Tips For A Healthy Weight Loss Journey And A Healthy Heart

• Eating a heart-healthy diet, rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and light on saturated fats and trans-fats will help in maintaining a healthy weight.

• Eating a Mediterranean diet as per American Heart Association (AHA) recommendations, which is heavy in beans, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables, and a moderate amount of lean meat like fish and skinless chicken, and fat-free daily products will help maintain a healthy heart.

• AHA also recommends DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet that emphasizes on fruits, veggies, and whole grains, and a smaller amount of low-fat and fat-free dairy. Your body converts dietary nitrate in DASH diet into nitric oxide, which is a vasodilator. This tip to healthy weight loss will also help in keeping your blood vessels open so that the heart can feed the heart muscle itself.

• Consume low sodium condiments and soup that reduce extra fluid around your heart and lungs, so your heart won’t have to work as hard to pump blood.

• Eating fish rich in Omega 3 fatty acids can decrease your triglyceride levels, and thus your risks for heart failure, brain stroke, and high blood pressure are also reduced. Walnuts also have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids that reduce irregular heart rhythm and improve endothelial function that will help your arteries to stay fully functional.

• Food rich in antioxidants, such as blueberries, avocado, citrus fruits, and green leafy vegetables reduce inflammation in the body and aid in preventing heart issues.

• Replace full dairy products with their low-fat versions such as yogurt and milk to help improve your cardiovascular system.

• Another important tip to healthy weight loss is to drink green tea, it has antioxidants that break down fats and help in weight loss.

Avoid cured and processed meats like bacon, sausage and salami that tend to raise your blood pressure and may also result in swelling of the feet. Avoid red meat and go for leaner sources of protein as much as possible. Refined sugars have a higher level of LDL cholesterol or bad cholesterol that can build up in the walls of your arteries and cause narrowing. Refined sugar appears in cookies, cakes, cold drinks, and beverages.

Other ways to reduce weight and improve heart health

Do aerobic exercises, strength training, and flexibility exercise for at least half an hour every day. A blend of all these three exercises will help in reducing weight and improve your overall health. Lifestyle changes like smoking cessation and limiting the consumption of alcohol would help in improving your overall health.

Weigh yourself regularly at the same time each day, usually in morning, it will help you keep track of the progress of your weight loss regimen. Also, keep your kitchen clean, as a cluttered kitchen may lead some people to eat more unhealthy foods. Skip food commercials that may signal your brain to eat more snack foods. Keep less nutritious food out of sight.