IN YOUR DAILY DOSE: today is research demonstrating your risk of heart attack is not just about your weight or obesity.

MAKING CHANGES: Maintaining your weight is just the first step to getting and staying healthy.

FACT OR FICTION: What about acid rain?

In The News

Researchers from the American Heart Association have found your risk of cardiovascular disease is not just associated with your weight, but also highly associated with the growth of your waistline and hips. This fact was especially correlated in women.

"Our findings support the notion that having proportionally more fat around the abdomen (a characteristic of the apple shape) appears to be more hazardous than more visceral fat which is generally stored around the hips (i.e., the pear shape)," said lead author Sanne Peters, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Epidemiology at the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

SOURCE: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180228085425.htm

Daily Health Tip

Maintaining or losing weight is easier when you’re active - and activity also reduces your risk of heart disease even if you don’t lose weight.

Making Changes

Including an exercise program in your daily routine may be challenging  - especially as most people say the reason they don’t exercise is because they don’t have enough time in their day. However, you don’t have to go to the gym, buy expensive equipment or take hours out of your day to accomplish your goals.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Have a reason you want to start exercising - but pay attention to how you feel while you’re exercising and after you’re done. Studies show that your extrinsic reason for exercise - your reason why - may help you get started but won’t keep you going. People who recognize how much better they feel after the workout, and recognize the benefits they experience, are the people who keep going.
2. Exercise can be as simple as a 20 minute walk after dinner each night, or training for a triathalon. The choice is yours.
3. It’s important to NOT overdo it nor set goals you’ll never achieve. You may want to complete a marathon - but start by walking, then a one mile run, then a 3K and onward. Start with what you know you can achieve and continue to set your goals higher and higher.
4. Pay attention to how your body feels during and after your workout - don’t workout past pain that is more than tired muscles. You won’t gain anything except an injury that sidelines you for weeks.
5. Consider small pieces of equipment for your home - jump rope, rebounder, rowing machine, small indoor bike - to help change what you’re doing each day without having to go to the gym.
6. Look for body weight exercise videos on YouTube - you won’t have to go to the gym to get in your strength training. You have everything you need at home.

Daily Affirmation

I stand by others when they are trying to deal with their mishaps. I validate their feelings and experiences. I provide a sounding board as they work out alternative approaches. I admire them for persevering.
My life becomes more rewarding when I nurture my family, friends, and coworkers. Even a kind gesture to a stranger brightens my own day.

Fact or Fiction?

Acid rain is the result of air pollution, which, believe it or not, is worse indoors than it is outdoors. Imagine how bad the environment would be if outdoor air pollution was a dense as the indoor pollution. Acid rain carries pollution over great distances and has resulted in deforestation as trees are dying and poisoning of lakes, rivers and the fish that live there. Acid rain also erodes your buildings and outdoor equipment faster than normal. Discover the small steps you can do to contribute to reducing the air pollution causing acid rain here.

Have a wonderful day!

Your Healthy Life America Team