American Heart Association

Lace up your walking shoes tomorrow and join millions of Americans for Start Walking Day. The American Heart Association (AHA) is urging folks to start walking on April 8: walk to work, walk with your co-workers, walk your dog, walk with a friend, just walk and keep on walking. As a form of exercise, walking has the lowest dropout rate, and it's free. Walking also doesn't require practice; it is low impact, safe, and simple.

If you get really fired up about walking, you can choose to participate in a Heart Walk to raise funds for the AHA, so it can continue its fight against heart disease and stroke. In the spirit of the event, build a team at work and walk regularly during your lunch hour. Then find a Heart Walk happening near you, and get out there and just put one foot in front of the other.

What is the number-one killer of women? Breast Cancer? Ovarian Cancer? Car accidents? Diabetes?

If you said heart disease then you are correct. The problem is that very few women know this. Let alone are aware of the risk factors associated with the disease and most do not understand how they can prevent heart disease in the first place.

If you have 30 minutes tomorrow, tune in to Go Red For Women presents — Untold Stories of the Heart on NBC (check the schedule for local times). The show features Marie Osmond (her mother and grandmother died due to heart disease) and is hosted by Hoda Kotb, and aims to raise awareness through the personal stories of nine actual women living with heart disease. It may not change your life, but at the very least it will help make you aware of heart disease and the toll it can take if you don't do something to prevent it.

Discover the power of eating heart-healthy red foods during the first-ever National Eat Red Week, Feb. 4-10, 2008 in support of Heart Health Month.

Why? Well, studies from the University of Michigan suggest that the pigments that produce the red color in many fruits and vegetables like fresh cherries and tomatoes, are actually powerful disease-fighting antioxidants that may help reduce inflammation associated with atherosclerosis — hardening of the arteries — and reduce certain risk factors for heart disease.

To learn more and to donate $1 to the American Heart Rate Association by simply clicking a button (no cost to you) visit Choosecherries.com.

Have you eaten any red foods today? I am curious so tell me in the comments section below.

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OK, so I have a confession to make: My husband and I devoured a big greasy frozen pizza over the weekend, for lunch. I am a big believer in the idea that it is OK to indulge every once in a while, but new studies are saying that eating half the pizza on my own (yes I did) may actually be doing more harm than previously thought.

Turns out that full-fat feasts can compromise the ability of our arteries to expand to increased blood flow. The sudden boost in saturated fat hampers the effects of high-density lipoprotein (the "good" cholesterol), or HDL, from doing its job -- to protect the inner lining of the arteries from inflammatory agents that promote the build-up of fatty plaques. While this may be a temporary effect, it's worrisome because the effect may be occurring over and over, each time we splurge on a high-fat meal. Like, say, half a large frozen pizza...

Moral of the story: The American Heart Association says we should aim to keep saturated fat at less than 7 percent of our daily calories.

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The American Heart Association cares about one thing and one thing only and that's your heart. According to this PSA, the AHA would rather see you shove your head down a lawn shredder than shove a cigarette in your mouth. Who cares about serious head injury or major face deformation? It really doesn't get anymore effed up than this, which is probably why the commercial never aired. (Thanks for the send, Superjoy76!)

The American Heart Association always has had a very positive stance on the affect of cardio on the heart, but they never really went into the affect of resistance training on the heart. Until now...

A recent statement from the AHA says that guided, moderate weight training can also have significant benefits on the heart, even for those with heart disease. Keep in mind that weight training should be seen as a complement to aerobic exercise, not a replacement

Here are the AHA's most recent recommendations (for an initial weight-lifting program) on how resistance training should be performed:

• In a rhythmical manner at a moderate-to-slow controlled speed.
• Through a full range of motion, avoiding breath-holding and straining by exhaling during the contraction or exertion phase of the lift and inhaling during the relaxation phase.
• Alternating between upper and lower body work, to allow for adequate rest between exercises.
• Not by those with certain conditions such as unstable heart disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure or heart rhythm disorders, infections in and around the heart, and some other serious problems.

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Oftentimes we go to the doctor and he or she prescribes medication. A lot of times we just go and pick it up and read the directions and start taking it. It has dawned on me, however, that this is a bit reckless, as most of the time I have no idea what I am putting in my body. The American Heart Association has come up with a list of questions you may want to ask your doc (or pharmacist) before you start popping pills.

• What is the name of the medicine?
• Is this the brand or generic name?
• What is the medicine supposed to do?
• How and when do I take it, and for how long?
• What foods, drinks, other medicines or activities should I avoid while taking this medicine?

There are more questions you may want to ask, so read more

I really enjoy baking and the weekends are a great time to make sweet things with my sweet things. My girls do love baking. When I am baking I do try to substitute with healthy ingredients when I think I will not sacrifice the texture and flavor too much.

I found this list of substitutions at the American Heart Association and I think they are great. Definitely worth giving a try if you are trying to reduce your intake of fat, particularly the saturated kind which can increase your LDL cholesterol.

I've told you how much I love NuMetrex's fabulous heart rate monitoring sports bras, but I just found another reason to love them even more.

In honor of American Heart Month, they've designed a limited edition red NuMetrex bra ($49.50). A donation of $5.00 from the sale of each bra will go to the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women program. Buy it directly from the NuMetrex site.

So go ahead and get yourself one, it's now a matter of the heart.