Movement For Life - Where the Heart Is

by Lauren Walker

Valentines Day is fast approaching which makes me think of how to keep our hearts healthy. Health is always number one in my book and being well means more time for who you love.

Your heart is a muscle

Why is it so imperative to look after your heart? It only supplies blood and oxygen to your entire body! Keeping the traffic flowing means finding ways to make your heart more efficient. This means, yes, you guessed it: exercise is vital to keep it strong.

What Exercise is Good for your heart?

While some refer to “cardiovascular” exercise as more beneficial, let’s look into what that really means. It often means spending time on the treadmill or bike, for example. In my experience, this kind of exercise is very light resistance which is good in certain doses. Lifting weights also allows your heart to do some much needed work as well. The most important thing to remember is we’re all at different levels. Finding an exercise program which fits your age and stage of life is the message. As my mom says, “Your heart doesn’t know what you’re doing, as far as exercise goes.” What this means is, movement in general is ideal but it must be somewhat of a challenge.

Healthy Choices

Making sensible choices, when it comes to what you eat, is 90 percent of your success. I don’t suggest a specific way of eating but whatever you put in your body should offer nutrition. Being conscientious about ingredients, first starts with educating yourself. Read the labels and start doing your homework! My mom taught me a valuable lesson as a child, “If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, don’t eat it.”

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