Good morning!

Welcome to this week's newsletter from the Pounce Pot. I’m on a journey to outsmart aging with a bit of grit (not grits!) and a whole lot of gratitude. The Weekly Pounce shares this journey with you.

Each week, I personally explore five science-backed and budget-friendly tips from the Pounce Pot Protocol and share my experiences with you.

These are the essential actions from current research divided up into five easy-to-manage categories that can help you reach your goals for vibrant longevity and active pro-aging.

It’s not too late to start, and it’s never too early. Let’s pounce on life’s possibilities together! Thanks for reading! — Laura Lee

Staying sharp takes intentional actions, but they don’t have to be boring. Y’all know I’m a huge fan of puzzles and games. I’m currently obsessed with a new-ish puzzle challenge called Foldology.

It’s like a Rubik’s Cube, origami, and a hidden picture puzzle all rolled into one. The price is super reasonable, and you get 100 in a box. Here’s a link, or perhaps you can find it at your local toy store.

Motor-cognitive dual-task training like folding paper and solving a puzzle simultaneously is a perfect challenge for boosting your brain. Learn more.

Let me know if you like the folding puzzle game, too! Email me at laura.lee@pouncepot.com or you can always just hit reply.

I really enjoyed this article highlighting Jeremy Nobel, who teaches a course on loneliness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Nobel says that loneliness, the gap between the connections we have and the ones we want to have, is like being thirsty. He says that loneliness is a “signal indicating that we need human connection, just like thirst is a signal telling us that we need water.”

The article from Harvard suggests several helpful activities to help strengthen a sense of belonging and improve long-term health. I think you’ll enjoy it, too, even if it just helps explain loneliness as a sign that someone (maybe you?) needs more social connections.

Perhaps a friend seems isolated and needs a little encouragement this week.

A college friend died unexpectedly last month in a tragic bicycle race accident. He was just 59.

When I hear stories like this, I can’t help but getting pulled into a black hole of doubt: Why should we work so hard to stay fit, healthy, and connected when an accident (or a serious health issue) can come at us like this out of the blue?

I think the answer lies in understanding that we are building strong foundations that will support us in the future. Being as mentally, physically, and socially strong as possible today means that when life does present a challenge, we will have the courage and capacity to handle it.

It's the daily deposit we make into our own resilience fund, so that when life demands a withdrawal, we have the resources to meet it. It’s not about avoiding the bad stuff. It’s about being ready for it.

My friend surely didn’t know he wasn’t going to make it until tomorrow, but he was passionate about his favorite activity (racing his bike), earning a PhD, and enjoying life with his friends and family. You can bet he was prepared to recover fully if it had been medically possible.

This week, take some time to think about the hidden power of your inner “why.” Why do you want to live a long and vibrant life? Perhaps ponder the question while you’re walking, or maybe write in a journal for a few minutes. This “why” can be a strong motivator to keep going as you build your own foundation.

My mission at the Pounce Pot through the Pounce Pot Post and this newsletter is to help me, you, and our friends and families build this foundation together as a community.

After growing up eating boiled peanuts, I’ve recently discovered that not everyone loves them as much as we do in the South. Soft, mushy peanuts floating in salt water? Shockingly, this is considered weird to some people!

But it turns out that peanuts can actually reduce cellular aging. Dry roasted nuts, such as peanuts, are an excellent source of fiber and other nutrients.

A large study of over 50,000 adults over 50 in the UK showed that eating a daily handful of nuts resulted in a 12% lower risk of developing dementia.

Sadly, these benefits don’t translate to peanut butter. I’m not giving up my occasional peanut butter and jelly sammies, but unprocessed nuts is where the magic truly happens.

This week, try a handful of nuts as a snack instead of chips. And if you really want to give boiled peanuts a try, you can order a bag of my favorite Boil in the Bag peanuts to cook overnight (or all day) in your slow-cooker. They are SO good, easy, and fun to eat! Give them a try and share with friends. The bag makes more than you can eat alone!

Keep an eye on your overall salt intake if you have high blood pressure, and enjoy salty foods (liked boiled peanuts) in moderation.

Another meta study to report, this time with 160,000 adult participants. We all know by now, I hope, that 10,000 steps a day was a marketing campaign.

Currently, the consensus recommendation for walking is about 150 minutes per week, which works out to five 30-minute walks every week at least. But if you track steps, not minutes, what should you aim for? The study suggests that taking 7,000 steps per day was “associated with nearly a 50% lower risk of dying compared with the bare minimum of 2,000 steps.”

The study, published in The Lancet Public Health, also showed that the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes fell by 14%, cardiovascular disease by 25%, symptoms of depression lowered by 22% and dementia by 38%.

7,000 steps could take you about an hour, so let’s get this straight: An hour of walking would be more beneficial than a half-hour, walking at a brisker pace would be more beneficial than a stroll, but any activity is better than none at all.

Focus on your future self and your future resilience to face inevitable challenges, and think about getting more than just a quick stroll in this week.

Maybe just one longer or faster walk would be a great start. Carve out the time for yourself. I’m trying, too. Don’t forget about walking inside videos like this one with 163 million views on YouTube if you can’t get outside.