Heart Month Confession: How I Stopped Over-Complicating “Healthy”
This post is a collaboration with Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. on behalf of the Beef Checkoff. I received compensation, but all opinions are my own.
February is all about hearts!
Yes, I’m talking about Valentine’s Day and the 60 mini-cards that I need to stuff for my kids’ class parties. But I’m also referring to February being National Heart Month, a few weeks every year when the American Heart Association (AHA) reminds us of how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle.
I’m always excited to start fresh and reboot my health habits after overindulging in December. But that January momentum can only last so long. And new year commitments make it easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. So I love that February is dedicated to heart health because this is when I usually need a reminder that there’s a lot more to health than just weight, macros, and making my exercise class.
It’s not that diet, exercise, and weight management aren’t important factors because they definitely are. But being healthy encompasses a whole lot more. According to the AHA, things like being active outside the gym, getting adequate sleep, and managing stress are also factors impacting health. And if any of those factors are neglected, there’s only so much progress you can make towards your bigger health goals.
But is it really possible to do all of these things?
It’s difficult and not something I’ve done a great job of sustaining in the past – at least long-term. I know what to do and how to do it. Where I struggle is finding a healthy balance of all three – diet, activity, stress management. Usually if I’m excelling with food and activity, then I’m dropping the ball on managing my stress.
So this January, I tried something a little crazy: I decided to actually do what research has been telling me to do rather than setting goals for the new year that were super-specific and over-ambitious. After I looked at the most current research and recommendations from organizations like the AHA, I sat down and created three daily health tasks -- MOVE, EAT SMARTER, and REST AND RESET. And my only goal for January was do all three each day.
Here’s what it looks like and the guidelines or principles I‘ve been using to help me.
#1: MOVE
Don’t worry! This doesn’t mean go to the gym every day – just be active and move. Some days for me this means going to a workout class or strength training, but other days it may not. The key for me is remembering that all isn’t lost if I can’t get to the workout class I’d planned on. I can be active other ways that day because all activity counts.
Aim for the weekly recommendations: The American Heart Association recommendations, which are based on the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, say that adults need to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week or 75 minutes of vigorous activity (or do a combo!) And 300 minutes or more is even better for health. But start each week by aiming for the minimums.
Work activity into your day: If I’m not teaching a class, I am usually sitting in front of a computer. I know I need to get up and move – for a physical and mental break – but it’s hard to remember. So for those long desk days, I’ve started setting reminders on my phone to get up to stretch and walk a few minutes. If you work in a building with lots of stairs, then another idea might be to take them when you come and go. The idea is to look for places in your routine to be a little more active. Remember, all movement is good!
Don’t forget that having fun counts too: Activity can be fun! But it’s easy to forget that things like playing tag with my kids, throwing the ball to the dog, strolling outside while catching up with a friend, or window shopping at the mall are all ways to be active. If you’re moving, it counts! And you get bonus points if it’s something that also recharges you mentally.
#2: EAT SMARTER
Again, don’t worry because this does not mean I eat perfectly or follow a specific plan. Instead, it means I try to make conscious, balanced choices every day, and I use the guidance below to help me with meal planning and food choices.
Focus on Variety: The purpose of food is to nourish our body so it can stay healthy, and different foods provide their own unique assortment of nutrients. This means it’s key to choose a variety of foods to get what you need. To do this, I focus on building meals and snacks around these foods:
-Lots of fruits and vegetables for fiber, vitamins A and C, and potassium;
-Whole grains like oats, brown rice, and quinoa for B vitamins like thiamin and niacin, magnesium, and selenium;
-Lean proteins like beef for iron, vitamins B-6 and B-12, and zinc;
-Healthy fats like avocado, nuts, olive oil, and fatty fish for the antioxidant vitamin E and essential fatty acids.
Go Mediterranean. Following a Mediterranean Diet is one of the healthiest eating patterns to follow to reduce risk of heart disease, as well as to improve overall health. And there are a lot more foods that fit in this eating pattern than just the produce, nuts, and olive oil the diet is known for. Lean red meat is one of them! In fact, research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2018 suggested that including 7 to 18 ounces of lean red meat each week in a Mediterranean eating approach resulted in comparable positive changes in blood pressure, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol when compared to those who ate a Mediterranean diet without beef.
Everything fits. All foods can fit in a healthy diet when there’s moderation and balance, so I don’t make any foods off-limits. Instead, I group foods in one of three categories: food to eat daily, foods to eat frequently, and foods to eat a few times a month. This may sound overly simplistic, but I’ve found the categorization helps guide me when making grocery list and planning meals. Plus, there’s nothing that makes you want a food more than if you feel like you can’t have it!
#3: REST and RESET
Health also includes taking care of yourself mentally, and managing stress is a key component to this. Not only does stress affect your mood and how you feel, but it also affects your energy levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol. It can also wreak havoc on health habits. Everyone has it though, and there’s no way to totally eliminate stress. But my goal for REST and RESET is to set myself up to be able to manage stress more effectively, and there are two things that can make a big difference.
Check-in with yourself every day. Some days it may be 5 minutes or less; that’s okay. But I try to find time each day to reflect, focus, and calm my mind. Journaling, meditating, or doing yoga are all ways to do this, but you can also create your own method. For me, this has meant getting up 20 minutes earlier to drink coffee while the house is still quiet to set my goals for the day.
Go to bed. Getting adequate, restful sleep each night is so important to mental well-being and ability to manage stress. Not getting enough sleep can also have a direct impact on physical health. In fact, getting less than 7 hours of sleep on a regular basis increases one’s risk for high blood pressure, heart attacks, depression, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. So I’m making sleep a bigger priority. Recommendations advise turning off electronics, establishing a bedtime routine, and aiming for at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep when possible.
My results so far? No one area has gotten neglected; all three get addressed daily. And the three tasks aren’t so overwhelming to make me consider skipping them on a crazy day. By focusing in and categorizing my daily health habits into these three tasks, I feel like I'm finally doing a good job of addressing my bigger health picture.
And I think the reason it’s working is because it’s made me stop overcomplicating what it means to “be healthy.”
Since trying this in January, I haven’t shared much about it so I decided to share now in celebration of National Heart Month. Maybe you’re looking for more balance in your health habits or have a tendency, like me, to make things more complicated than they have to be.
I’m challenging myself to continue for February and March, and I’d love for you to join me! You can use my MOVE, EAT SMARTER, and REST and RESET plan or just take the parts that you need. Also, let me know where you struggle when it comes to being healthy and maintaining habits.