EXERCISE, EAT HEALTHY & LOSE WEIGHT
#EXERCISE REGULARLY
How does Exercise help my heart?
The heart is a muscle. The more you exercise your heart the stronger it gets. More importantly, exercise decreases blood pressure, weight, blood cholesterol, and blood glucose, decreasing inflammation of the arteries and the risk of heart attack.
Exercise is not only great for your heart, but for your health in general, it helps increase energy, improve sleep and decrease the risk of developing cancer, diabetes and other diseases.
How much should I exercise?
The new American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines recommend moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic activity 3-5 times per week and including muscle-strengthening activity at least 2 days per week for additional health benefits.
What type of exercise should I do?
Whether you WALK, RUN, BIKE, SWIM or LIFT WEIGHTS, the exercise you choose should be fun and safe. Trying different types of exercise is a great way to find out what you like to do and to challenge your body to adapt to a wide range of exercises. Exercising alone or with groups can be fun. Finding what is best for you will be important to keep you motivated and exercising on a regular basis.
As you start exercising, it is important to listen to your body. Start with low intensity, frequency, and length of exercise. As you get stronger and your body gets used to moving and exercising you can increase the intensity, frequency and duration of your exercise. Don’t forget to warm up and stretch before and after you exercise to help keep safe.
#EAT HEALTHY & #WEIGHT CONTROL
Why Eat Healthy?
Food gives you energy and nutrients to get through the day. Eating healthy foods will help keep you energized, focused and more productive. Avoiding food that is high in fat and cholesterol will decrease the amount of cholesterol in the blood, leading to less fatty plaque buildup in the blood vessels, decreasing the risk of stroke and heart attack. Avoiding food that is high in sugar and carbohydrates will decrease the risk of developing diabetes. Eating healthy helps protect you from heart disease, being overweight or obese, diabetes and other diseases.
#SHOP HEALTHY
What you eat starts with what you buy. Changing your grocery list and how you shop for groceries can have a great effect on your health. Check out your Heart Healthy Grocery List on the next page.
TIP # 1: Avoid the aisles! Most Grocery stores have all you really need located on the outside of the store. Fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy and bread.
TIP# 2: Make a list and only buy what you need. Avoid browsing the snacks and soda aisles and avoid grocery shopping when hungry.
#COOK HEALTHY
Try using olive oil, canola oil or peanut oil instead of butter or lard when cooking
Avoid frying foods
Steam or Bake your vegetables to get more nutrition and flavor
Roast, Bake or Grill: Use a rack to let fat drip away from your food.
#EAT HEALTHY
There are many healthy and delicious choices available whether your are eating at home or on the town. Below are a few suggestions to EAT HEALTHY.
Drink water: often what we think is hunger is really thirst.
Start with a Salad: Having a healthy salad is a great start to your meal.
Size and satisfaction: Often we eat much more than we need. Decrease the amount of food you eat with each meal.
Shake up desert: Switch sweet fatty deserts for sweet healthy fruits.
#WEIGHT CONTROL
Weight Control is something many people struggle with. There are many products, programs and packages that promise to take the pounds off. While losing weight may be hard, studies have shown that the best way to lose weight is by doing these 3 things:
#EAT LESS CALORIES: Eat smarter, there are many ways to decrease the amount of calories you eat without going hungry.
COUNT CALORIES: Keep track of the amount of calories you eat with each meal. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends approximately 2000 calories per day for males and 1600 per day for females.
Find out more: Active people may need more calories
Food labels are usually located on the side or the back of food packaging. These labels are list of items that your food is made up of and usually includes calories, fats, sugars, protein and vitamins. The American Heart Association provides information on how to read food labels.
#EXERCISE REGULARLY: A very important part of losing weight, exercise starts your metabolism and keeps it going when you aren’t exercising, helping you burn fat and calories while you are active and inactive. Exercise is important to keeping a negative calorie balance. We need calories for energy, but when your body has more calories than it needs it stores it as fat. When your body doesn’t have enough calories from food, it turns this stored fat back into calories, giving you energy and decreasing your weight.
#CHANGE YOU: Making heart healthy living part of your everyday life will help you lose weight and keep it off. Shopping, cooking and eating healthy, along with regular exercise are just some of the things you can make part of your daily routine. Doing simple things like walking or biking to work, taking the stairs and sleeping well can improve your metabolism, wellness and heart health.
Check out how you can make the mental change to #LiveHeartHealthy.
- http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/rethinking-exercise-as-a-source-of-immediate-rewards/
- http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Understanding-Food-Nutrition-Labels_UCM_300132_Article.jsp
- https://youtu.be/0weSjPKi4cs