6 Simple Actions to Take TODAY Toward a Healthier You: Number Four

I sit here writing again from my husband's hospital room.  After his heart catheterization showed no blockages requiring intervention, he is now here under observation while the doctor's try a new medication to keep his heart in rhythm.  One thing this confirms for us is that all of Jamison's hard work in cardiac rehab and with his diet changes is paying off!  I know that if it making simple changes can help my husband improve his health, it can work for you, too.

So far we've talked about meal planning, increasing you daily movement and drinking more water.  My fourth idea for you of a something you can do TODAY is eat fresh fruit.  I'm constantly asking my family - have you eaten any fruit today?  For me, I try to eat fresh fruit with every meal.

Homemade Pineapple Salsa to serve with

Barbecue Pulled Pork

What are the benefits that I've found from eating fruit everyday?

1. There are numerous health benefits to every kind of fruit.  For example bananas and cantaloupe are good sources of potassium.  Blackberries and apples are high in fiber.  Fruit is good for your overall general health, but specific fruits have been found to have specific benefits towards specific diseases.

2. Fruits are naturally sweet which helps curb any craving that you're having for something sweetened by sugar or an artificial sweetener.  Exchange your daily afternoon candy bar with an apple or a banana!

Celebrating my staff's success with fruit instead of

sweets such as cookies or donuts.

3. There are so many different types of fruit that there is always something new to try - plumcots, stair fruit, dragon fruit, rambutan, kumquat . . . the list goes on and on and on.  There are also plenty of new recipes to try that include fruit.   I love trying new things, especially food! 

Apple Nachos with Cashew Butter and Chocolate Chips

I have found that the key to increasing the amount of fruit that I'm eating is to make it easily accessible.

• Keeping a bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter.
• Cutting up fruit and placing it in baggies or containers that I just grab out of the fridge.
• Carrying fruit with me (You can always find an apple, pear or orange in my purse!).

Making healthy choices doesn't have to be hard or complicated.  Even the simplest action - like eating some strawberries or a plum - can have benefits to your health.  Give it a try!

6 Simple Actions to Take TODAY Toward a Healthier You: Number Three

This morning I am writing while sitting in a hospital room waiting for my husband to return from a stress test.  We came to the Emergency Room yesterday afternoon with shortness of breath and dull chest pain.  Our third trip to the ER since his heart attack last February and second overnight stay.  Having a heart attack changes a family's life FOREVER.  You question even the slightest twinge.  Is this the beginning of another heart attack?

Even more this morning than yesterday, I cannot stress enough the importance of taking care of yourself.  Making changes can feel impossible and overwhelming when habits are ingrained into our routine, bur I found that once I got the ball rolling it wasn't that hard to make the wise choice.  The perfect example is drinking more water.

I used to drink a lot of coffee, pop and Kool-Aid.  Throughout the day I would guzzle coffee and pop because I "needed" the caffeine to stay awake.  Plus, that fast food burger I was picking up for lunch everyday tasted so much better with a large cup of ice cold pop.  Then when I got home, I would switch to Kool-Aid filling four tall glasses to serve my family with our dinner.  Today, I drink one cup of coffee to start off my day and then switch to water.

Photo from APEC Water Systems

 There are many health benefits to drinking water such as

• lubricating your joints
• delivering oxygen throughout your body
• promoting strong function of your digestive system
• maintaining your blood pressure
• boosting skin health
• regulating your body temperature (www.medicalnewstoday.com)

"Water is also critical for your heart health. Your heart is constantly working, pumping about 2,000 gallons of blood a day. By staying hydrated – that is, by drinking more water than you are losing – you are helping your heart do its job." The Heart Foundation (For more information on how important water is to your heart health, check out this article from The Heart Foundation https://theheartfoundation.org/2019/03/08/the-importance-of-water/) 

So you know the important role water plays for your health, but how do you put that into action?  Here are four simple ideas on how you can drink more water during the day:

1. Set a water goal for yourself (Make sure it's a SMART* one!).  If you are one who normally drinks anything but water, this can be hard at first.  Start small - two or three glasses a day - and then build yourself up to more.  You can do it!

• I will drink water with all of my meals this week.
• I will only drink water in between meals this week.
• I will drink four glasses of water a day this week.

2. Add fresh fruit to your water - lemon or lime wedges, berries, apple slices, watermelon balls or a combination of different fruits!

3. Buy yourself a new cup or water bottle.  You don't have to buy an expensive one.  I get myself new ones seasonally.  I love searching for my new cup when I'm out and about.  New cups make me happy - may sound bizarre, but try it!  Right now I'm using a Halloween Cup that I got at the dollar store.  

4. Try sparkling water or flavored water.  There are so many different options in the stores these days.

One of my favorite water bottles - a gift from my sister!

What is one simple action you can take TODAY toward a healthier you??  Go drink a glass of water!  And then another and just keep going from there!

*I mentioned earlier about making sure your water goal is a SMART one.  I'll talk more about SMART Goals later this week, but here's a sneak peek at SMART goals.

6 Simple Actions to Take TODAY Toward a Healthier You: Number Two

My husband's heart attack back in February of 2019 was our wake up call that we had to make changes in our lives to improve our health and to be examples for our children of the impact our choices make on our health.  I've found that the simplest of changes can have big results.  This is the second blog post of a six part series sharing six SIMPLE action steps you can take TODAY towards a healthier you.

