I hang out with lots of cardiologists (marriage will do that to you), so I am probably more aware than most people that February is Heart Month. While we should all take care of ourselves all the time, I do find the February publicity to be a helpful reminder to pause and evaluate whether I’m keeping myself on the right path in terms of my cardiac health.
It is staggering to me that heart disease is far and away the number one killer in the United States and yet as much of 80% of heart disease can be prevented. According to the Centers for Disease Control.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. One person dies every 36 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease. About 659,000 people in the United States die from heart disease each year—that's 1 in every 4 deaths.
Yikes! We’ve heard it all before: don’t smoke, drink alcohol in moderation, limit red meat (also good for the climate), exercise or at least move every day, eat your vegetables etc., etc. But do you do what you’re supposed to do? I try. I don’t smoke, I have 1-2 drinks a week and I try to exercise every day. Lately, I’ve been enjoying online Pilates workouts, and now that we live in New York City, I definitely get a lot of steps in! Although, 10,000 steps every day seems like an awful lot. A recent New York Times article reports that 7,000-8,000 steps a day is a great goal, which is still a lot, if we’re being honest.
So, I exercise and walk whenever I can. And if I miss a day, I try again the next day! I also try to cook fish for dinner once a week (not my husband’s fave and it does stink up the house…but too bad!) and a vegetarian meal once or twice a week. We have red meat only a couple of times a month. And I eat lots of fruit. Because I like food to be ready exactly when I’m hungry, I eat a lot of berries (so little prep needed!).
What do you do to keep your heart healthy?
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