5 Heart-Healthy Travel Tips to plan for wellness on the go 🚙
Gearing up for your trip this weekend and a nervous nelly about how to have fun and protect your heart health? Keep on reading!
1. Hydration is key. Add in high-water content fruits and veggies plus freeze a water bottle to double as an ice pack. Did you know? Watermelon contains L-Citrulline, an amino acid that can support vascular health. It is also comprised of 92% water, helping you hydrate during the hot, summer months!
2. Take some breaths and breaks during long drives. The added stress from summer traffic plus being sedentary for longer periods of time isn't good for your heart health. *Take some deep breaths to help with relaxation. Stretch at rest stops.
Pro Tip: Consider wearing exercise leggings or compression socks to reduce the likelihood of blood clots during long drives.
3. Assess your Hookups and Appliances for your upcoming Camping Trip. Off the Grid? Foil Packet and Skillet options. Electricity? Instant Pot and/or Air Fryer Meals!
4. At the Airport, Walk Twice, Choose Once. Do a little walk through the gates and terminals to check the options before you choose a place to stop to eat. Not only can this help you choose better-for-you options, it can also help you save a few bucks!
5. Place an online order prior to your family or friendcation. Plan your meals and place your order for pick-up or delivery at a local grocery store when you arrive at your destination. This way, you'll have heart-healthy options at the ready and save your sanity upon arrival!
If you need some further help navigating the nuances of nutrition on vacation,
I’ll be your front seat passenger! Join me in the Heart Health League for today's training: Heart-Healthy Travel: Planning for Wellness on the Go. Then, implement what you learn in tomorrow's workshop, Friday, May 24: Travel with Heart: Essential Meal Planning for a Heart-Healthy Vacation. Can't make it? That's what the replay library is for! Hop
🔟 Ways to Support your Heart Health
1. Positive Mindset
Preliminary studies are showing that positive well-being, emotions, and optimism have been linked with better cardiovascular health and a reduced risk of adverse outcomes on patients with heart disease.
2. Better Nutrition
high fiber, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean protein
3. Increase Movement
150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity. Add resistance training twice per week and reduce time spent sitting throughout the day.
4. Quit Tobacco
Smoking damages your circulatory system and increases your risk for heart disease.
5. Control Cholesterol
Reduce Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) levels. On average, there is a 20% drop in CVD risk for every 39mg/dL drop in LDL cholesterol.
6. Manage Blood Sugar
Become more aware of which foods may increase your levels and reduce intake of refined carbohydrates and added sugar.
7. Manage Blood Pressure
Know your numbers, and limit salty and processed meats and snacks.
8. Manage Weight
Increase nutrient-dense foods and limit energy-dense foods. Increase physical activity levels.
9. Restructure Habits
Create new positive actions for better nutrition, improved activity levels, adequate sleep, and stress management.
10. Reconnect with Your Purpose, People + Passions
Good relationships can keep us happier and healthier. It may be because they help us lower stress levels, reduce blood pressure, and impact physical and emotional wellbeing.
Let's talk if you need additional guidance and support for any one of these actions. ❤️
#hearthealth #hearthealthy #hearthealthnutrition #hearthealthdietitian
Meal Planning and Prepping for your Heart Health 📝
Planning can be essential to help you actually alleviate the stress of making weeknight meals, especially if your time is precious, which I know it is!
The recipes don't have to include a CVS receipt worth of ingredients or take hours to prepare. By streamlining your systems, you can make eating healthy for your heart fun, enjoyable, and tasty!
Here's how to make meal planning less overwhelming:
1️⃣ PLAN
Take a look at your schedule for the week. Will you be out on the road later on a Tuesday, or the kids have a game in East Bumble, and you need to take them? Figure out what days those are and make them your leftover meal days or assembly meals.
Start with one meal you can plan for. A suggestion: start with planning dinner. You can make extra to use to reinvent leftovers for lunch the next day!
2️⃣ PURCHASE
Once you plan your meals, write your grocery list. Check your fridge, freezer, and pantry to see if you already have it. If you do, cross it off your list. There's no sense in buying another ketchup if you have 154 of them still at home.
Pick up your groceries using your list or place in a Shop from Home order that you can have delivered or pick up.
3️⃣ PREP
This can be as simple as washing and cutting up your veggies or freezing individual servings of lean protein. You could batch cook if you want to make a meal to kick off your week. Don't overcomplicate this step. Just use it as a springboard to save a bit of time during the week. It's a heck of a lot easier throwing in peppers and onions that are already chopped and grabbing cut-up strawberries as a snack.
⚡️Bonus Tip: Having some items already prepared can help make it easier to implement lifestyle changes. It can help make the healthier choices easier and less stressful, making you more inclined to take action on your new and improved eating pattern.
