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American Heart Association
Dietary Guidelines

Healthy food habits can help you reduce three of the major risk factors for heart attack - high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and excess body weight. They'll also help reduce your risk of stroke, because heart disease and high blood pressure are major risk factors for stroke. The American Heart Association Eating Plan for Healthy Americans is based on these new dietary guidelines, released in October 2000:

Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Choose 5 or more servings per day.
Eat a variety of grain products, including whole grains. Choose 6 or more servings per day.
Include fat-free and low-fat milk products, fish, legumes (beans), skinless poultry and lean meats.
Choose fats and oils with 2 grams or less saturated fat per tablespoon, such as liquid and tub margarines, canola oil and olive oil.
Balance the number of calories you eat with the number you use each day. (To find that number, multiply the number of pounds you weigh now by 15 calories. This represents the average number of calories used in one day if you're moderately active. If you get very little exercise, multiply your weight by 13 instead of 15. Less-active people burn fewer calories.)
Maintain a level of physical activity that keeps you fit and matches the number of calories you eat. Walk or do other activities for at least 30 minutes on most days. To lose weight, do enough activity to use up more calories than you eat every day.
Limit your intake of foods high in calories or low in nutrition, including foods like soft drinks and candy that have a lot of sugars.
Limit foods high in saturated fat, trans fat and/or cholesterol, such as full-fat milk products, fatty meats, tropical oils, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and egg yolks. Instead choose foods low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol from the first four points above.
Eat less than 6 grams of salt (sodium chloride) per day (2,400 milligrams of sodium).
Have no more than one alcoholic drink per day if you're a woman and no more than two if you're a man. "One drink" means it has no more than 1/2 ounce of pure alcohol. Examples of one drink are 12 oz. of beer, 4 oz. of wine, 1-1/2 oz. of 80-proof spirits or 1 oz. of 100-proof spirits.

Following this eating plan will help you achieve and maintain a healthy eating pattern. The benefits of that include a healthy body weight, a desirable blood cholesterol level and a normal blood pressure. Every meal doesn't have to meet all the guidelines. It's important to apply the guidelines to your overall eating pattern over at least several days. These guidelines may do more than improve your heart health. They may reduce your risk for other chronic health problems, including type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis (bone loss) and some forms of cancer.

American Heart Association
How Can I Quit Smoking?

Smoking cigarettes tops the list of major risk factors of our number one killer - heart and blood vessel disease. In fact, almost one-fifth of deaths from heart disease are from smoking. The long list of diseases and deaths due to smoking is frightening. Smoking also harms thousands of nonsmokers who are exposed to cigarette smoke. It causes infections, disease and death in infants and children.

If you smoke, you have good reason to worry about its effect on your health and the health of your loved ones and others. You could become one of the 430,700 deaths smoking causes every year.

When you quit, you reduce that risk tremendously!

Is it too late to quit?
No matter how much or how long you've smoked, when you quit, your risk of heart disease goes down. Three years after quitting, your risk of heart disease is almost the same as if you'd never smoked. That's like gaining back the health you almost lost!

How do I quit?

Step One

List reasons to quit and read them daily.
Wrap your cigarette pack with paper and rubber bands and when you smoke, write down the time of day, how you feel, and how important that cigarette is to you (on a scale of 1-5).
Rewrap the pack.

Step Two

Keep reading your list of reasons and add to it if you can.
Don't carry matches and keep your cigarettes a bit out of reach.
Each day, try to smoke fewer cigarettes, trying not to smoke the ones that aren't most important.

Step Three

Continue with Step Two.
Don't buy a new pack until you finish the one you're smoking.
Change brands twice during the week, each time for a brand lower in tar and nicotine.
Try to stop for 48 hours at one time.

Step Four

Quit smoking completely.
Increase your physical activity.
Avoid situations you relate with smoking.
Find a healthy substitute for smoking.
Do deep breathing exercises when you get the urge.

