Heart Healthy Holiday this year?

For many people, the Holidays is a time for over indulgence. Over indulgence in many things, maybe too much spending, too much eating of fattening desserts and foods and possibly too many glasses of wine or alcoholic beverages.

Many times with all the over indulging comes many warning signs from our body that can be ignored because we are running around going everything and going from here to there.

The Holiday Season - a time from November through January is the deadliest time of the year for your Heart and other heart related issues. December 26th followed by New Year's Day are the deadliest days of the year with spikes in heart attacks caused by additional stress of the season.

Please watch for signs of SCA and heart related conditions this holiday season such as:

Chest discomfort
Chest discomfort including squeezing, pain, pressure and or a feeling of fullness in the chest area.
This chest discomfort could radiate to the arms, shoulders, jaws and other area's of the body.

Shortness of Breath 
Obviously the Holiday season takes our breath away but beware of shortness of breath, with or without the chest discomfort. Having a hard time getting a breath could be a major warning sign.

Lightheadedness
A faint and dizzy feeling with a cold sweat and nausea - could be all together or one at a time. 

Make sure that you are paying attention to your heart this Holiday season - watch what you eat, watch how much you eat and keep your stress down and enjoy the holidays.

Are you feeling down "hearted"?

With everything that has gone on the past 48 hours and the holiday season upon us - it is understandable why you feel a bit of sadness and a bit depressed. All of us at Living for Zachary share in the sorrow of the families in Newtown, Connecticut and are deeply saddened by this horrible act of violence.

Things like tragedies can often lead and start the long line of depression. Depression can be bad for your heart and is more pronounced during the Holiday Season. The holidays can lead to not only depression but putting your heart health at risk. When you a "down" you might tend to over eat or over indulge in alcohol. You might not want to exercise as much as before and you certainly can withdraw from social events - making your depression even more.

• Perhaps the bills have you down and trying to purchase all that you feel you need to for Christmas.
• Maybe you are missing your loved ones and this is the first holiday without them.
• Maybe you are ill and run down and just not able to do all that you need to do.
• It could be that you are just in a "funk" and cannot shake this feeling for whatever reason and are not sure why.

Great news is - there are things you can do to get help so that you can move forward with the holidays and new year and enjoy life's pleasures.

• Talk with someone about your feelings. Speak or share with a counselor or Doctor. 
• Exercise and eat right and surround yourself with the ones you love. 
• Seek a spiritual being - whatever religion you choose - prayer helps

There are ways to combat this depression or holiday blues to make sure that your heart is holiday healthy!

Eating healthy this Holiday Season to stay Heart Healthy!

With the Holiday Season here - so comes the Holiday get-together's and work parties. Everyone enjoys wonderful food during the season however maybe this year - you might need to cut back a bit on some things.

Everyone seems to know what foods are GOOD for you, such as nuts, fruits, vegetables and of course~ the all time favorite healthy food - Oatmeal. We all seem to try and eat some of those every now and then, but who serves Oatmeal for breakfast on Christmas morning? No one - except maybe Dr. Oz. Most families enjoy eggs, toast, sausage and ... the big "NO NO" but an all time favorite - BACON!

Since most of us are aware of the good foods for our heart, here are a few of the bad foods for the heart and ones to try and stay away from this holiday season.

• Stay away from Soda Pop
• Stay away from French Fries
• Stay away from fast food hamburgers (really.. fast food in general)
• Potato Chips  - don't go near them!
• Pasta Salads - think they are healthy - think again!
• Chocolate Donuts (all donuts are not good)
• High Sugar Cereal (yes Captain Crunch is good though, but lots of sugar)
• Cheese (you could eat low fat cheese instead

Choose Chicken over beef when out to dinner for the corporate parties and holiday gatherings. You can still enjoy the holidays - just watch the sweets and cut down on the above mentioned items (really you should just say no to them) - or find a lower calorie or lower fat item.

Enjoy the holiday season but not too much and have a heart healthy holiday!!

More.... "Did you know facts about SCA"

Some people MAY have a heart attack while suffering from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)

Did you  know that Zac Schrah had NEVER had something like a "blackout" or "fainted"?
 
Did you know that Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of death in the U.S.?

To have a chance of surviving, victims of SCA must receive a life-saving defibrillation within the first 4 – 6 minutes of an attack, when brain and permanent death start to occur. Two-thirds of SCA deaths occur in people without any prior indications of heart disease.

Have you signed the petition "keep AED's available"? If you are someone who works every day to help save lives, or if you have been personally affected by SCA and understand the critical importance of early defibrillation, please express your concerns to the FDA now, before their determination is made. A decision is anticipated by the end of 2012. - (www.sca-aware.org) http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/keep-automated-external-defibrillators-accessible.html

Did you know that Zac Shrah had no prior heart issues?

African-American women had a significant 61% increased risk of SCA

Did you know that October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Month?

In most cases the first sign of sudden cardiac arrest is loss of consciousness

The chain of survival for victims of SCA has 4 links: