Independent Living for Seniors | National Heart Health Month

The celebration of National Heart Health Month basically provides awareness of the significance of cardiovascular well-being, particularly within independent living for seniors. As the heart plays an important part of a person’s life especially when people age, so it is vital to prioritize heart health among seniors in independent living communities. This event helps them to embrace heart-healthy habits for a longer, more vibrant journey through their golden years.

Heart-healthy Recipes and Diet Tips for Independent Living for Seniors

It is advisable to eat a lot of fruits, healthy fats, lean proteins, low-fat dairy, vegetables, and whole grains. Since it is never too late to invest in heart health, it is also very important to avoid excessive amounts of alcohol, salt, saturated and trans fat and added sugars.

That being said, you can prepare foods that are good for the heart, such as the following recipes to get started.

Green goddess smoothie

This is a mix of cucumber, frozen banana, kale, soy milk, and vanilla that you can consume during breakfast or snacks.

Sweet n’ heat salmon

This is a combination of apricot nectar, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, dried apricot, honey, and soy sauce to glaze your broiled or basted salmon.

Chocolate nut cookie in a mug

You can opt for a sweet treat using a mix of melted margarine and liquid stevia sweetener, along with cocoa powder, a bit of egg white, and flour.

You can prioritize your heart health in all stages of your life. Part of this is to incorporate more heart-healthy foods and limit potentially harmful foods into your diet. This will protect your heart from damage and disease. Moreover, moving into a senior living community can be more fun if you learn how to prepare delicious and nutritious meals with heart health in mind.

Exercise Routines to Promote Cardiovascular Health

It is important to note that exercise routines need to have a positive effect on your heart, aside from improving the musculoskeletal system. So promoting your cardiovascular health must include a combination of aerobic and resistance training exercises.

This includes cycling, swimming, and walking for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. You can also do moderate weightlifting to build muscle endurance and tone muscles twice a week. If you want to cover the major muscle groups, you can do it as frequently as necessary.

You need to record your progress when doing your exercise routines.

Make sure that you hit your target heart rate when you are charting your exercise progress
If you are into weight training, see to it that you have achieved the number of repetitions
Monitor your fat vs. muscle body composition during your routine exercises

Working out with a qualified trainer or health professional can make a difference if you want to do it within a healthy range. Thus, you need to stay within your target heart rate, not above or below your target because this can make or break your goals of achieving a healthy heart in independent living for seniors.

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