{"id":1575,"date":"2018-02-05T04:08:49","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T04:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/?p=1575"},"modified":"2018-02-05T04:08:49","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T04:08:49","slug":"real-men-make-heart-health-priority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/2018\/02\/05\/real-men-make-heart-health-priority\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Men Make Heart Health a Priority"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2018\/02\/HeartHealth.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"207\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1576\" \/>The perfect gift this Valentine\u2019s Day is the gift of heart health. Along with Valentine\u2019s Day, February marks American Heart Month, a great time to commit to a healthy lifestyle and make small changes that can lead to a lifetime of heart health.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Center for Disease Control, heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women. That\u2019s why this February, during American Heart Month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FirstLight Home Care \u2013 South Sound<\/a>\u00a0in Olympia is encouraging men to take charge of their health and start one new, heart-healthy behavior that can help reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Men can make a big difference in their heart health by taking these small steps during the month of February and beyond:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Schedule a visit with your doctor to talk about heart health.<\/em><\/strong> It\u2019s important to schedule regular check-ups even if you think you are not sick. Partner with your doctor and health care team to set goals for improving your heart health, and don\u2019t be afraid to ask questions and trust their advice.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Add exercise to your daily routine.<\/strong><\/em> Start off the month by walking 15 minutes, 3 times each week. By mid-month, increase your time to 30 minutes, 3 times each week.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Increase healthy eating.<\/strong><\/em> Cook heart-healthy meals at home at least 3 times each week and make your favorite recipe lower sodium. For example, swap out salt for fresh or dried herbs and spices.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Take steps to quit smoking.<\/strong><\/em> If you currently smoke, quitting can cut your risk for heart disease and stroke. Learn more at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/tobacco\/quit_smoking\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CDC\u2019s Smoking and Tobacco Use website<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Take medication as prescribed.<\/strong><\/em> Talk with your doctor about the importance of high blood pressure and cholesterol medications. If you\u2019re having trouble taking your medicines on time or if you\u2019re having side effects, ask your doctor for help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Strong men put their health first. Simple changes, such as taking medication as prescribed, eating healthy, getting regular exercise, and quitting smoking, can make a big difference in improving your health. Be strong! Talk to your health care professionals, learn about heart health and share what you know with your friends, neighbors and loved ones.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><em>Source: Center for Disease Control<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The perfect gift this Valentine\u2019s Day is the gift of heart health. Along with Valentine\u2019s Day, February marks American Heart Month, a great time to commit to a healthy lifestyle and make small changes that can lead to a lifetime of heart health. According to the Center for Disease Control,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":1576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-exercise"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstlighthomecare.com\/home-healthcare-olympia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}