By Lynne Perry-Bottinger, M.D., F.A.C.C.

For your own well-being, and for the well-being of the ones who depend on you, plan each day in a heart-healthy way.  You may be so busy nurturing others that you forget how crucial self-nurturing is for a healthy heart.  Remind yourself daily how important your heart is. Love your heart, and it will support you as you extend that love to everyone else in your life.

Each and every day depends on your heart’s performance.  It is important to know your heart’s baseline (normal) performance levels, so you will be immediately aware of any abnormal activity. Check with your healthcare professional about what is normal for your heart, given your age, gender, and other factors.

Check Your Blood Pressure

Check your blood pressure regularly and under a variety of different situations and conditions.  For example, check your blood pressure after you first wake up in the morning, after a moment of relaxation, after eating, after walking up the stairs, after exercising and before you go to sleep. This will give you a sense, over time, of what the normal blood pressure ranges are, under different circumstances, for your body.

If your pharmacy has one, get a quick read from the blood pressure machine near the prescription counter. Write down your blood pressure in a notebook and chart the date, time, and number.  Save the readings for your next doctor visit.  

The “ideal” blood pressure is 115/76.  The following chart provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute shows the ranges of blood pressure:

• Optimal: Systolic Less than 120, Diastolic Less than 80
• Normal: Systolic Less than 130, Diastolic Less than 85
• High-normal: Systolic Less than 140, Diastolic Less than 90
• Mild Hypertension: Systolic Less than 160, Diastolic Less than 100
• Moderate Hypertension: Systolic Less than 180, Diastolic Less than 110
• Severe Hypertension: Systolic 180 or more, Diastolic 110 or more

If your blood pressure does not fall within these ranges, such as being lower than the optimal range, please check with your doctor.

Check Your Cholesterol Numbers

Be aware of cholesterol levels and discuss your levels with your doctor. Understand what they mean and have them checked regularly. Monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol levels will go a long way to helping you keep a healthy heart. 

The following chart, developed by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), (coordinated by the United States National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute,) may be used to assess your cholesterol level.

Be sure to discuss with your doctor what these numbers mean.

Stress, Smoking, and Lifestyle Changes

If you smoke: stop. Now. Avoid second-hand smoke, if you can.

Some days will be dominated by care-related stress levels and overeating.   Be mindful of ways to reduce both. Lower your stress levels by envisioning a calm demeanor and a measured response.  The mind is a powerful eye, so use it to create calm around you.  Count to ten. Visit an exotic island retreat in your head while taking deep, abdominal breaths (imagine smelling flowers as you breathe in, and picture blowing out candles when breathing out). Recite a soothing mantra– a sort of on-the-job-meditation that lets you deal with high-stress challenges in a healthy way, such as “I will not let this task cause stress. I will get it done as soon as I can.”

Try to Eat Healthier

Pay attention to the types of food you eat, but especially pay attention to how much you eat.  Leave some room on your dinner plate so you can see through to the bottom of the plate.  Heart-healthy eating is a lot about portion control. There’s no need to fill your entire plate.  One easy way to reduce overall portions is to eat on smaller plates.

Work colorful vegetable choices into your dinners.  Reds, greens, yellows, oranges; they all help you to stay healthy.  Also, think low fat, low cholesterol, low calorie, and whole grains. Help yourself skip fast food. One tip for avoiding fast food is to make sure you are full when driving by fast food places.  Keep snacks like nuts/raisins/oats in the glove compartment at all times.

Work fruits into your breakfasts and snacks. Throw some berries or a banana on your cereal and add a grapefruit to your morning meal. Instead of snacking on a handful of potato chips, have some grapes or an apple. Once again, work different colored fruits into your diet.

Lay off gravy-soaked food and fried foods such as chicken-fried steak, except on special occasions. Your heart will thank you. 

And be sure to drink enough water! Try to drink at least 6 tall glasses of water every day.

Moving and Snoozing

Set aside at least a 10 to 30-minute slot for exercise each day.  Schedule it like you would an appointment.  Be selfish about this time for you.  And there’s no need for the latest exercise equipment.  Your 10 to 30 minutes of exercise should be a sustained activity, such as fast walking, that leads to you being slightly out of breath or breaking a sweat. If you’re facing a time crunch, try setting your alarm ten minutes earlier.  Exercising earlier in the day usually means fewer distractions. Be sure to check with your healthcare professional before engaging in an exercise program.

At the end of a heart-healthy day, make sure you get some sleep.  No cat naps here. Your heart needs real sleep, and not all sleep is equal.  Get a good dose of deep, uninterrupted sleep.  Seven hours of continuous sleep would be great, but as a doctor who knows the realities of a caregiver’s life, I prescribe “just as much as you can.”

No mysteries here—just some good heart-healthy common sense. Make every day a love-your-heart day.