I'm smarter than a lot of people surrounding me but I frequently feel like a fucking brainlet anyway.
I'm a sedentary lethargic nerd and my diet is crap. Have any Jow Forumsizens managed to make themselves feel sharper, less foggy, and overall smarter through activity, diet, and supplementation?
Good sleep, which probably means quitting caffeine.
NoFap.
Don't eat junk.
Mindfulness meditation.
Never have a whole day inside. Even if you're NEET and it's a rest day, take a walk.
Yes, clean your room.
Shower, shave, and put on clean clothes every morning, again, even if you don't have to.
Fpbp.
This, except nofap. You can masturbate, just not a degenerate amount.
>Never have a whole day inside. Even if you're NEET and it's a rest day, take a walk.
This especially took me way too long to figure out.
you have depression, my mind was still foggy and slow even after eating a perfect diet for a couple of months, daily HIIT cardio and lifting 5 times a week, good social life, etc. I started taking zoloft(an SSRI) and it was a like the fog instantly lifted and I finally felt as if I felt like normal people did, everything I did felt so much more organic, stupid things that used to give me anxiety no longer did, workouts improved a lot, and my GPA went up, I barely feel tired now and I don't get mentally fatigued when working on a hard problem. I feel much more content but also more motivated. I actually want to help people now and I'm no longer apathetic and stopped going on Jow Forums as much.
>24
>dropped out of college 4 years ago
>spent the last 2 years doing literally nothing but sitting indoors and wanting to die
---
>started the gym a week ago
>taking vitamins, eating right, using "mindfulness" techniques and attempting to read (difficult due to being mentally broken for years), sleeping properly
>feel better already, including cognitive function and confidence
Meditation? I don't have the attention span for that, tinnitus makes it worse. I'll definitely try walking though.
I'm diagnosed with severe depression actually, and I'm on an SSRI as well, called Citalopram. That sounds like a wonderful change you've been through but I haven't had one like that myself. Although I'm meant to go see my GP again soon so I might ask for a change in my prescription. Thanks user.
>due to being mentally broken for years
Sounds like a similar predicament to me. I've been having a hard few years that I've spent doing blue collar work without an education while being chronically miserable and lethargic. So hitting the gym improved your cognitive function by itself? Wanna tell me about your vitamin supplements?
>supposed to be smart but feel retarded
>nerd
>lethargic
>sedentary
>crap diet
Are you literally me?
>meditation? I don't have the attention span for that
>bench press? I don't have the upper body strength for that
Then train it, silly! Start small and work your way up
Probably, yes. It's weird to be surrounded by people who act like heavy-handed clumsy apes breaking things, be they hardware or software, and they always look to you to fix their mistakes but you try to teach yourself something for yourself but get overwhelmed.
Sensible. I admit I never really looked into it and it sounds rather esoteric to me. How exactly did it help you out?
Yeah, I'm hardly the most eloquent due to the reasons stated - but I'll try to describe it.
Lifting forces me to stop entertaining the ever repeating record of negativity in my mind, while I'm there I have to concentrate on what I'm doing and the constant and consistent (if done correctly) improvements to bodily function and appearance create a positive feedback loop which makes me want to do it more, which I suppose gives me something I haven't felt in a long time - determination.
I only take a few supplements, Vitamin D3, Vitamin K2 and Omega 3. I couldn't recommend Vitamin D enough, most of us don't get enough of it - it affects a ton of bodily functions (even testosterone production) - and it should be paired with K2 for optimum usage. Here's an article about Vitamin D's effects on lethargy for you:
psychologytoday.com
And another to back my claim about testosterone production:
prostate.net
We're very much alike, user. I too have a reputation for being intelligent and yet often feel like the most idiotic person in any given room, we can both make it, it just takes effort.
I have tinnitus as well. When I meditate, I just focus on that. See, meditation is about intense focus. It doesn't matter if you focus on the feel or the air coming in and out of your nose, or your hearbear, or a mantra, or the sound be a bell; it's just that you're focusing on ONE infinitely repeating thing. I used to think that I couldn't meditate because I had a hard time "letting the thoughts pass through", and "trying" would just make me think about stuff. So i started focusing on the ringing in my ears, reminding myself to come back to it when I'd wander off.
Eat enough good carbs and greens for brain health. Practice reading a chapter of philosophy and thinking about it for the rest of the day. I also take Lion's Mane and have seen measurable results.
>Have any Jow Forumsizens managed to make themselves feel sharper, less foggy, and overall smarter through activity, diet, and supplementation?
Definitely me, I had problems with anxiety and depression (a therapist as well as two psychiatrists were concerned about this) when I was in my middle teens since I was a fat shut-in. Eventually I lost the weight, started exercising, taking fish oil plus a daily vitamin. Also I masturbated so much I'd have to nap because the exhaustion was overwhelming. They wanted to put me on SSRIs but I said no thanks to my inner Jow Forums and my parents agreed with me. I think you should stay away from antidepressants due to their documented, deleterious effects on your brain architecture and memory.
