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.

Beat Heart Disease With Beets

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Protect your heart by adding the wonderfully nutritious beet to your diet. This health-friendly tuberous root vegetable has been found to offer protection against coronary artery disease and stroke as well as lowering cholesterol levels. Eating beets at least twice a week will offer many other health benefits, too.

The root of the beet is rich in glycine betaine. This phytochemical compound lowers cholesterol levels in the blood and helps to fight depression.

Beets are a great source of folates, too. Folates are a water-soluble B vitamin, a key nutrient for a healthy diet. As a matter of fact, low levels of folate can have devastating effects on the body.

Beets are very low in calories, about 45 calories per cup. Low in fat, with zero cholesterol, beets do contain a high amount of sugar. But don’t let that scare you away from this wonderful food. This completely natural sugar is released gradually into the body to give you plenty of energy. Few foods feature this wonderful benefit.

Eating beets will improve your overall health, too. They are high in fiber, potassium, copper, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, vitamins A, B and C. Beets contain antioxidants to help protect your body from free radicals. A top tonic for liver health; beets purify the blood and prevent certain types of cancer.

By now, you are probably wondering why you aren’t eating more of this superfood. Well, it’s not too late, to partake of this red beauty. Beets taste good and are quick and easy to prepare. While many cooks boil the beets for an hour. This long cooking process can deplete the nutritious value you get from this vegetable. Just 15 minutes to steam and you have a fabulous new root vegetable to add to your meal. You can also eat beets raw or use them for juicing.

To steam your beets in just 15 minutes, wash beets and cut them into quarters. Don’t worry about peeling them. Peeling takes too much time and is not needed at this stage. Use a steamer basket and sauce pan to steam the beets for about 15 to 20 minutes. After cooking the peel will fall right off and the beets will be ready to serve.

Keep mealtime interesting with fresh, seasonal vegetables and fruits. Don’t be afraid to try new foods—versatility is the spice of life.

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.