More On Healthy Foods #52

I have had some things happen which have hampered my working out daily.  One being Cindy has been sick for a couple of days, along with other unexpected things coming up.  Put it all together and I have not been in my exercise routine for a couple of weeks.   Which brings me to the point of how important a regular exercise routine is to our heart health.   I no longer have a lingering feeling of being weak or having to watch myself for fear of over exerting my heart.  More plainly, my original plan when I started recovery was to return to normal activity.  To take control of my health destiny.  To not be sickly, weak, always tired, not doing anything, kind of person.  But rather being able to enjoy my family and day to day life.  

I know there are some who follow this blog who are young (35-45), healthy, active, exercise daily, do the right things to take care of themselves.  Why read this?  Some pick up ideas about healthy foods and what we eat to stay healthy.  Some have family or friends in our age range, who may need to be leading a healthier lifestyle to avoid heart health problems.  Still regardless of age, or current health, the basic formula is  the same for all of us. What you eat, being active, regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight?   So those in the 60-70 plus age range, who remain heart healthy, may have reasons to eat healthier, or be exercising more.  One reason is as you get older, more exercise and the less weight you carry will have a lot to do with how active you can be .  Enjoy doing things with family and friends.  Being able to continue to do what you enjoy, not being confined and stuck inside.

Foods you eat are so important, and it is not too late in your later years to change to healthier foods to enjoy the benefits.   I have discussed before that my belief was that the chemicals absorbed through consuming red meat contributes to heart disease and forms of cancer.  I also did not think that meat was a natural food to be consumed and digested by our bodies.  That we are by nature designed to consume vegetables, fruits, and nuts.  Now for my first 60 some odd years, I did not practice that.  I was too much of a meat eater.    You know something else about red meat to be considered is how it is cooked.  Fried, grilled over gas or charcoal.  Not necessarily healthy.  And yes, we had two grills for outside cooking,  charcoal and gas.

I would like to eliminate chicken and fish from my diet but I am not sure how to make up the protein. Let me back up here, chicken is probably not much better for you than red meat.  Maybe the best way to say that is chicken is not as bad for you only because it has less fat and cholesterol.  I have reduced the amount of chicken and fish I eat.   I am almost at zero on the fish. and have chicken once or twice a week.   Eating healthier has been a major contributor to my success in improving my total cardiovascular health.   I don't know of much I can do to improve my cholesterol levels.   You know, my cardiologist has told me my triglycerides and LDL don't need to go any lower.  But I do need to increase my HDL.  There are so many choices in food to make eating a more healthy diet easy and enjoyable.  You will quickly begin to feel better about yourself.   Soups, salads, vegetable variations, the many varieties of fruit.   You will not have any problems with finding healthy foods that fit your personal taste buds. As an example, with salads I very often add avocados, apple slices, sunflower kernels, and walnuts.  Whenever I eat nuts it is always the unsalted varieties.