Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

The Heart of a Healthy Lifestyle

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Heart disease is still the leading cause of death for both women and men in the United States. That does not mean it has to happen to you. You have the power to prevent heart disease, no matter if you are 17 or 77, you can make healthy lifestyle changes that will lower your risks of heart disease or stroke.

It’s important to make healthy lifestyle changes as early as possible since the risks of heart disease increase dramatically during menopause and after. But it is never to late to take action. Protecting your heart can be as simple as taking a brisk walk, eating more vegetables, and seeing your doctor regularly.

Diet and exercise are two factors that are prominent in creating a heart healthy lifestyle. Maintaining a healthy weight is important for a vibrant, vigorous life. Unfortunately, research shows that American women are eating more and moving less.

If you need to lose weight, the best approach is a gradual one. Don’t skip meals, don’t fall for fad diets, and don’t give up. Do eat 3 to 5 meals every day. Do make your portion sizes smaller. Do eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

There are many diets that can help you lose weight. If you have struggled with weight gain and loss in the past, take it day by day. Use a fitness journal to chart your efforts, recording your current weight and measurements. You will want to keep track of everything you eat and drink so you will know what food choices work and which ones don’t.

Exercise at least 6 days a week. Alternate your workouts between cardio activities and strength training exercises. Build up your strength and implement circuit training into your routine, adding weights and coordinating weightlifting with cardio. It has been proven that just 30 minutes of exercise each day will help to improve heart function and protect your health.

Regular physical activity not only improves heart function, it also relieves stress and depression, major factors for heart disease and other health conditions. Daily exercise is good for the body, mind and soul. It increases endorphins, opens your lungs, improves circulation, and energizes every cell in your body. Follow that up with adequate sleep each night, so your body has time to restore all that energy and give your heart the rest it needs.

Have A Healthy Happy Heart

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A happy heart is more than just a state of mind. Keeping your heart healthy and happy is one of the best things you can do for your body, mind and soul.
Unfortunately, heart disease is still the leading cause of death for both men and women. Surprisingly, one in four women will have a heart attack and because women experience heart trouble differently than men, many times women ignore or don’t fully understand the symptoms.
Exercising, eating a heart-healthy diet and getting plenty of rest are paramount to keeping your heart healthy. Monitor your blood pressure and cholesterol levels and follow your physician’s advice for taking care of your heart.
Regular cardio exercises like walking, jogging, cycling or rowing can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. These fun activities also burn calories and along with a low-fat, high-nutrition diet, can help you to lose weight and keep it off.
The Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of the two.
That’s about 30 minutes a day, five days a week. If that’s more than you can do, start with 30 minutes a day, three days a week. As you progress, you can add more days or exercise longer, aim for 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity.
Remember if you are short on time it’s fine to break-up your workouts into six 10-minute sessions during a day. You’ll still get the same heart-health benefits.
Interval training provides some great benefits and may help you reach your goal weight quicker. Try combining alternate short bursts of intense activity with intervals of lighter activity, for example, include short bursts of jogging or fast walking into your regular walks.
You can also add exercise to your daily activities with these tips.
• Take the stairs instead of an elevator.
• Walk or ride your bike to work or to do errands.
• March in place while watching television.
• Add weights to any exercise routine.
• Stand longer, sit for shorter periods of time.

Love Your Heart With An Active Lifestyle

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The number one killer of women is heart disease, according to the American Heart Association®. The good news is, there are many steps you can take to protect your heart and make it healthier. But first you need to know your risk factors, important information like your family’s history of heart disease. Did your parents, grandparents, or siblings experience heart disease and if so at what age? Sharing these informative facts with your physician can help determine your risks.

Your diet plays a big role in your heart’s health, too. So does getting ample sleep. But neither of these risks figures in as dangerously for the heart as the effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Inactivity is a killer for women and men, alike. Outside of smoking, a sedentary lifestyle is one of the unhealthiest behaviors, but fortunately, this behavior is completely preventable.

Exercise, on the other hand, is one of the healthiest behaviors in which you can participate. It has been proven that even moderate exercise leads to a healthier heart. The more active and fit a woman is, the less chance she will have for coronary heart disease. Many studies have been conducted over decades and each time the results are pretty much the same. Exercise and an active lifestyle will keep your heart healthy.

There are so many forms of exercise to keep your heart healthy. Believe it or not, housework can count as exercise, too. But remember, your goal should be to reach a cardio heart rate for at least 20 minutes. It may take you a while to get there but the more you train your heart the stronger it will become.

Walking and jogging are also good forms of exercise that even a beginner can excel at. But if you need something more stimulating, try taking tennis, dance or spinning classes to stir up some fun. Any sort of sport that you enjoy playing will help you to work your heart and increase oxygen circulation, the key to helping your heart work at optimum condition.

Your body’s ability to take in and use oxygen improves with regular exercise making it easier on your heart to reach a cardio heart rate. Effective exercise occurs when the heart, lungs and muscles work together. Regular cardio exercise will help your heart to become a more powerful pump so that it can supply the body’s needed oxygen at a slower heart rate.

Exercise is essential to a heart healthy lifestyle. Love your heart and become an active participant in your own life story.