We’re halfway through!
Ready for Heart Strong Challenge #3?
Remember: Take a photo while doing one of the heart healthy behaviors and post it on Facebook or Instagram. Tag it with #AdelanteHeartStrong and let us know @AdelanteHealthcare and you could win a free Heart Strong t-shirt and a $50 gift card! Winners will be notified by 5pm each Monday during February.
Week Three Challenge: Eat Strong
You don’t need a guilt trip. We know you know you should eat right.
The good news is that eating healthy doesn’t have to mean dieting or giving up all the foods you love.
If you learn to ditch the junk and give your body the nutrient-dense fuel it needs, you’ll naturally build on those positive changes and start to Eat Strong and love every minute of it!
Let’s look at what you should add first.
Color Your World
An easy first step to eating healthy is to include fruits and vegetables at every meal and snack.
All forms (fresh, frozen, canned and dried) and all colors count, so go ahead and add color to your plate—and your life.
The American Heart Association has some great information to help:
- Check out this quick primer on getting more fruits and veggies into your meals
- Download this infographic on what colors you could be eating
- Or learn tips on how to sneak more vegetables into meals if you or a family member are not a big fan
Other Healthy Staples
Other staples you’ll want to makes sure you are eating regularly are whole grains, beans and legums, nuts and seeds, fish (preferably oily fish with omega-3 fatty acids), plant-based and lean proteins.
Visit the American Heart Association Healthy Eating page to learn more about each of these, creative ways to add them in and how to make eating right affordable.
Know Your Fats
Foods to watch include fats, sugar and salt.
Fats go in and out of fashion but are a nutrient we need in our diet – just not too much.
Some good resources from the American Heart Association include:
- A guide about dietary fats and hot getting too much or too little affects your health
- An infographic on how get more of the good fats into your diet with this PDF.
- And a video on how to cook with healthy fats
Watch Added Sugar
Just like with fats, not all sugar is bad. Learn the difference between naturally occurring sugar and added sugar with these resources from the American Heart Association:
- Learn the basics with Sugar 101
- Download this infographic to learn how to cut out added sugar
- Think Before You Drink
Don’t Forget Sodium
With 9 out of 10 Americans eating too much sodium, chances are good that you are among them.
Our friends at the American Heart Association have some guidance to help you Eat Strong:
- Learn the ins and outs of sodium and why it matters
- Find out how sodium may be affecting your kids
- Download their plan to make it easy to reduce your sodium intake in just three weeks
As with all healthy habits, starting small and building on success is key. So choose one or two of these ideas and start today!
And check back next Tuesday for our last Heart Strong Challenge!