Little hearts line the streets, the aisles, and the office. CVS is stacked with chocolates, teddy bears, and pink and red banners. Your internet sidebars overflow with 1-800 numbers for flower delivery services, and you know February has come. But this month it’s not just about funny e-cards and diamond bracelets, February is National Heart Disease Awareness Month.
Heart disease affects millions of Americans yearly, as most pre-schoolers and cereal boxes can tell you.
Every 33 seconds someone in the states dies from cardiovascular disease – roughly the equivalent of a 9/11-like tragedy repeating itself every 24 hours, every day of the year. It is the number one cause of death for both genders in this country, taking approximately one million lives every year.
Heart disease is not blind to gender either – more than half of those who suffer are women, killing six times as many annually than breast cancer. Often billed as a man’s disease, the numbers prove otherwise, as 8.6 million women die from heart disease each year, accounting for a third of all deaths in women.
Problems don’t exist, only solutions!
Move A Little Bit!
Start with activities you love – it can be hard to think of the gym as “fun”, therefore making exercise a tedious “have to” in your day. But what about walking, bowling, and especially dancing in your undies?! Get yourself a little out of breath doing something that also makes you break into a smile. Make it a point to spend at least 20 minutes doing your favorite activity every day, and after a few weeks of making it a habit, try out new ones or maybe even join a group exercise class (Zumba is sooo super fun)!
The Power of 10
Just ten minutes of walking three times a day has been shown to reduce blood pressure even more effectively than a longer 30 minute bout of walking. How about walking around the neighborhood before work or during lunch?
It’s Not Just About The Cardio
Strength training, like lifting weights or doing push-ups and lunges, can improve the health of your heart, too – it isn’t just about the elliptical and running the track. When you lift weights at a moderate intensity, you get your heart rate up – so you end up working both your muscular and cardiovascular systems. Imagine that!
No Stress!
Stress plays a huge role in heart health, and getting your body moving is one of the best ways to release it. Exercise makes you feel GOOD, and soon you won’t see it as something you have to do, but something you really really want to do! Working out boosts your feel-good hormones and endorphins, but trying something like yoga or Pilates may be especially good for de-stressing.
Good Eats
Getting the blood moving through your body is extremely important – but it’s only one part of the heart healthy equation. Eating a nutrient-dense diet is essential to your body’s optimal functioning. A diet rich in fruits, veggies, healthy fats (like nuts), and whole grains is key – especially with all the fuel you’ll need to power through those work outs :)
Make Your Whole Body Happy - bust out your new work out moves in your Therafits. Look good, feel good, be good to your body.
Today until February 7 upload pic of yourself on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest wearing Red in your Therafits, tag @TherafitShoe with the hashtag #TFgoRed & we'll donate $1 to the American Heart Asssociation! We're making it almost too easy to change lives. HOW EASY IS THAT?
