Optimize Your Heart Health
The heart is one of the most diverse signs that is used in so many contexts. A heart shape (though not really the shape of your hear!) represents love, care, affection, positive feelings, romance, and your actual heart somewhere in there. The color of the heart emoji even have their own meanings! (I had no idea!) Why is the heart so represented compared to even the brain? While the brain allows us to think, grow, fire off those in love feelings, the heart pumps life throughout your body. The rate changes when you have strong emotions, exercising and even resting. Your heart really is your life force, so let’s look at optimizing your health to keep your heart strong and healthy!
The Way You Eat
I know you’ve heard it before. There is even a campaign for “heart healthy foods”. While in general we know we need to eat healthy, sometimes getting down to specifics helps us understand why we need to make better choices and know what they are.
There are a few clear (and easy) schools of thoughts that are worth mentioning.
- Control your portion sizes
- Eat more vegetables, and fruits
- Select whole grains
- Limit unhealthy fats (enjoy healthy fats)
Now you may be wondering how these are so easy! Instead you may be asking me, “But how do I know the right portion sizes?” “I know I need to eat more veggies and fruit, but I don’t know where to start.” and “I get the whole grain thing.. But how do you avoid unhealthy fats?” It really is easy. There is a program that helps you with this and you naturally learn how to shift how you eat and how you even cook.
Metabolic Balance is an easy and straight to the point nutrition plan that is tailored for you to know what your portion sizes are. The meal plans are rich in vegetables and fruits. You are taught about the best choices when it comes to your grains. While unhealthy fats aren’t something you avoid, you just reduce and enjoy more of the healthy fats! Learn more about Metabolic Balance and how it is part of our program for a balanced approach to renew your health. [1]
The Way You Think
Your perspective of your health, the choices you make and what you want for yourself all comes down to the way you think. If you want to optimize your heart health, obviously something needs to change. While it could be genetic, it doesn’t give you the excuse to call it quits. Instead, how is your mindset?
If you don’t want to be successful in optimizing your health and heart, then you won’t at all. It has to be intentional and that’s about the way you think too. Our program provides opportunities to learn about various ways of thinking. Taking tiny steps to create new healthy habits. Setting boundaries to allow yourself space to prioritize your health. Develop a growth mindset that takes on challenges. If you fail, you figure out what you learned and try again.
We support you through Intrinsic Coaching through our person to person coaching calls to discuss some of these barriers you may have. We work to empower your own thinking so you won’t always need us! We are here for support and direction. You take on our coaching education, calls and resources and you have a total lifestyle shift, if it’s what you are wanting for yourself. Remember though, we have the tools and support, you have the power for change.
The Way You Move
We know that exercise provides us with benefits in our very sedentary lives. Movement and exercise, or simply working the body, doesn’t come as easily as it once did. Even farmers, though in some cases you are working physically, machines have taken a lot of the manual work load that would build muscle and provide them with a fit body. Now a tractor can even drive itself using GPS!
We also have seen a rise in heart disease with a decrease in our daily movement and required work load from our body. We also know that exercise can have a positive impact on both the prevention of heart disease and someone who may be suffering from high blood pressure, dealing with a lot of inflammation and working to control weight. All these things play into factors of heart disease. [2]
“One of the key benefits of exercise is that it helps to control or modify many of the risk factors for heart disease,” says Dr. Kerry Stewart, director of Clinical and Research Exercise Physiology at Johns Hopkins Bayview.” [2]
what you are wanting
What the struggle is for many, is that you don’t know where to start! We try to do something that worked for ourselves in our 20’s and now think we can start at the same level in our 40’s?! We have to adjust and take on the mindset that we need to find exercise that we enjoy, that feels good, and raises your heart rate long enough to exercise your heart muscles. [2]
Additional benefits that I always love from exercise is the reduction of stress hormones that can put additional burden on the heart. It lowers blood pressure because exercise works like a beta blocker to slow the ‘resting’ heart rate. The effects are when you are not exercising you have a sense of calmness when resting. “A number of studies have also shown that people who exercise regularly are less likely to suffer a sudden heart attack or other life-threatening cardiac event.” (hopkinsmedicine.org)
With FCM Coaching we work with you individually to help you find the exercise you enjoy while keeping your goals in mind. If heart health is one of your goals, cardio exercise such as jogging, swimming, biking, high aerobic exercise, stairs, etc. While you should also include some resistance training that will work your skeletal muscles so the exchange of oxygen within the body happens more easily. This reduces the work the heart needs to do. [2]
FCM Coaching
Discover your personalized journey with FCM Coaching for a balanced approach to renewed health that involves the way you eat, think and move.
Resources:
[1] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/heart-healthy-diet/art-20047702
[2] https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/exercise-and-the-heart
Your Unique Plan
There are no two people alike and that applies to our health and bodies. Metabolic Balance® nutrition plans are unique for each person.
Let's Talk
Chat with us for a 30 minute Discovery Call to ask questions you have and take the next steps to building your health and reach your goals!
