don’t become too reliant on them. Make your grocery list, but then try to shop without it. Use the list once you have put every item you can think of in your cart. Do the same with your “to do” lists.

10. Choose a new skill

Find something that captivates you that you can do easily in your home and doesn’t cost too much. Photography with a digital camera, learning to draw, learning a musical instrument learning new cooking styles, or writing are all great choices.

这里有两个基本原则可以保持你的头脑健康灵敏：变化和好奇心。当你做一件事成为习惯,你需要做出改变。如果你在睡觉时也能做猜字游戏，那么为了让你的大脑得到最好的锻炼，这是转向一个新挑战的时候了。对周围世界充满好奇心将会使你的头脑敏捷而高效。使用下面的方法可以帮助你锻炼大脑。

1、读一本书

选一本关于一个全新主题的书。读一部发生在埃及的小说、学习金融。会有很多出色而流行的非小说书籍，它们在教你相关知识的同时，还能使你感到快乐。每周都成为新事物方面的专家。跳出你所熟悉的阅读主题。如果你经常读历史书籍，尝试一本当代小说。阅读国外的作品，经典和随机的书籍。你的头脑会因沉浸于不同的时代、文化和人物而得到锻炼，不仅如此，你还能获得有趣的故事。

２、玩游戏

玩游戏是一个挑战大脑的好方法。数独（一种数字游戏），猜字和电子游戏都能促进你的思考速度和记忆力。这些游戏依赖于逻辑，文字技巧，数学或是更多。同时它们都很有趣。当你每天花大约１５分钟，而不是几小时，来玩这些游戏，你将受益匪浅。

３、使用你的另一只手

用你不太有控制力的一只手做事。如果你是左撇子，用右手开门．如果你是右撇子，试着用左手使用钥匙．这种简单的事将使你有新的思维路径。把手表戴在另一支手上提醒自已转变。

４、记忆电话号码

当我们打电话时手机记录了每一个号码。没有人再去记忆电话号码，但这是一个记忆技巧。试着每天记忆一个新的电话号码。

５、为你的大脑而吃

你的大脑需要你摄取健康的脂肪。注意摄取鱼肝油，吃野生鲑鱼，坚果（如核桃），种子（如亚麻种子和橄榄油）。多吃这些食物，少吃饱和脂肪。将转化脂肪从你的饮食中完全剔除。

６、打破常规

我们喜欢常规。那些爱好和娱乐，我们能做连续做几小时。但是越多的事情成为习惯，大脑将得到越少的利用。为了帮助你的大脑保持年轻，挑战它。改变平常去杂货店的路线，用你的另一只手去开门，用餐时先吃甜点。所有这些将强迫你的头脑从习惯中清醒过来，再次集中注意力。

７、走一条不同的路

不论你去哪，走一条不同的路。这个小的改变帮助大脑练习特殊的记忆力和方向感。为了改变日常路线，试着从不同的方向去杂货店。

８、学习一个新技巧

学习一个新技巧可以锻炼头脑的不同区域。让你的记忆力发挥作用，学习新的运动，用不同的方式将事物联系到一起。阅读莎士比亚，学习烹饪，用牙签造架飞机，这些都将挑战你的头脑，让你思考。

９、列清单

清单是样好东西。列清单可以帮助我们协调各个事务。列出你所去过的所有地方，列出你所吃过的美食，列出你所收过的最好礼物，列出每天触动你的回忆。但不要依赖它们。列出你的购物清单，但试着不用它们去购物。当你将脑中记得的所有东西都放进购物车时，再用清单核对一次。用同样的方法为你“要做的事”列出清单。

１０、选择一个新技能

寻找一个感兴趣的事。这件事，你可以在家轻松地做，又不用花费太多。例如用数码相机照相，学习画画，学习一种新的乐器，学习一种新的料理方式或是写作，这些都是不错的选择。