How to Work Out the Most Important Part of Your Body

If you made New Year's goals to exercise more (lots of us! Me too!) and get healthier in general, then be sure to include a super-important body part in your workout regimen: your brain.

And I don't mean like this:

Ha. But seriously--how often do you exercise your brain? The experts behind Lumosity--a brain-training site--say it's important to give your brain regular workouts. Not just because it helps keep your brain healthy and happy, but also because it will help the rest of you get in shape! Take a look at their tips for keeping your brain shipshape (I love these):

Eat right. You do it for your body--why not your brain? Fruits and vegetables with antioxidants help prevent cell damage, and omega-3 fatty acids are important building blocks in the brain.

Go to the gym. Regular exercise can help keep your brain fit with increased levels of brain chemicals and more efficient blood circulation. Studies have even shown that physical exercise stimulates the production of new brain cells.

Get out more. Like, away from Facebook. We're social creatures and our brains really, really like social contact. Research has shown that having an active social life appears to delay age-related memory loss.

Sleep. Sleep plays an important role in memory formation. Your brain uses sleep to process and make sense of the day, consolidate memories, and generate creative new ideas.

Get your brain in boot camp. The best exercises for your brain are new challenges, such as memory games that use different parts of your brain and increase in difficulty as you improve on tasks. These games can even help improve self-esteem and willpower that can keep you motivated to carry out that resolution to exercise more.

(PS: The games on Lumosity are actually really fun--the site works with institutions such as Harvard, Columbia and UC Berkeley to get research in order to design games specifically to improve brain function. But let me say again: fun!)