What if I smoke after quitting?
It's hard to stay a nonsmoker once you've had a cigarette, so try everything you can do to avoid that "one." The urge to smoke will pass. The first 2 to 5 minutes will be the toughest. If you do smoke after quitting:

This doesn't mean you're a smoker again - do something now to get back on track.
Don't punish yourself - you're still a nonsmoker.
Think about why you smoked and decide what to do the next time it comes up.
Sign a contract to stay a nonsmoker.

What happens after I quit?

Sense of smell and taste come back
Smokers cough goes away
Will digest more normally
Feel alive and full of energy
Breathe much easier
Easier to climb stairs
Feel free from the mess, smell and burns in clothing
Feel free of "needing" cigarettes
Live longer and have less chance of heart disease, lung disease and cancer

How can I learn more?

Talk to your doctor, nurse or health care professional. Or call your local American Heart Association at 1-800-242-8721.
If you have heart disease, members of your family also may be at higher risk. It's very important for them to make changes now to lower their risk.

Doctor Recommendations or Comments
Do you have questions or comments for your doctor? Take a few minutes to write your own questions for the next time you see your doctor. For example:

When will the urges stop?
How can I keep from gaining weight?

American Heart Association
Physical Activity in Your Daily Life

At Home
What are the advantages of working out at home? It's convenient, comfortable and safe. It allows your children to see you being active, which sets a good example for them. You can combine exercise with other activities, such as watching TV. If you buy exercise equipment, it's a one-time expense and can be used by other members of the family. It's easy to have short bouts of activity in several times a day.

Do housework yourself instead of hiring someone else to do it.
Work in the garden or mow the grass. Using a riding mower doesn't count! Rake leaves, prune, dig and pick up trash.
Go out for a short walk before breakfast, after dinner or both! Start with 5-10 minutes and work up to 30 minutes.
Walk or bike to the corner store instead of driving.
When walking, pick up the pace from leisurely to brisk. Choose a hilly route. When watching TV, sit up instead of lying on the sofa. Better yet, spend a few minutes pedaling on your stationary bicycle while watching TV. Throw away your video remote control. Instead of asking someone to bring you a drink, get up off the couch and get it yourself.
Stand up while talking on the telephone.
Walk the dog.
Park farther away at the shopping mall and walk the extra distance. Wear your walking shoes and sneak in an extra lap or two around the mall.
Stretch to reach items in high places and squat or bend to look at items at floor level.
Keep exercise equipment repaired and use it!

At the Office
Most of us have sedentary jobs. Work takes up a significant part of the day. What can you do to increase your physical activity during the work day?

Brainstorm project ideas with a co-worker while taking a walk.
Stand while talking on the telephone.
Walk down the hall to speak with someone rather than using the telephone.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Or get off a few floors early and take the stairs the rest of the way.
Walk while waiting for the plane at the airport.
Stay at hotels with fitness centers or swimming pools - and use them - while on business trips.
Take along a jump rope in your suitcase when you travel. Jump and do calisthenics in your hotel room.
Participate in or start a recreation league at your company.
Form a sports team to raise money for charity events.
Join a fitness center or Y near your work. Work out before or after work to avoid rush-hour traffic, or drop by for a noon workout.
Schedule exercise time on your business calendar and treat it as any other important appointment.
Get off the bus a few blocks early and walk the rest of the way to work or home.
Walk around your building for a break during the work day or during lunch.

At Play
Play and recreation are important for good health. Look for opportunities to be active and have fun at the same time.

Plan family outings and vacations that include physical activity (hiking, backpacking, swimming, etc.)
See the sights in new cities by walking, jogging or bicycling.
Make a date with a friend to enjoy your favorite physical activities. Do them regularly.
Play your favorite music while exercising, something that motivates you.
Dance with someone or by yourself. Take dancing lessons. Hit the dance floor on fast numbers instead of slow ones.
Join a recreational club that emphasizes physical activity.
At the beach, sit and watch the waves instead of lying flat. Better yet, get up and walk, run or fly a kite.
When golfing, walk instead of using a cart.
Play singles tennis or racquetball instead of doubles.
At a picnic, join in on badminton instead of croquet.
At the lake, rent a rowboat instead of a canoe.

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