For all of us heart patients, and regardless of what stage we are in and it could recovery, rehab, or near completely back to normal. For all of us, there is one common reality. Eating a heart healthy diet, exercising on a regular basis, and maintaining a healthy weight is a lifelong commitment for us, if we are to enjoy an active and healthy life. That is one of the reasons I have taken such a rigid stand on avoiding eating red meat. We must eat foods that will lower and maintain safe cholesterol levels. Not to do so would be foolish for us. Combined with exercise, the heart healthy diet will lead to weight reduction, and help you maintain that healthy weight. Along with the reduced weight, and increased activity through exercise, your blood pressure should begin to drop to normal levels. So you see the three core ingredients of a heart patients lifestyle go hand and hand in maintaining a more healthy life.
There are more new readers who are looking for the foods that will best fit a heart healthy diet and lifestyle for them. Eating more green vegetables, and fruit daily is a good start, especially when you are replacing or removing from your diet high fat and cholesterol foods. We each find fruits that best suit our taste and needs. For me oranges, bananas, and strawberries are a daily part of my diet. And I may have grapes, apples, or some melon in addition. Eventually, as you replace the foods that were high in fat, cholesterol, and calories with fruit and vegetables, you will lose weight and not be constantly hungry as you had so many times in the past when you went on a diet for a few weeks. What you are doing now is much different and is not at all "going on a diet." You are changing lifestyles. You are becoming a heart healthy person who eats a completely healthy diet.
It seems like the subject of eating red meat, or processed meat comes around in most of our discussions about a healthy diet. I guess in all fairness that is because we have a lot of new readers, who are more recent heart patients. To control your cholesterol and reduce your weight, one of the most difficult foods to reduce, give up, or drastically change, is eating red meat. If you are serious about eating healthy foods consider this thought. Reducing, or eliminating red meats (includes processed meat) is critical in your struggle to improve your cardiovascular health. But you will also gain other health benefits, you will be reducing many chemicals you have been consuming through eating red meat. Go to the search box in the top right hand corner of this page and enter "sodium nitrates" and read posting number 41 concerning hot dogs, bacon, and other foods you use to enjoy to eat and see what came along with that.
When I was beginning heart surgery recovery I was very determined to make any changes necessary to regain good health, and not go back to my old eating and lifestyle habits. Why? I am not really sure. It was so unlike me at that time to change like that. I think more than having a heart attack, it was when I had the heart attack. Just weeks before having a heart attack I decided I was going to lose weight by not going on a diet, but by completely changing my eating habits and the foods I ate. I began when I stopped eating processed or red meat of any kind. Stopped all fast food and soft drinks, colas, or what have you. I drank water, orange juice, and coffee. I had not yet thought much of exercise or working out. At that time, working out to me was going to work each day. Then just a few weeks into this new me, I had a heart attack. So a lot of the changes related to good health you would make after heart surgery, I had already made and it was not as difficult for me as most of you having to make the decision to change under a lot more stress and pressure. If you are like me, 90% of making a change is, it must be my idea. And I have to want to do it. Not be told I must do it, by someone else. That is another issue I did not have to consider. You know being given a ultimatum. If you don't do this, then this or that will or won't happen. I am not sure I would have been able to fulfill the commitment to changing to a healthy lifestyle if I had not wanted to do it on my terms. It is not easy. Each day at lunch or dinner, it is a decision for me on controlling my urge to eat something that is not going to harm me to eat that one time. It is that I can not risk breaking the commitment once. It will become too easy after that, to more and more stray back to my old eating habits. And I suspect it will be that way from now on for me.
New to recovery or this blog. Go back to posting numbers 1, 2, and 3 for insight to beginning a new healthy lifestyle.
No comments:
Post a Comment
POST COMMENT