Simple ways to keep your heart healthy

This month is February... aka "Heart Healthy Month"! We at the Wellness Studio wanted to share a few ways for you to treat your heart better starting NOW.

First off, our hearts depend on a nutritious diet to stay in function effectively. A strict, nutrient-filled diet is one of the best weapons against heart disease. Set some small goals for yourself right now and start implementing new foods to maintain a strong, healthy-beating heart. You can't live without it, right?

There are two main areas that must be well-balanced to have a healthy heart: cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Here's some useful tips on maintenance:

* PLAN MEALS ahead of time. Shop once a week and stock up on lots of fresh vegetables and fruits - then wash, cut and prepare them so that you can grab on the go or easily prepare your meal when you come home after a long day.

* EXPERIMENT with favorite recipes and substitute healthy ingredients for unhealthy ingredients. IE: using spaghetti squash in substitution of regular pasta to make a yummy Italian-style dinner. There are so many recipes to find online as well for new creative and easy meal ideas.

* LOW-FAT cooking methods like roasting, broiling, baking and steaming. Bringing flavor to your meals can also come from different spices - get creative!

* NO SUGAR: Select products without added sugar and add fresh fruit for extra flavor. This means to read the ingredients! You will be surprised to find added sugars in items that aren't necessarily sweet. IE: canned kidney beans, canned fruit, dried fruit.

* KEEP A LOG of the foods you eat and review it regularly. See what you can substitute out or even decrease in portion size, or maybe even add in smaller, more frequent meals throughout your day to maximize your metabolism.

Aside from proper eating habits, it is also important to monitor your stress and activity levels to keep your heart happy. So keep your eye on these areas:

Stress Reduction- We all have times where we feel like we don't have control or time to do certain things for ourselves that we would like. Set a small amount of time aside one day out of the week to do something for yourself that helps you relax and reset your mind.

Finding Time to Exercise- As Americans, we have everything so convenient for us that we have to force a time to get our bodies moving and blood pumping! Help stimulate your muscles, brain activity and cardiovascular system by keeping up a daily exercise session or activity of some kind.

Avoiding Temptation- Parties, birthdays, holidays...heck, even just avoiding those doughnuts delivered daily at the office - there is temptation EVERYWHERE. Cut out the desire to make poor eating choices by bringing your own healthy snacks or eating something before you go out - that way you are not ravenous when you arrive and won't feel the strong urge to shove handfuls of nachos in your face.

Better Sleep- Getting enough sleep helps with cravings as well and also feelings of hunger during the day. When your body is deprived of sleep, it looks for other ways to help it function properly - sending the wrong signals that it needs food, sugar or salt. Not good. Get your rest!