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Women’s Heart Program Offers New Twist to Healthy Eating and Exercise

Heather Seubert, Nurse Practitioner, Women's Heart Secrets Program

Posted: May 1, 2009

Much has been written about diet and exercise programs. We understand that being inactive and eating diets that increase our cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose levels are unhealthy for us. But how do we sort through all the information? Where do we start? How can we be successful? Where can we turn for support?

With Columbia St. Mary’s Women’s Heart Secrets Program, the journey to a healthy lifestyle begins with focusing on one feasible goal at a time. Meet the goal, incorporate it into your life and then set another goal.

Also, when you think about a healthy diet, don’t focus on what you can’t eat. Try some of the tasty things you can eat that will improve your health. For example, take the small step to incorporate some good-tasting fiber into your daily eating plan. Twenty-five to 35 grams of fiber per day are enough to help lower your cholesterol. So when you’re planning meals, add more vegetables and include peas, beans, sweet potatoes or barley.

There are tasty monounsaturated fats that you can add to your diet, and they do a good job of keeping hunger at bay. They are also believed to lower cholesterol and may assist in reducing heart disease. Try incorporating some avocado in your salad, prepare food with olive oil or enjoy a handful – about an ounce – of walnuts or almonds, preferably raw and unsalted, when you get home from work or as a mid-day snack. These healthy fats should be consumed in moderation as they are high in calories.

Omega-3 fatty acids can reduce risk of heart attack and stroke and lower triglycerides levels. EPA and DHA are powerful forms of Omega-3 that are found in cold-water fish such as wild salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines. Try to get Omega-3 fatty acids in a food source. If you don’t like fish, a fish oil supplement can be substituted, but first check with your healthcare professional.

These are small changes that don’t require a huge overhaul to your diet. Fad diets are not recommended because they are not sustainable. Eventually people go off them; and because there haven’t been any long-term changes made to sustain a healthy lifestyle, any success you had on a fad diet soon disappears.

As with any change, start small and build to sustainable levels. That goes for physical activity too.

Don’t think of physical activity as a weight-loss strategy. Physical activity helps to relieve stress and to gain and maintain wellbeing. Remember, it’s not about weight. It’s about how you feel.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 150 minutes of exercise per week; the American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of exercise on most days. These recommendations mean you have flexibility when trying to fit physical activity into your schedule.

You can try to work in 30 minutes of exercise a day or, if daily exercise won’t work for you, try longer periods of time on fewer days to get in the 150-minute weekly goal. Or if that isn’t possible, research also has shown that you can get the same exercise benefits when you break it down into 10-minute increments.

It's important to set yourself up for success. Start with a goal you can reach. Here are some ideas:

• Participate in a small workout session before you start the day.
• If you’ve sat at your desk all day, move around more in the evening, for example, do three household chores before settling down to relax.
• Take the stairs and get up from your desk at the office to deliver a message
• Start a walking program with friends or neighbors.
• When taking your car, park farther from your destination.

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