Wear Red Day

This month is National Heart Disease Awareness Month, and February 6 is the day to show your awareness and wear red.   Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women so I am going to talk about some ways to help reduce your risk of a heart attack or other heart related injury. 

When it comes to a healthy heart, it’s all about eating right and exercise.  These are things that not everyone likes to do on a regular basis, especially when there are so many more fun things to do rather than run around a track and so many more delicious things to eat besides celery.  Here are some tips to make these tedious tasks fun and easy.

Instead of going to the gym to tediously lift weights or run on a stationary object, do something fun! There are so many more options out there such as just dancing around your room or taking a walk around the neighborhood.  One fun thing my friends and I have taken too is group exercise classes.  At the Purdue Co-rec. there are “Group X” classes which offer a variety of hour-long classes to attend from ‘Cardio Blast’ to Kickboxing to ‘Get on the Ball’!  The pass only costs 40 dollars for the semester and you can go to as many classes as you want.  It’s a great deal!  The classes are taught by really fun and upbeat student instructors and whether you go with one friend or 20 they are a blast!!  The cardio classes really get your heart pumping and the classes focused on body sculpting do a great job of toning. 

To get your daily amount of fruits and veggies—aim for the colors of the rainbow!  Remember ROY G. BIV!!

R: apples, red peppers, cherries, cranberries, pomegranates, strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon

O:  oranges, tangerines, clementines, carrots, cantaloupe, squash, sweet potatoes, mangoes, pumpkin, peaches

Y: Pineapple, yellow peppers, papayas, lemons, apricots, corn, bananas

G: green apples, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, green beans, broccoli, cucumbers, green grapes, honeydew melon, kiwi (my personal favorite), limes, green onions, peas, green peppers, spinach, zucchini

B, I, V: blueberries, June berries, purple grapes, raisins, prunes, figs, eggplant, blackberries

With all of those options, how can you not get the right amount of daily produce?  You also can’t forget your three daily ounces of whole-grain foods such as whole-grain cereals, whole-wheat bread and pasta, and brown rice.

By doing all of the things above, you will reduce your risk of high cholesterol, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.  So start your heart-healthy routine today!!