In the beginning, those lovely endorphins and brain chemicals say “wheee” and other non-verbal things to the brain that let me know I’m having a good time. The more I notice how much I’m enjoying myself, the more feedback I get, and the better it all feels. This must be what positive reinforcement is all about.

At some point I noticed that repetition of happy-making things made for more of the good feeling, and I started turning my attention deliberately towards those things. Someone said protein would wake up my brain faster than coffee, and, for me, it works. Replacing morning coffee with a protein shake with iced tea, protein powder, soy milk (no added sweetener), and some juice kicks off the day to a great start. And if it starts that way, it trends on staying that way through my commute.

I was reading a bunch of things about keeping blood sugar neutral, or at least within normal ranges recently. It seemed most experts agreed on regular meals of a smaller amount, rather than the three solid meals plan that I’d grown up with. Not everyone agreed on what should be in those smaller meals, so I started experimenting. It seemed a combination of carbs and proteins hit the spot. It might be a handful of rice crackers, and some cheese; or some dried fruit with cashews; or mixed grain cereal with coconut or almond milk; even goat cheese and corn chips, just so long as there’s a mix of things, not much bigger than my hand. Some days, depending on the length of the day, that means a bunch of snacks. A friend swears by cut up apples with peanut butter as her favorite snack, and some prefer celery with the peanut butter, though it sticks in my teeth, and I like it on toast.

Am loving the idea of growing happiness by feeding it good nutrients, some attention, and deliberate repetition of the good stuff.

Copyright 2012 R Loader all rights reserved