Everyone knows that a healthy lifestyle is key to feeling your best and living a longer, more fulfilling life. But did you know that you can make simple changes to your lifestyle that can help support a happy, healthy heart? Read on to discover the power of heart-healthy living and find out which lifestyle changes you can make today to support your heart health.
1. Passionate About Heart Health: Our Guide to Living Well
Building Self-Awareness
Living well begins within each of us. Knowing ourselves and our bodies is the foundation of having a healthy heart. Start being mindful by understanding your own unique risk factors like family history of heart disease, gender, age, preexisting medical conditions, and lifestyle. Seek regular checkups with a doctor to get preventive screenings for conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Living a Healthy Lifestyle
Once we take stock of our risk factors, we can start to make changes. Start building strong habits that will last a lifetime-
- Eat your vegetables and opt for foods that are heart healthy.
- Minimize alcohol consumption.
- Quit smoking and stay away from secondhand smoke.
- Stay active by walking, running, or biking for exercise.
- Take steps to reduce stress, like practicing yoga, meditating, or engaging in deep breathing exercises.
Living a healthy lifestyle also means getting enough sleep to enable your body to heal and repair.
Finding Support
Dealing with heart health can feel isolating, but you don’t have to go it alone. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from friends, family, and doctors. There are also support groups and resources that can provide moral support. Organizations, like the American Heart Association, offer communities and events to promote a healthy heart lifestyle.
2. Change Your Diet: Foods to Enhance Your Heart’s Health
Eating nutrient-rich foods isn’t just about watching your waistline; how you nourish your body can have a substantial impact on your heart health, too. Refuel your heart with these diet revisions to keep it in tip-top shape.
Fill Up on Fruits and Veggies: Fresh produce is loaded with protective benefits that can keep your ticker healthy. Fill your plate with a wide variety of color, by buying pre-cut and frozen fruits and vegetables. Not only are they convenient, but they’re also vitamins and minerals packed for long-term storage.
Make Whole Grains Your New Friend: Whole grains, like quinoa, barley, farro, bulgur, and brown and wild rice, contain vitamins and minerals that will help your heart. Unlike refined grains, whole grains have more fiber, which can help reduce cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar, which helps keep the heart healthy.
Power Up with Healthy Fats: Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, found in olive oil, canola oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds, can reduce the risk of heart disease and lower “bad” cholesterol. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish, like salmon and tuna, can also help lower blood pressure and reduce irregular heartbeats.
3. Get Up and Move: Incorporating Exercise Into Your Routine
Exercising is not only great for overall health; it can also give you more energy and help improve focus. But it can be difficult to find time to fit a workout into your everyday routine. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Choose an Exercise You Enjoy – If running or lifting weights isn’t your thing, find activities that are more enjoyable. Try activities like swimming, dancing, biking, yoga, or whatever else suits your fancy. It will make it easier to stick to your routine and make it more enjoyable overall.
- Start Small – If you’re just starting out, begin with small goals and manageable activities that you think you can handle. Start with just 10 minutes of walking around your neighborhood or doing some stretching. As you build up your stamina and strength, you can add more minutes into your routine.
- Get a Workout Buddy – Having a workout buddy can make exercising more fun and can help keep you motivated. Pick out a friend or family member who is also interested in getting healthy with you and who will keep you accountable.
- Schedule Exercise Time – It can be hard to make time for physical activity, but if you put it in your daily or weekly schedule, it can help you stick to it. Whether it’s taking a walk or lifting weights, schedule physical activity into your calendar like you would for any other important task. This will help you keep exercise top of mind.
Exercising regularly not only boosts your physical and mental health, but it can also increase your concentration and help reduce stress. You don’t have to live in a gym or become a professional athlete to reap the benefits. With a few simple steps and a bit of willpower, you can start incorporating exercise into your everyday routine.
4. Reduce Stress, Increase Happiness: Finding Ways to Relax
We live hectic lives, constantly juggling work, family, and whatever else life throws our way. While it’s important to stay busy and stay productive, it is also important to take time out and slow down. When that work-life balance is off, we feel stressed, overwhelmed, and overworked. To feel more relaxed and happier, we need to find ways to reduce stress and provide our body and mind a much-needed break.
Breathe Deeply – One of the oldest methods to reduce stress and relax is to focus on our breathing. Taking a few moments every day to simply concentrate on your breathing can be enough to put your mind and body at ease. Try this technique: Sit up with your back straight, close your eyes, draw in a long and slow breath through your nose. Pause for a second, and then slowly exhale through your mouth. Repeat five to ten times.
Yoga & Exercise – Engaging in yoga or physical activities is another great way to reduce stress. Not only do you work off all your pent up energy, but you benefit from the calming effects that yoga offers. Take a yoga or any fitness class at your local gym, or if you’re comfortable with the moves, try a few at home or outdoors. Exercise releases endorphins that result in improved mood and a greater feeling of relaxation.
Time For Yourself – Sometimes all you need is time for yourself. Allow yourself to do something you love to do; listen to music, watch TV, take a hot bath, go for a walk, read a book, the list is endless. Taking some time to yourself will help you break away from the stress of the day, tune out, and find some quiet in your mind.
5. Get Your Heart Checked: Regular Visits to Your Doctor
Regular visits to your doctor are essential for your heart health. Planning regular check-ups with your doctor can help identify any potential heart problems, and keep on top of the health of your heart.
- Establish a relationship with your doctor to ensure easy communication
- Talk to your doctor about any changes with your diet, weight and lifestyle habits
- Ask your doctor any questions about your heart health and general wellbeing
Visiting your doctor can be reassuring, and you can take steps to reduce your risk of heart disease. Get advice on heart-healthy lifestyle tips, medications and medical treatments to ensure your heart is always in good shape. Your doctor can also provide support and strategies for dealing with any existing heart conditions you might have.
In addition to regular visits to your doctor, it’s important to also monitor your heart health on your own; pay attention to your own risk factors, like your cholesterol level and lifestyle habits. Make sure to take any relevant steps as soon as possible to ensure your heart health.
Living a heart-healthy lifestyle isn’t as difficult as you may think, and the benefits are greater than you can imagine. Coming out of “Heart-Healthy Living: Lifestyle Changes for a Happy Heart”, we hope that with the lifestyle changes outlined, you can now enjoy a long, happy, and healthy life with an even healthier heart!
