Know YOUR numbers!

Today was the annual Go Red for Women Luncheon at the Marriott in downtown Indianapolis. This is a national event but I have been blessed to go to this local luncheon twice while living in Indianapolis. Not only do I love the wonderful goody bag (worth over $450 this year), meeting with other women in the health care field, having a great lunch and getting health screens (cholesterol, glucose, etc) I love having a work day where I learn and am inspired/moved by other women!

I won't go into all the details but they had local women talk about their stories with heart disease. These women were NOT all overweight, they were NOT all older, they were NOT all smokers, they did NOT all have high cholesterol, the did NOT all have diabetes. Why do I make these words in caps? Well many of us consider those at risk for heart disease as overweight, smokers, sedentary, and with an awful family history. Yes, those are all risk factors when put together but even one of those risk factors alone puts you at risk for heart disease.

Now you can't do anything about family history (and luckily I have been blessed with awesome genes....thanks mom, dad, g'ma, etc) but you can do something about the rest of those risk factors:

1) Exercise--I can't stress this enough! The doctor said that if you think you are going to work out 3 times a week you are lucky to get in 2. In other words, aim high. Think you are going to work out 5 days a week and if you work out 3-4 then it's still good. Working out is >45 minutes of physical activity.

2) Know your numbers--Your HDL and LDL. The higher the HDL the better, the lower the LDL the better. Many focus on the total cholesterol, which is good and all, but if you have high HDL, then your total cholesterol may be high. For example, my total cholesterol was 194 (high cholesterol is >200) and if you saw this number alone you might think my cholesterol needs to be worked on. BUT, my HDL was 65 (less than 40 is at risk for heart disease). Since my HDL was fairly high it was making my total cholesterol high. Get your numbers and if your cholesterol is high, follow your doctors' advice, whether it is losing weight, exercising, taking medication, whatever. But one of the speakers today was 39, decided to go off her medication and then had to have triple bypass....be smart folks!

3) Quit smoking. If one has a heart attack as a smoker and then quits smoking, they cut their risk of another heart attack by 50%. I have never been a smoker so I don't know how hard it is to quit but it is the single, best factor to help your heart out. There are medications out there to help.

4) Now to my passion.....healthy eating! I see people day in and day out who find reasons to not eat healthy: not enough time, not enough money, food won't taste good, blah, blah, blah. I am here to tell you people, you have to just make the choice to eat healthy. Surround yourself with positive, healthy foods so when you do want to cheat, the worst you could cheat on is graham crackers (not chips). Not that graham crackers are bad but my point is, maybe those should be the worst things in your cabinet. Just wishful thinking :) Find your vice and don't do it! For example, I love cookies and would eat them morning, noon and night. Do I buy cookies? NO WAY! I would eat them all the time. So I treat myself every now and then when we are out but I don 't keep them in the house. Why tempt myself? It takes a committed effort to eat healthy and it isn't easy! According to the doctor today, we have to make ~200 choices daily regarding food.

I could go on and on about how I want each and every one of you to be healthy. And yes, I want you to! But I also want you to pass heart healthy information on to the women in your life because as women, we are likely to take care of everybody but ourselves. Take the time!

--Schedule your exercise as an appointment
--Pack healthy options for snacks when away from home
--Get your numbers and learn what to do if they are high

By no means am I saying I do perfectly. I struggle every day with making healthy choices. Sure I get to the gym 3-5 times/week, my body is within ideal body weight range, I try and eat healthy and don't smoke. But I CAN do better. I feel I can decrease my % of body fat and even as a dietitian, feel I can eat better (with less snacks). I need to hold myself accountable for these needed changes.

What are your goals? Let's support each other, as women, to be the healthiest we can be. Go Red for Women! And remember....knowledge is power!

(as a sidenote, The Heart Center is offering $99 heart scans. These are recommended for everybody and can show blockages around your heart).