⬇️ What are some of your biggest struggles when it comes to meal plan
🛑Focusing only on outcome-based goals can be detrimental to your heart health. Here's Why 👇🏼
🏒 Picture an @NHL hockey player. They play in an average of 70 games (give or take) in the regular season plus playoff games (Let's Go @nyrangers!)
What happens if they lose a game? Do you think they just give up playing hockey because of one loss? Heck no, they don't! They analyze what they could improve upon. They practice the process and work on their weak points. Over time, their consistent actions compound. So when the next game day comes, they are feeling more prepared and more confident in their skills, which hopefully helps to contribute to a victory.
Same goes for you, my friend! If your cholesterol levels don't budge on your next blood work or your blood pressure didn't reduce as much as you had hoped, does that mean that you give up? Nope! The game of life is a lot bigger than that.
Instead, create PROCESS-based goals so you can begin to see PROGRESS.
How can you get 1% better each day?
What action can you take to show up consistently?
By taking a step each day and tracking those steps, overtime, you'll start to be more present and take consistent action.
🏒 If you need some help getting off the bench and back in the game, DM me. I'd love to recruit you for the Heart Health League, my online membership community which helps individuals with heart disease repair and rebuild their heart health - together. ❤️
@heartdisease #hearthealth #hearthealthy
#heartdisease #healthdietitian #hearthealthy
Chocolate Banana Shake
Ingredients:
1 cup ice
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Banana
1 Tablespoon milled or ground flaxseeds
Instructions:
1. Blend together. Enjoy!
#hearthealthy #hearthealth #menshealthmonth
#menshealthmonth #menshealth #heartdisease #hearthealth
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a common life-threatening genetic condition that causes high cholesterol. If left untreated, FH leads to early heart attacks and heart disease.
A simple blood test is all it takes to screen for Familial Hypercholesterolemia. If you have a family history of high cholesterol or history of early cardiac events in your family, I strongly encourage you to get screened.
With early interventions and treatment, we can reduce the risk of heart disease and potentially live longer and healthier lives. If you are searching for more information regarding Familial Hypercholesterolemia, check out the FH Foundation at familyheart.org.
If you want to continue to support the mission in raising awareness of family heart disorders such as Familial Hypercholesterolemia and Lipoprotein(a), then join me in the race to save more hearts. https://give.familyheart.org/fundraiser/4711321
Family Heart Foundation #FH #heartdisease #highcholesterol
#coffee #heartdisease #hearthealth
This week is all about taking imperfect action and the importance of moving forward, even if you're not quite ready yet. Join me tonight at 7:30PM EST in the Thriving with Heart Disease Facebook Group to discuss strategies to create your Imperfect Action Plan.
What's the Heart Health League?!
Great question! It's a monthly membership site featuring curated and crafted resources, tools, and video workshops to help you navigate your heart health journey with confidence and ease.
The Heart Health League is for you if:
❌ You're done spending countless hours searching the internet for ways to improve your diet and heart health
❌ You're sick and tired of trying to figure this out and navigate it all on your own
❌ You're finished feeling like a deer in headlights in the middle of the grocery store wondering what you can and can't eat
❌ You cringe at the thought of having another damn salad.
When you become a League Member, you get access to:
📚 Resource Library with how-to guides and tips and tricks
❤ Heart-Healthy Recipes for meals you'll actually enjoy
👩⚕️👨⚕️All-Star Team Q&A with doctors and Healthcare Providers who all have a hand in helping your heart [coming soon!]
⚙ Hands-On Workshops designed to show you everything from how to meal prep to making assembly-type meals
🌐 Community Support from fellow heart warriors who can share tips and relate to your experience
If this sounds like you, then I want you to be part of the team! 💙
Join the waitlist by clicking the 🌟 Link in Bio 🌟 and join me tonight in the Thriving with Heart Disease Facebook Group for a sneak peak into the HHL. See you there!
#HeartHealthLeague #HHL #membership #membershipsite #heartdisease #heart-healthy #hearthealth #hearthealthyrecipes
Join me tonight in the Thriving with Heart Disease Facebook Group to learn more about the Heart Health League, a monthly membership site for resources and tools to help you on your heart health journey! Hope to see you there!
Love helping others on their heart health journey. Sometimes, you just need to dance!
Struggling with ways to navigate your heart health during #menshealthmonth?
Join the Thriving with Heart Disease Facebook group and catch my Facebook live tonight at 7:30pm EST! We'll be discussing ways to save on healthcare and navigating obstacles to keeping your doctor's appointments.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/thrivingwithheartdisease
Heather's Happy Hour
Thank you for joining me live to learn all about ways to drink safely this Memorial Day Weekend!
If you're searching for some more information and resources, I'd love for you to join me next week for 3 Heart-Healthy Eating Hacks to help you stay on track, without giving up pizza or relying on willpower. It will be May 26 - May 28 at 8:00pm in the Thriving after a Heart Attack Facebook Group. Click below to save your spot!
https://bit.ly/3HeartHealthyEatingHacks
Self Care Sunday Check In
