{"id":15576,"date":"2022-03-27T23:58:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-27T23:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ovadiahearthealth.com\/old-site\/?p=15576"},"modified":"2022-04-03T20:21:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T20:21:33","slug":"daily-habits-to-maintain-a-healthy-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ovadiahearthealth.com\/old-site\/2022\/03\/27\/daily-habits-to-maintain-a-healthy-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily habits to maintain a healthy heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re reading this and you\u2019re overweight, I want you to answer the following.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you gain all that weight quickly?<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you have to do something drastic to gain it, like eat 10,000 calories a day?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to take a chance here and say the answer to both questions is \u201cno.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You gained the weight over time, by making a series of decisions regularly. Decisions like eating foods that contribute to weight gain, or not moving as much as you should.<\/span><\/p>\n

The point I\u2019m making is that change doesn\u2019t happen immediately, it happens over time as a result of the decisions we make.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if you now want to lose weight and focus on improving your heart health, the answer isn\u2019t to take drastic measures. You don\u2019t need to lose huge chunks of time to do it. You don\u2019t need to rely on motivation. And you certainly don\u2019t need to live unhappily because of the changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The key to losing weight, getting fit, and increasing your cardiovascular health is as simple as making the right decisions each day, and letting time take care of the rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daily actions to increase heart health<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at what those decisions are:<\/span><\/p>\n

What you eat<\/b><\/p>\n

This is the big one, and where most of your focus needs to be. As important as other lifestyle factors are, the truth is it\u2019s not possible to out-train a bad diet. Even with nothing else, a healthy diet will still help you to be <\/span>metabolically healthy<\/span><\/a>, improve your mental clarity, keep your arteries clean, and generally help you to feel good. On the other hand, if you do everything else right but have a poor diet, it\u2019ll be like swimming upstream.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many people, the first step in working out how to eat a healthy diet means visiting the food pyramid. Unfortunately, <\/span>the food pyramid has failed us<\/span><\/a> and turning to it for advice can make your problem even worse.<\/span><\/p>\n

We also <\/span>can\u2019t rely on influencers to tell us what\u2019s healthy<\/span><\/a>, which includes celebrity chefs endorsing \u201cheart-healthy\u201d cereals. While it may be true that their endorsed products help to lower cholesterol, that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t causing other problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you start thinking about rules for eating, it\u2019s easy to feel stressed and overwhelmed. But in reality, following <\/span>simple rules for heart-healthy eating <\/span><\/a>is all it takes.<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, eliminate as much processed food from your diet as possible. Straight away you\u2019ll remove a lot of sugar and <\/span>unhealthy vegetable oils<\/span><\/a>, both of which will drastically improve your health.<\/span><\/p>\n

My general principle is to eat either things that grow in the ground, or which eat the things that grow in the ground. That means animal products, fruits, vegetables, seeds, as well as potatoes and sweet potatoes. It excludes Oreos and Fritos.<\/span><\/p>\n

That leads onto the next recommendation: avoid foods that come in a box or bag. This is a general guideline – your vegetables or meat may be purchased in a bag, and that\u2019s okay. This is more about a principle of avoiding foods that come from a factory or have a list of ingredients stamped on the packaging.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, prepare your meals at home as much as possible. This way, you\u2019ll be in full control over the ingredients as well as the calories. You\u2019ll know that there aren\u2019t hidden ingredients, like the food being cooked in vegetable oils.<\/span><\/p>\n

How you move<\/b><\/p>\n

If <\/span>preventing heart disease<\/span><\/a> is important to you, then <\/span>exercise needs to be a priority<\/span><\/a>. This is an area that causes a lot of confusion though, with many people thinking they need to spend countless hours performing cardio. It\u2019s not true, and as with food, following some simple guidelines will give you amazing results.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The very best thing you can do is incorporate what I call \u201cconstant movement.\u201d This means to use your body wherever possible:<\/span><\/p>\n