heart health

in the past year, my husband's two living grandparents have both gone into the hospital - one with heart issues and one with a major stroke.  it's completely changed their lives and the care they need, as well as adding a lot of extra stress to the family.  while we kind of expect to face it in our families eventually, it can still come as a shock, especially if you and your family aren't prepared.  and now as i walk with a close friend recovering from her heart attack, this is becoming a major topic of conversation in our home!

since my friend's heart attack, i've been visiting the heart and stroke website almost daily.  i can't believe the wealth of information on there!  there are tons of great recipes (many of which i'll be posting here) and healthy living tips.  there's also valuable information on the warning signs of heart attacks and stroke.  this is especially important information for women since the signs are different and harder to associate with heart trouble.  

three main contributing causes of heart disease (and a whole host of other medical conditions to boot) are poor diet, lack of exercise, and too much stress.  i'm becoming a firm believer that it's never too early to begin taking good care of your heart, after all no one else can do it for you.  you can start by taking a good honest look at your diet, exercise, and stress level and picking something you can know you can change in each area.  don't go for a huge one-day lifestyle transformation - because unless you're superman, i'm pretty sure you'll just be setting yourself up to fail.  pick something small that you can do in each of those three areas, and then keep building on your successes.

in our house, one of the easiest changes we've made was to stop snacking on cookies, crackers, and chips and start snacking on fresh fruits and vegetables.  we can get a bag of apples or oranges for about the same price as two bags of cookies or chips, and i don't have to worry about portion sizes or poor self-control.  they're easy to grab when we're running out the door, they're great to share when someone stops by, they're awesome to add to salads, smoothies, baking, or breakfast - you just can't get all that from a bag of chips!  it's taken a few months to get used to, but now i even find myself craving fruit when i'm looking for a snack (this from a complete salt addict!).  without really even realizing it, we've changed our habits and our preferences.  score!

what about you?  what are you doing to take care of your heart?  and what is your best low-budget tip for healthy living?