The Top Three Habits for a Healthy Heart

February is American heart health month.  Incorporating these three habits into your February routine will have you well on your way to a healthier heart by March first.

1) Eat whole foods not processed

Find yourself habitually unwrapping all of your meals from packages?  The convenient habit of grabbing all your food in ready to go containers might be doing more damage to your heart than you think. In general, the more processed your food is, the less likely it is to be heart healthy. Here is a good rule of thumb, if it comes in its own skin it is probably a better choice than if it was engineered in a lab.

Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food" keenly points out that if your food must advertise health benefits on its packaging, it might not be that healthy. Healthy foods do not need to advertise. They do not need added ingredients to make them "heart healthy". The next time you have a choice between a morning meal of berries and yogurt or the latest heart healthy protein bar or cereal choice; opt for the berries and yogurt. Your heart will love you for it.

2) Exercise like you brush your teeth – everyday

Most people think of exercise as alternating days of workouts and rest. I want to discourage this way of thinking about exercise. Exercise is not something you need to focus on every other day. Exercise, like brushing your teeth, should be a daily habit.

You don’t have time to get to the gym every day?  No problem! You do not need to go to the gym every day to make daily exercise a habit.  Daily exercise can be as simple as going for a 30 minute walk each night after dinner, throwing a yoga CD into your DVD player each morning, or getting up from your computer every afternoon and walking around your office building. This habitual way of incorporating daily physical movement into your day will pay huge heart health dividends.

3) Make taking the long view of life a habit

What is the one personality trait most closely related to your longevity according to psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen of the Amen clinics? Answer - Conscientiousness. Conscientious people tend to make better decisions. They are less likely to take unnecessary physical risks, more likely to save early for retirement, to exercise, and to nurture their relationships with their families.  This kind of person is able to project out into the future to see how the decisions they make at this moment will affect their future. They are less impulsive, less reactive, and better able to stay on track because of their long view approach to life.

If you could only do one of these three heart healthy tips, I suggest you to work on your conscientiousness. When you begin taking a long view of life, you begin to see how the decisions you make now will nearly always predict your future. This is most certainly the case when it comes to the health of your heart. It is this long view approach to life that helps us make the choice to exercise and select healthy foods. Make a habit of taking a long view of your life today and your heart will start getting healthier tomorrow.