The Heart Smart Pledge
What is the Heart Smart Pledge? It's really quite simple. The Heart Smart Pledge is a promise to yourself to take better care of your body. It can be anything as large as a total change in lifestyle or as small as making an appointment to see a physician. It can be as vague as eating healthier or as detailed as counting your daily calories. You can keep to yourself as an internal goal or shout it from the rooftops if you wish. The important thing is that you do something. Start small if you need to and grow from there. Your first goal can be anything you want it to be. Review the below list for Smart Heart Pledge ideas:
- Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity (like brisk walking, dancing, raking leaves, bike riding, or pushing a lawn mower) every day. If you can’t do 30 minutes at one time, do segments of 10 minutes or more throughout the day.
- As a way to walk more, park at the far end of the parking lot at work, school, the grocery store and everywhere else you go.
- Do physical activity with a friend - motivate each other!
- Eat a variety of fruits each day; choose fresh, frozen, canned (unsweetened), dried or 100% fruit juice.
- Eat a variety of colorful vegetables each day; choose fresh, frozen, canned (without added salt) or 100% vegetable juice.
- Choose low-fat meats like chicken or turkey (skin removed) and fish.
- Cook with canola or olive oil instead of butter or lard.
- Choose whole grain breads, cereals, and pasta (a “whole” grain should be listed first on the ingredient list).
- Choose fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1%) milk instead of whole milk.
- Read the Nutrition Facts label and ingredient list on food packages at the grocery store.
- Visit your health care provider to discuss your heart disease risk.
