Love Your Heart
Each year as February rolls around, many of our thoughts turn to celebrating Valentine’s Day with that special someone. We want to propose a different celebration- one that focuses on loving your heart. Since February is American Heart Month, we want to encourage everyday behaviors that you can adopt to keep your heart healthy all year around. Substituting heart-healthy habits for unhealthy ones can help to battle a host of cardiovascular diseases and reward you with an improved quality of life. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women, but is also preventable.
To keep your heart healthy:
- Watch your weight
- Quit tobacco smoking and avoid secondhand cigarette and cigar smoke
- Control your cholesterol and blood pressure
- If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation
- Get active: aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity 5 days a week
- Eat healthy: challenge yourself to replace at least one meal a week with a healthier version or recipe
- Talk to your doctor to determine if aspirin is the right therapy for you
- Manage your stress
Quitting tobacco use is one of the hardest habits to break, but also one of the most important behaviors you can adopt for a healthy heart. Quitting is hard, but it can be done. The sooner you can quit, the quicker your body can begin to heal and the better you will feel. To help you (or someone you love) get started, click on the link below to create a personal message about the reasons you want to quit and print or send a Quit Smoking e-card:
http://healthfinder.gov/ecards/DisplayCard.aspx?CardID=13
For more information or to access a wealth of tools and resources to help quit tobacco use, call 1-800 QUIT NOW or visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/index.htm
http://www.smokefree.gov
http://healthfinder.gov/prevention/ViewTopic.aspx?topicID=24&cnt=1&areaID=0