The 4th of July is just around the corner, which for many of us means BBQ time!

Here are some healthy barbeque ideas so you avoid sabotaging your heart healthy diet:

1. Talk more than you chew.

You don’t have to have a loaded plate to enjoy yourself. Take the time to catch up with a friend. Enjoy watching the kids play. When it’s meal time let others serve themselves first. Select a smaller plate and fill it with the healthiest options limiting foods slathered in mayo, fried, and breaded. Sit down to enjoy the food versus mindlessly eating while standing around the buffet table.

2. Sip smart.

Continue reading ‘How to Have a Heart Healthy 4th of July’ »

A subscriber to The Heart of Health submitted the following question.

Question: “My problem is that I don’t have recipes for nutritional meals. Exercising is hard for me as I am disabled. I have a thirteen inch rod fused to my spine for 34 years now. What can I do?”

Answer: Fortunately the internet provides access to a wealth of recipes that are heart healthy. Here are some site recommendations you may want to review.

www.sixoclockscramble.com
www.eatingwell.com
www.cookinglight.com
www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes/RecipeIndex

Due to your disability I recommend you consult a physical therapist to learn activities and exercises you can safely complete.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
How to Make Heart Healthy Changes into Lifelong Habits
http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com

Here are some 5 tips to eat right on a budget:

1. Skip the meat!

Eat vegetarian meals more often. Select beans, peanut butter, and eggs as your protein source. This will cause less of a drain on your pocketbook and a great choice to promote heart health!

2. Reduce portion sizes.

Continue reading ‘Eating Heart Healthy on a Budget’ »

One major holiday down, one to go! So, how did you do sticking with your plan to be heart healthy and lose weight? Not so good, well don’t worry it’s not too late to redeem yourself.

Most people gain an average of 1 pound every holiday season. Now, what’s one pound? Doesn’t seem like that big of an issue, but the problem is most do not lose this extra weight. The pounds simply continue to add up year after year. It may take several years before you look at yourself and wonder “what happened?”

To prevent this (or reverse past events!), you must take steps to counteract all the extra calories that go along with the holidays. How? Increase your physical activity these next 4-6 weeks. Extra walks, longer workouts, increased intensity levels.

Adding an extra 120 minutes of activity each week (that’s less than 20 additional minutes/day), will burn an extra ~600 calories/week. That’s an extra 3600 calories burned over six weeks to compensate for the pecan pie, cookies, and alcohol. Of course, 3600 calories only goes so far. You must make wise decisions with the holiday meals, so you’re not consuming 3000-5000 calories in one day

The holidays can be a big hurdle in a weight loss and heart health plan. Holidays don’t mean you can’t enjoy the good food and desserts, but do so wisely!

Be sure to sign up for The Heart of Health and receive the FREE report Stop Wasting Money – Take Control of Your Health today at http://www.hearthealthwithlisa.com.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD

Okay, in the previous two posts, we’ve covered how much physical activity is needed and I mentioned different intensities requiring different time commitments.

A simple measure of your workout intensity is the talk test. If you can carry on a conversation while taking a breath every 3-4 words, you’re probably at a moderate intensity level. If you are working out hard enough that you can only say a few words and in order to say more you have to stop to catch your breath, you’ve most likely hit a vigorous activity level.

What physical activity benefits can you expect to see by being more active this year? Here are a few:

• Improved fitness and bone health.
• Decreased coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and colon and breast cancer.
• Less depression.
• Fewer falls and better cognitive ability for older adults.
• Better pain management, function, and quality of life if you suffer from arthritis.

All right, now don’t just read this without taking action. Look at the upcoming week. Where can you add a walk or extra trip to the gym to boost your activity level closer to the desired 2 ½ hours per week?

There are 1440 minutes each day. Only 30 of them need to be active!

February is American Heart Month. In recognition of American Heart Month you can access Heart Health Made Easy at a 25% savings. Learn more about this take action guide to lower cholesterol and blood pressure at http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD

The Consumer Spending Behavior Study conducted September 2008 reported some interesting statistics:

• 43% were eating out less often than they used to.
• 39% were eating at less expensive restaurants.
• 35% had started packing a lunch for work.
• 35% were eating at fast-food restaurants less often.
• 32% had started using coupons.
• 32% had started eating more leftovers.
• 32% were buying more store-label groceries instead of name brands.
• 30% were ordering less food when they went out to eat.
• 22% were drinking tap water instead of soda and noncarbonated drinks.
• Less than 10% had switched to a less expensive brand of alcohol or beer.

Have you changed your eating habits?

February is American Heart Month. In recognition of American Heart Month you can access Heart Health Made Easy at a 25% savings. Learn more about this take action guide to lower cholesterol and blood pressure at http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Be Heart Healthy and Lose Weight

In the last post I gave you the first step towards lowering cholesterol. Here is the third. Remember, by implementing these basic steps, you’re establishing a solid foundation that will support heart health and increase the effectiveness of medications and supplements.

Step 3: Lose weight and/or maintain a healthy weight.

