Preventing a car accident is very important to your success in getting to work.
Preventing a stroke or heart attack is also very important to your getting to work.
The best approved way to prevent harm of stroke and heart attacks is to manage your risk factors:
Blood sugars less than 100 or A1c less than 5.8%
Blood Pressures less than 130/80
Cholesterol less than 200 and LDL less than 100
The best way to work on these is to manage the following body stressors:
Inactivity
Lack of sleep
Too many carbs and simple sugars
Imbalance of work & non work time
So… sounds easy- wrong- not easy to make these all work at the same time.
Let’s look at these management of body stressors closer:
Do you really have to walk 10,000 steps every day to reduce your risks? It has been found to reduce your risk by 40% to 50% if you walk 6,000 to 9,000 steps every day. As an example- walking 666 steps hourly would be 8,000 steps daily. How far or how long does it take you to walk 666 steps?
Yes, 7 hours of sleep is the magic number. Sitting on the couch after dinner may upset your balance when you are ready to go to bed. Best to stretch and move around in the evenings. Be sure not to engage in heavy stressful work or conversations during the evening hours to promote 7 hours of restful sleep.
Too many carbs and simple sugars are not power foods. Diabetes is on the rise and causes blindness, strokes, heart attacks, peripheral vascular problems, and kidney failure. Eating a selection of healthy power foods in the form of beans, eggs, nuts, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, and healthy grains will keep the blood sugar in line. Yes, you can have a steak, just not every night.
Work life imbalance causes extreme stress to the body and can cause high blood pressures, cholesterol, and high LDL’s. The blood vessels build up deposits in the walls causing blockages causing strokes and heart attacks. This combination of high blood pressure and high cholesterol/LDL has been found to significantly increase risk factors of strokes and heart attacks.
Here are recommended value packed methods to reduce your overall body stress:
Take your vacation hours this year.
Walk every day at least 6,000 to 9,000 steps
Eat less processed foods
Eat green leafy vegetables at least 4-5 times weekly
Spend quality time daily or weekly with family and friends
Find self-care measures- bathing, music, candles, meditation, spiritual, reading
Prevention is worth your time, so you have energy to enjoy life.
#trim2fitness so your can #age2prime
Mary Ann Wietbrock RN MSN ACNS BC
An Advanced Practice Board Certified Cardiovascular Clinical Nurse Specialist, Specialized in Fitness & Nutrition & Medications