The second healthy choice we've been making since my husband's heart attack is to MOVE MORE.  In today's world, it is so easy to go through an entire day and really not move very much.  A lot of communication is accomplished through text and e-mail - even when you're all in your house!  We can go grocery shopping without getting out of our car.  We can pick-up dinner through the drive-thru.

My husband and I both wear watches that track out movement.  There are days that he may not be feeling his best or that I have a lot of meetings.  At the end of the day, we're shocked out at how few steps we have taken!

What can you do to add steps to your day?

• Park in the farthest parking spot from the front door (Classic idea, but it works!)
• Skip e-mail, text or picking up the phone - get up and communicate in person
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Walk around your office building on your break instead of checking your social media
• Put on some music while you load the dishes or make dinner and DANCE!
• March in place while you watch TV or just during the commercials
• When shopping take an extra lap around the mall or the outside aisles of the grocery store
• Walk around the field/court/parking lot during your child's sports practice
• Go for a quick walk around the block while dinner is in the oven

I have found that there's not always going to be time for a sweat dripping high intensity workout, but I can always find time to add some movement to my day.  A little something is better than nothing!

This sounds easy, but I always say that the hardest part of adding movement to your day is standing up to get started.  Remember - if you don't get up and get moving, nothing is going to change.  You can do it!

6 Simple Actions to Take TODAY Toward a Healthier You: Number One

My husband's heart attack was one heck of a wake up call that it was time to analyze the choices I was making when it came to my health.  For the past nine years I've been running and going to Zumba and lifting weights and cooking healthy foods, but nine years is a long time and I had started to drift a little.  Plus, life changes a lot in nine years.  My old basket of tricks was not working like they used to. 

On a positive note - It's been eight months since his heart attack and while I'm still anxious about whether or not another heart attack will sneak up on us and my stress level feels through the roof most of the time and I'm so incredibly tired all of the time, I'm proud of myself that I've maintained a focus of making healthy choices. I guess after a heart attack, how could it not?

If you are reading this than I imagine that you, too, are juggling many balls in the air.  You know those juggling routines where someone starts to juggle three balls and then someone throws in a fourth and a fifth and a sixth?  You watch amazed at how the juggler is able to keep so many balls in the air.  At the same time, you're wondering what's going to happen when the next ball is tossed in.  What will be the juggler's limit?  That's how I feel.  I'm working very hard to keep all of my balls in the air.  If one more ball is tossed in or if one ball goes out of sync, it's going to be all over.

So how do I keep my healthy choices ball in sync with all of the other balls that I'm juggling?  Answering this question forced me to pause and analyze how things were going - what habits needed to be added, what habits needed to be tossed our and what habits need to be tweaked a little bit.

Since February, I've been telling people - begging people -  to let our wake up call be your wake up call.  Over the next week, I want to share with you seven simple things that I am doing in my crazy life to continue to make my health a priority.  So here we go with number one . . .

Meal Planning is VITAL to my being successful in making healthy food choice.  

Meal planning is a simple task.  It can take as much or as little time as you want it to, but the benefits of meal planning are HUGE!  You will feel more in control rather than wandering aimlessly through the grocery store so you are more likely to make healthy choices.  You're stress level will be greatly decreased because what you're serving for dinner is one less worry.  You'll be more likely to stick to your food budget and waste less food because everything you put in your shopping cart will have a purpose.

I normally get my meal planning done during a break at work.

I've been planning my family's meals for years.  Having a plan in place helped me avoid last minute trips through the drive-thru or picking up a pizza on my way home.  Meal planning is actually one of my favorite things to do.  Looking through old cookbooks, cooking magazines and Pinterest to find delicious recipes to try.  Coming home and cooking was a way for me to relax after a busy day.  At this stage in life, however, that feeling of relaxing went out the window and meals have been adding to my stress.  So I still plan our meals every week, but I've made two key changes:

1) Cook two meals over the weekend to last me the entire week.  Seeing as I am currently often out of the house for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I need to have things to grab out of the fridge and throw in my lunchbox.  I still have the joy of looking up new recipes to try.  Instead of trying them on my family, I just make them for myself.  On the weekend, I cook my two meals and then divide them into containers for the week.  For example, this weekend I made Chicken Vegetable Soup, a Barbecue Beef Roast and six baked potatoes.  Luckily for me, I don't get tired of eating the sane thing multiple times in one week!  And selfishly, I can prepare meals that I like, but that would send my family running from the table.

I couldn't live without my crockpot!  This is simply three chicken breasts,

peppers, onion and a jar of spaghetti sauce.  YUM!!

2) Introduced my family to OYO Nights (aka On Your Own!).  Between my daughter working and  going to school, my husband managing his multiple medical appointments, tests and therapies and my working three jobs it got nearly impossible for me to cook for us as we are never at home all at the same time or by the time dinner was ready it was 10PM.  I love cooking for my family!  It's one way that I express my love for them.  But in this season of craziness, I realized that cooking for my family every single night of the week is not a reality.  Now when I write out my menu for the week, there will be several OYO nights.  I make sure that the kitchen is stocked with the ingredients that they need to make a dinner that they will like, but after that it is up to them.

These may seem like two simple ideas, but I'll tell you - it took me several weeks to figure how to juggle healthy meal planning, healthy meal prep and this season of crazy schedules.  Since I made these changes, I feel so much more relaxed and I have time to make additional healthy choices which had been dropped from my juggling act.

One thing you can do for your health is take a little bit of time to plan out what you're going to eat over the next few days.  That time you spend will have great benefits in the long run!

Happy planning!!

Words of wisdom from my dad!