By springschiro February 25, 2016 Uncategorized

The Healthy Bucket List

To Your Health
February, 2016 (Vol. 10, Issue 02)

The Healthy Bucket List

By Editorial Staff

A “bucket list” is a list of things to accomplish, experience, etc., before you die. We can’t tell you what to fill that bucket list with; after all, it’s entirely personal. What we can do is provide you with suggestions for how to stay healthy long enough to complete your bucket list, however extensive it may be.

Want to age gracefully and enjoy your golden years? Here’s how to do it with suggestions for your Healthy Bucket List.

Climb a Mountain (even if it’s in your own backyard): Fitness and life go hand in hand, and it goes far beyond the health benefits. These days, too many people stay mired in their cubicles, whether literal or figurative, trapped in a sedentary, technology-overloaded existence that leaves little time to enjoy the wonder, beauty and health-sustaining benefits of the Great Outdoors. So make a point to climb a mountain (at least a small one) every day, whether it’s the hilly road in your neighborhood or just the flat pavement awaiting your feet. Fitness matters – to your body and your brain; so make it a part of your life.

Laugh a Little (and make someone else do the same): They say laughter is the best medicine, and when you’re stressed out, burned out and ready to give up, it can make your day – and someone else’s as well. So share a joke, receive a joke, turn lemons into lemonade, and find ways to smile and make those around you smile. Life is too short to walk around grumpy (and there’s too many opportunities to be grumpy); turn that frown upside down with the power of laughter and feel yourself soar.

Help a Friend (even if that friend is you): The power of giving uplifts the soul, but we’ve increasingly become a culture fixated on selfishness. That might make you feel safe and secure at night, but in the long run, nothing beats the feeling of helping someone else – particularly if they can’t help themselves. On the other hand, don’t forget about you – after all, you can’t keep giving without being in a healthy position to do so. Take the time to spoil yourself (See “Time for a Little ‘Me Time'” in this issue) every now and then so you’re better able to help the ones you love.

Bake a Cake (without using any sugar): Our diets are killing us, pure and simple. Processed, boxed, packaged and chemical-laden foods are dominating the market, and the unsuspecting consumer is eating it up, literally and figuratively. Unfortunately, that’s a recipe for an early grave. Added sugar is often the culprit, leading to diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cancer. Commit to eating more food from the earth; leaving more processed foods on the supermarket shelves, rather than putting them in your cart; and preparing more food at home with natural ingredients.

As you can tell, your Healthy Bucket List is a continual work in progress; you can’t cross off or complete any of the above items, because they’re all intended to be a part of your daily life. The good news is, the Healthy Bucket List enables you to live a long, rewarding existence and have plenty of time to conjure up your own bucket list of things you want to accomplish as part of your healthy, happy life. What are you waiting for?

It’s American Heart Month! Four Ways to Show Your Heart Some Love

By Editorial Staff

Everyone knows Feb. 14 is Valentine’s Day, but not as many people are aware that the entire month of February is American Heart Month! So while you’re showing that special someone how much you care, don’t forget to show your heart some love and help it do what it needs to do every second, every day for what is hopefully a long, enjoyable life: work nonstop without failing.

Help make it easier on your heart by yes, taking these four heart-healthy tips to heart.

1. Make Your Heart Work (So It Will Work for You): Any heart health conversation begins with a discussion of exercise, particularly the kind that helps strengthen your heart. Cardiovascular exercise (“cardio”) is a great way to strengthen the heart, but any form of moderate-intensity exercise is heart healthy, particularly when it’s performed consistently (at least 150 minutes a week). Tip: Even taking a brisk, 30-minute walk most days of the week is good for your heart, particularly compared to the all-too-common alternative: sitting around.

2. Handle the Pressure: Blood and oxygen are both fairly important to your livelihood, correct? Well, if the heart and its affiliated arteries aren’t functioning well, blood and oxygen don’t move as well throughout the body, which as you might expect, can create serious problems – most dramatically in the form of a heart attack or stroke. Tip: To keep blood pressure in the safe range, limit saturated fat and sodium (salt) intake, exercise regularly and relieve stress whenever possible.

It's American Heart Month! Four Ways to Show Your Heart Some Love - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register Mark

3. Let Your Heart Rest: A good night’s sleep is a vastly underestimated contributor to heart health (and overall health, by the way). Research suggests approximately seven hours a night is ideal when it comes to artery health (better than five or nine hours a night). Tip: Create a sleep routine that prepares you for relaxing, refreshing slumber.

4. Don’t Stress Your Heart: Stress is a killer, literally and figuratively, and in the case of your heart, too much stress can lead to a heart attack, pure and simple. In fact, research suggests more heart attacks occur on Mondays than any other day of the week, suggesting stress associated with the impending work week / return to the workplace may be the cause. Stress also makes people more likely to abandon healthy behaviors that protect the heart, such as exercising, eating right, not smoking, etc. Tip: Try these easy stress-reducing tactics to keep your stress levels low and your heart-health levels high.

You’ve only got one heart, so treat it the way it deserves to be treated. Your doctor can assess your heart health, and discuss these and other ways to keep your heart healthy this month and every month, year after year.

Month: February 2016