This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Heart Truth® for Wear Red Day!! All opinions are 100% mine.
One of my goals the past couple of years is to just be healthy overall. It started with the usual “I want to lose weight to look good,” but then I realized that being a mom meant I needed to take care of myself to be around for my kids. It was more than just looking good. I love that February is Heart Month and, during this month, The Heart Truth is helping to raise awareness of heart disease in women with National Wear Red Day on February 5!
One of the things I have done to help lower my risk for heart disease is to lose weight. Carrying around all that extra weight is not good for your heart. While losing weight, I was able to eliminate some of the other risk factors for developing heart disease by eating less processed food, exercising more, eating healthier, and lowering my BMI! With #FromTheHeart you can encourage your friends and family to be more proactive about their heart health! Sometimes, all it takes is the smallest encouragement or invitation to get someone caring about their health. Invite them on walks, to an exercise class, have them over for a healthy dinner, etc. I remember when I was first asked to run my first 5k. There was so much excitement over training and the event itself that I didn’t even focus on the health benefits. Less then two months later, I was able to do the same for a friend of mine by inviting her on a mud run. These types of activities are a really fun way to encourage your friends to be heart healthy — and to have a partner while you are getting healthy too.
Did You Know These Facts About Heart Disease And Women?
• Heart disease is the #1 killer of women.
• Of the women who died in 2013 (the latest data available), one in four women in the United States died of heart disease.
• Eighty percent of women aged 40 to 60 have one or more risk factors for heart disease.
Risk Factors For Heart Disease
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol
• Diabetes and pre-diabetes
• Smoking
• Being overweight or obese (BMI of 25 or greater)
• Being physically inactive (less than 2.5 hours of physical activity per week)
• Having a family history of early heart disease
• Having a history of pre-eclampsia during pregnancy
• Unhealthy eating
• Age (55 or older for women)
Be sure to join The Heart Truth and the American Heart Association for a Twitter #HeartChat on National #WearRedDay, February 5 from 2pm to 3pm EST. Follow @TheHeartTruth for more details!
What do you do to be Heart Healthy? Have you done anything to help a friend or family member be more heart healthy?
Heather Johnson says
I eat healthy, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy weight. I want to be around as long as possible for my kiddos.
Mrs. Emma Spellman says
This is something I think about a lot. I have to lose 89 pounds and I just look at my kids like…I really want to watch you grow up.
Kristi says
It’s great to see the awareness for this, something that is important to so many.
Danielle K says
Such a great an important cause to bring awareness to. My mom has heart disease so I’ll be wearing red for her.
Barb W. says
Lovely reminders! I will wear red for myself and my family. Like you, I’m working on improving my health for all of us. I want to continue to be an active part of my children’s lives and that requires taking care of myself the best I can to maintain good health, for sure!
Maureen says
Wore red. My mother has had two aortic dissections. Very serious surgeries. I have a niece who has a congenital heart health issue and she is only 4 and has had 10 open heart surgeries in her life. Heart health is very important for women.