Being overweight is grueling on your heart. It increases your risk of having hypertension and heart disease, as well as high blood cholesterol, stroke, and diabetes. Choosing heart healthy foods and engaging in regular physical activity will help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. But we all know that it’s difficult to sustain weight loss on our own. Social support makes healthy weight habits easier.
Here are some ideas for adopting these habits, together, with your friends and family:
Join a weight loss program with someone important in your life.
Sign a social support “agreement” with a few family members or friends who also want to lose weight or maintain their healthy weight. Be sure your agreement includes ways to reduce stress, which affects energy and hunger. Chronic stress can also make your body store more fat, making it harder for you to lose weight and keep the pounds off.
Share because you care! Share this blog with your family members and friends. Let us (Biophilia Partners) know how you’re achieving your goals of preventing heart disease.
Comment below.
We would like to acknowledge the NHLBI and AHA for their content that significantly contributed to this blog. We encourage you to follow them on twitter @NIH_NHLBI and @American_Heart for heart healthy tips and resources during American Heart Month.
