It’s Heart Health Month!

How many people do you know affected by stroke, heart attack, or other heart/blood vessel conditions? What about the precursor of high cholesterol or high blood pressure?

I know many.

  • My friend in her 20s had a heart attack while teaching fitness classes. She was very active, often teaching 3-5 high intensity classes per day. She had no warning signs.
  • My colleague in her 40s experienced a life changing cardiovascular event while taking a dance class. She had danced her whole life, at least an hour a day. She had no warning signs.
  • My uncle died from a stroke. He was in his 60s. He had no warning signs other than high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Overall, he felt fine in life, but was generally quite sedentary.
  • The list continues. There are many, many more.

So many people have the option to choose quality of life for the next decades to come!

Heart/cardiovascular disease continues to rank as the number one cause of death, but it is often preventable with lifestyle modification.

With over 25% of people being affected, it’s time to take back your health today!

Here are 3 daily lifestyle habits to promote your heart health:

  1. Sleep – Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep/night. This is when your body recovers. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter and discovered that your heart rate was elevated the next day? Perhaps workouts felt really difficult as well. Your heart is trying to tell you that recovery is key for health. Make sleep a top priority instead of last priority. Take this sleep quality quiz, and discover more pearls on how sleep affects your health in this Experience L!fe article.
  2. Nutrition – Diets higher in fiber promote heart health. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains contain fiber. Also replace your saturated fats with more unsaturated fats. Examples of unsaturated fats include tree nuts, olive oil, and avocado. Canada takes the lead in their new 2019 food guide with practical every day strategies on what to eat.
  3. Get moving – Many blogs call sitting the “new smoking,” meaning that being sedentary subtracts from your health. Add to your health by setting a goal like 10K steps/day. Need to adjust for more or less? Looking for ideas beyond walking? Here is a great interactive resource to Move Your Way.

Now that we’ve explored the foundations of lifestyle, and many practical choose-your-own-adventure resources, what questions do you have on your healthy heart lifestyle? Leave a post or use the contact form, as I’m here to help and live a healthy lifestyle along side you every step of the way!

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