Weight has a significant impact on your heart health and cholesterol levels. Weight loss alone may lower triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol levels. Losing as little as 10% body weight could drop your cholesterol back to the heart healthy range.

February is American Heart Month. In recognition of American Heart Month you can access Heart Health Made Easy at a 25% savings. Learn more about this take action guide to lower cholesterol and blood pressure at http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com.

Lower Cholesterol: Step 1
Lower Cholesterol: Step 2

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD

As I previously mentioned, The Health and Human Services Department sets physical activity guidelines after reviewing a good decades worth of research related to physical activity and health.

This report encompasses everyone from the age of 6 and up. Let’s go into a little more detail on the adult guidelines.

Adult Physical Activity Guidelines

1. All adults should avoid inactivity. Any type of activity is better than nothing. Adults who include activity as part of their everyday life gain some form of health benefit.
2. To see substantial health benefits, include at least 150 minutes (2 ½ hours) per week of moderate-intensity activity. If times a factor, you can see the same benefits by bumping up the intensity and being vigorously active 75 minutes (1 hr. 15 min.) each week.Yes, it is still okay to break your activity into chunks.For example, if your schedule doesn’t allow 30 minutes at the gym, you can include a 10 minute brisk walk during lunch break to count towards the goal of 150 minutes for the week. However, workout segments less than 10 minutes in length are not as beneficial.

   Also, the most benefit is seen by spreading your activity throughout the week. If you’re tempted to hit the gym for a power workout session on a Saturday for 2 ½ hours, that is not as beneficial as 30 minutes of activity 5 days out of the week. But, remember, any form/amount of activity is better than nothing!

3. If you want to take things to the next levels, more extensive health benefits are seen when activity is increased to 300 minutes (5 hours) per week of moderate intensity activity or 150 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic activity.
4. Don’t forget strength training! You want to include all major muscle groups on two or more days each week. Especially beneficial as we age and see a decline in metabolism (and corresponding weight gain) if muscle mass is not maintained.

Now, don’t let yourself be overwhelmed and give up without even attempting to meet these guidelines. Activity does not have to be hard or expensive. You can walk your dog, go dancing, climb the stairs at work, mow the lawn, and go to the gym. There are many, many options available to get 2 ½ hours of physical activity every week.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD

By now you know being heart healthy and losing weight go hand-in-hand with physical activity. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to be regularly active. If you want to lower triglycerides you have to be active. If you want to raise HDL you have to be active.

The Health and Human Services Department sets physical activity guidelines after reviewing a good decades worth of research related to physical activity and health.

Here’s a quick review of the adult guidelines:

1. All adults should avoid inactivity.
2. To see substantial health benefits, include at least 150 minutes (2 ½ hours) per week of moderate-intensity activity. If times a factor, you can see the same benefits by bumping up the intensity and being vigorously active 75 minutes (1 hr. 15 min.) each week.
3. If you want to take things to the next levels, more extensive health benefits are seen when activity is increased to 300 minutes (5 hours) per week of moderate intensity activity or 150 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic activity.
4. Don’t forget strength training! You want to include all major muscle groups on two or more days each week. Especially beneficial as we age and see a decline in metabolism (and corresponding weight gain) if muscle mass is not maintained.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD

I may have some good news for Starbucks lovers.

Normally, the high sugar, high fat, high calorie beverage and menu items offered by Starbucks were reasons to steer clear if you struggle to lower triglycerides, lower cholesterol, or shed extra pounds.

Starbucks is typically not the best place to grab a quick breakfast with a Frappuccinno, while scanning the daily paper.

Simply selecting a Grande Frappuccino and Cranberry Orange Muffin would start your day with a whopping 850 calories and 30 grams of fat!

In the past Starbucks has not embraced the idea of offering more nutritious items. They did remove trans fats and started offering nonfat milk this past year, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

The good news is Starbucks has decided to revamp their breakfast menu to offer six heart friendly breakfast options. The goal was a menu with fewer calories, more protein, more fiber, and more fruit.

New menu selections include:

Apple bran muffin – 330 calories, 8 grams of fat, 7 grams fiber
Baked berry stella – 280 calories, 9 grams of fat, 6 grams fiber
Power Protein plate with peanut butter – 330 calories, 16 grams fat, 5 grams fiber
Chewy fruit and nut bar – 250 calories, 10 grams fat, 4 grams fiber
Perfect oatmeal – 140 calories, 2.5 grams fat, 4 grams fiber

These new options provide reduced calories and fat grams, while boosting dietary fiber content. All good moves if you are looking to be heart friendly.

You still need to use your head when choosing a beverage. Starbucks is not removing its’ high calorie, fat, and sugar beverage options. One of the best choices is a simple Caffe Americano (15 calories, 0 grams fat).

So, if you enjoy the Starbucks ambiance, you’ll now be able to enjoy a heart healthy breakfast, too. Hopefully, the taste of the new menu items lives up to the flavor of their coffee!

To receive regular heart health and weight loss tips from dietitian Lisa Nelson, subscribe to The Heart of Health ezine.