Go Red! for Women Weekly Digest 0312

Last week, it was strongly advised that you visit www.goredforwomen.org/hearthealth and enter your numbers. Within approximately ten minutes, you will have your own personal set of numbers and risk factors for heart disease. With this information comes the power and responsibility needed for change.

In your hands, this checkup becomes a weapon against impairment or death. Contemplate the results. How do they make you feel? What can you learn from them? What questions do they provoke?Most importantly, what will you do with these pieces of information?

Here are some pieces of information to help you to decipher your pathway:

1. Total cholesterol levels should be lower than 200, better if below 150.

2. The LDL(lousycholesterol) ought to be below 100 and closer to 70.

3. The HDL(good cholesterol) ought to be above 45 for men, 55 for women.

4. Triglyceride levels ought to be below 150

5. Blood pressure should be around 120/80.

6. The four best health practices are: activity, diet, stressbusters, quitting smoking.

This is why the diet and exercise topic came up last week. Why? These are the two areas in which all of us have crucial input. We buy our own food and are responsible for our own locomotion. Therefore, the power is in our hands to fight off heart disease!

GO RED! FOR WOMEN HEART HEALTH CHECKLIST 0312:
1. Start taking a multivitamin.
2. Begin eating 3-5 vegetables and fruits daily.
3. Make an appointment with the doctor/followup appointment and get started with a PLAN to care for your heart!

With every heartfelt desire for your success, and
From my heart to yours,
Doula Angelita

Heart Health Ambassador

San Jose American Heart Association

One of the reasons that this small digest is continuing long after February is over is due to a recent study conducted by researchers for Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association. Not only because of pride at being a Heart Health Ambassador, but because the Go Red! campaign is the American Heart Association's passionate and powerful campaign to address the heartfelt needs of the women of the United States.

Go Red! is a lifestyle, a way of thinking about daily, weekly, monthly, yearly improvements that will contribute to better health and better lives for women. Go RED! is a way to reward and to thank, all the women, of all colours, races and creeds, who have enriched my life, and enriched the lives of others. In so many cases, the women of the family are the real heartbeats, the vital organs that sustain and maintain strong and healthy families.

Therefore, in reviewing the following information, keep in mind that for every one woman who suffers from heart disease that is untreated, an entire family may suffer, a neighbourhood suffers, work suffers, and the graveyards fill too soon with women who should have been the artists, thinkers, mothers, aunts, writers, leaders of our generation:

*81.1 million people are living with heart disease*60 percent of Caucasian women knew that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women*Less than half of the minority respondents seemed aware of that fact.*Most women were unaware of strategies to prevent heart disease.*25-34 year old women were not aware of the prevalence of heart disease among women.*Only 56 percent of women could ID symptoms of heart disease.*Only 53 percent of women would call 911 if they thought they had a heart attack.*51 percent of women said that family/caregiving responsibilities prevented them from taking better care of themselves.*42 percent were confused as to what steps to take to better their cardiovascular health.

In silent anguish, women suffer. Because of their suffering in silence, they lose the opportunity to restore themselves to health..

For this reason, this digest as a blueprint for improving heart health weekly.Additionally, this digest will address the issues that prevent women from achieving optimal cardiovascular health.Finally, this digest will serve as both a goad and an encouraging source to continuously improve upon heart health.


GO RED! HEART HEALTH CHECKLIST 0305:


1.So, the major thing to do this week is to go to :
www.goredforwomen.org/heartcheckup
In ten minutes, you will have a concrete set of numbers and figures for you to ponder and to be your guideline for the weeks ahead.

2. The next thing to do this week is to put pen to paper and chart your schedule for the week, paying special attention to diet and exercise.

With all my heart, I am rooting for your good health,
From my heart to yours,

Doula Angelita

San Jose's Heart Health Ambassador

Follow me on Twitter: @sanjosedoula1

Go Red! Digest: This KISS won't miss!

The Bride is paralyzed. She has been injured, and can barely move. "Move," she mutters to her feet, willing them into action. She is in a bad situation; assasins are after her, and her time to escape them grows short. Finally, she hobbles just enough to make her getaway.

This was the situation facing the character in the Kill Bill movie, but looking at it, it occurred to me that many of us are in the same situation. Cholesterol, stress, lack of motivation and direction, bad eating habits, no exercise...all these assasins are hot on our trail, and we are immobilized by fear, laziness, indecision and inactivity.

This is why this week, the beginning of the Lenten calendar in the Christian world, I am challenging all of us to take five steps towards better heart health:

1. Drink 6 eight oz. glasses of water a day.

2. Take a ten minute walk after dinner.

3. Show love and affection to our loved ones.

4. Eat 2 vegetables a day.

5. Begin taking a fish oil supplement.

KISS: Keeping it short and sweet is the name of the game. The time invested is more precious than gold, since the rewards are the fruits of a healthier, easier life. Mind, body, and soul will benefit, and the changes will be just in time for the coming Spring!

From my heart to yours, and good luck!


Doula Angelita
Heart Ambassador
American Heart Association
San Jose, CA

GO RED WEEKLY DIGEST: EXERCISE

For the average person, the fact is that they know exactly what to do to keep healthy. It is not simply a matter of knowledge; rather it has much to do with both support and motivation. This is why it is important to surround yourself with those who will provide reinforcement and a gentle net of encouragement to help you achieve your goals. In this session of Go Red! Weekly, we will talk about getting exercise.

One of the important things about exercise is to do what is good for your body without causing damage or harm. No one is asking a couch potato to become a marathon runner overnight, nor asking those with bad knees to do a lot of weight-bearing exercise right away if at all. The important thing to keep in mind is to do what is comfortable for your body to do for a minimum of time. Begin slowly and then work your body up to a customized routine.

Many people despair of having to exercise at all. It is true: it is uncomfortable, it takes time, it is not easy and of course, sitting in a comfortable chair with a box of chocolates and the television remote is so much more accomodating. But, this is also the easy path to heart disease and to poor overall health. The path of least resistance is not the path that is the best for you nor your future.

Now, what will it take to get you into an exercise routine that you can commit to? First, you need the aforementioned and fabled support group. Even one person who will go for a walk with you, or call you up to see if you did take your walk, or who will listen when you call to say how much the walk took out of you...or gave to you...this person is gold and you need to hang onto them like grim death. When starting a new regimen, this is a crucial part of your strategy. Think about it: Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers make millions doing just that, so why don't you?

Second, do an exercise that is meaningful to you. What did you used to enjoy doing? Dancing? Swimming? Yoga?Lifting weights? Hiking? Bicycling? Whatever it was, adapt it for your fitness level now. Take a class for beginners, put on the timer for ten minutes, pedal around the block. This will give you an idea of your fitness level, as well as keep your interest piqued.

In the meantime, why not try walking? You can go at your own pace, there's no fancy equipment for you to buy, all you need is yourself, a coat if it is chilly and your keys. If walking isn't your thing, then there are exercises that you can do in your chair, there are muscle-building workouts for both the upper and lower body. Once you get moving, keep moving for heart's sake.

The heart is the organ which controls the movement of blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. It cleanses and purifies, it pumps ceaselessly, and it never complains even when parts of it begin to show signs of disease or even die through bad diet and lack of exercise. This organ is so important to your body that without it even the brain cannot function! Not only is it the seat of emotion, it is the seat of life and to not care for it as best as you can is unconscionable.

#Hearthealth is #besthealth. What will you do for your heart today?