It's honestly a little funny as I used to be the advanced English student and I always made honor roll. A powerful consciousness combined with great memory made school a cakewalk. I'm happy I turned my life around though. Everything is looking up and I hope it ends up the same for you.
>I think you should stay away from antidepressants due to their documented, deleterious effects on your brain architecture and memory.
source?
I wrote your vittles down so I can read about them later and grab some supplements (brand recommendations welcome). I don't get enough D so I should probably go outside more often. Thanks brah.
That's a good idea. I've started that "mewing" fad (mostly for sinus/eustachian problems) so I might as well just focus on that.
Thanks for your well-wishes user, best of luck to you too. I'm quite new to my SSRIs so I'll give them some more time before I pass judgement for the same Jow Forums reasoning that I've been wary of before.
MyProtein for the Vitamin D and Omega 3. Nutrobioticals for the K2 - via Amazon.
Another supplement to consider is Zinc, though I've not taken it for more than a day and I'm certain you can get enough through foods. So I wouldn't and can't recommend it as much as I can recommend looking into it.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
There are a bunch of anecdotal stories too if you look up things like "SSRI memory" and whatnot.
The Zinc also came through MyProtein.
Exercise releases BDNF - brain derived neutrophic factor - which literally makes your brain more plastic, able to make new synapses, learn, and adapt at a cellular level. Single best way to keep your brain young, prevent or delay all types of neurodegenerative disease (alzheimers, etc), and raise intelligence.
That isn't even counting how it improves endocrine system and hormonal responses, which also play a large role in keeping cognition sharp, or how it keeps your body younger which in turn also aids in keeping your brain health on point.
sort out your diet, and do 1-3 hours of rigorous exercise, 3-5 times a week, and you will reliably get and stay smarter and younger for longer.
t. neuroscientist
Pro tips on brain rewiring writing with your non dominant hand and listening to music while high on caffiene vyvanse and pot may feel awesome and is a great way to become genius tier fast. but go to far youll end up schizo effective and not able to fall asleep sober for the rest of your life.
Tell me about sertraline, neurocuck.
That's fascinating, would you recommend cardio or weights for the exercise?
It helps you resist impulses to do dumb things, very much including getting carried away by negative thought-patterns.You pretty much just sit up straight and breathe through your nose, focusing on your breath. To start, every time a thought enters your mind say "thinking." You'll get better and better at catching yourself and start to marvel at all the silly stuff your mind does on its own, without your conscious direction.
Get Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Short cheap book, has all the basics.
Not him but I've read that cardio does more.
Also just from experience I recommend martial arts. I literally never feel better than I do after a good wrestling practice. All my thinking is improved, nothing is motivated by bad feelings. I get why Nietzsche would walk in the mountains to think
Get omega-3, cut out sugar, eat a lot of raw salads, and do some fasting you will feel sharp every day and defeat brain fog
also more salt
fair enough, but I don't know if that study is reliable enough, because it doesn't make any effort to classify the level of depression of the participants. It has been shown that ssri's may have no effect or even an inverse effect(e.g memory problems) on people who don't have severe depression.
Honestly? I would not recomend it - SSRI's as antidepressants are very rough for most people, and the side effects are rarely worth it in my experience. Some people do benefit for taking them short-term, but they blunt all emotion more than aleviate depression specifically, and should not be taken long term (imo) especially if the depressed person is already lethargic and having motivational problems
Cardio does cause more BDNF release, but for optimal mental health you want to do anaerobic strength bulding exercise, because that helps your endocrine system more than cardio alone. Doesn't need to be lifting, just something non-cardio to compliment it. Martial arts are fantastic, and include both cardio and strength training.
This is mostly on point, but a few things:
-sleep is very important, but caffeine (used responsibly and in moderation) is not bad for your brain's health, nor will it ruin your sleep. If you are an addict, quit, but otherwise
-NoFap is similar to caffeine - if you have an addiction problem, you are damaging your dopaminergic synapses and erotic responses, quit for a while. If your fapping is moderate and occasional, It makes little meaningful difference.
More brain questions? I've got some time to kill
>for optimal mental health you want to do anaerobic strength bulding exercise, because that helps your endocrine system more than cardio alone. Doesn't need to be lifting, just something non-cardio to compliment it. Martial arts are fantastic, and include both cardio and strength training.
What's anaerobic consist of? I'd actually prefer doing weight exercise because I like the idea of being jacked, especially if it means a better brain result.
anything that isn't cardio, weight training being a perfect example. As a previous user said, you should do both for best results, don't neglect cardio.
Just row/run/cycle for half an hour at the end of your workout, or bike to work a few days a week.