BalancedLiving
February 2014
Balanced Living is brought to you by New Directions Behavioral Health
IN THIS ISSUE
Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease
1
Make Housework Manageable
2
Looking at Happiness as a Choice
3
Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease
Heart disease kills more than 700,000 Americans every year. But many
of these deaths could be prevented if people took control of their risk
factors for this disease.
"Some of the risk factors for heart disease can be treated or controlled
and some can't," says Robert Bonow, M.D., chief cardiologist at
Northwestern Medical School in Evanston, Ill., and former president of
the American Heart Association in Dallas. "That's why it's important to
know your risk factors and change your lifestyle to reduce them."
The major risk factors that can't be changed:
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Increasing age.
Being male. Men have a greater risk for heart attack than women,
and they have attacks earlier in life.
Heredity. Children of parents with heart disease and African
Americans are more likely to develop heart disease.
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To reduce the risk factors you can change:
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Don't smoke and reduce your exposure to secondhand smoke. People who smoke have two to four times the risk of
developing coronary heart disease as nonsmokers. Exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk for heart disease even for
nonsmokers. "The good news is when you stop smoking -- no matter how long or how much you've smoked -- your risk for
heart disease drops," says Dr. Bonow.
Control high cholesterol. As cholesterol rises, so does the risk for heart disease. When other risk factors are present, this risk
increases even more. Optimal total cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dL. Most people with a total cholesterol of 200 to 240 mg/
dL can control it through diet and exercise. Most people with total cholesterol greater than 240 mg/dL need medication, as
well as diet and exercise, to control it.
Control high blood pressure. High blood pressure increases the heart's workload, causing the heart muscle to increase in
size. When high blood pressure exists with obesity, smoking, high cholesterol or diabetes, the risk for heart attack increases
several times.
Get plenty of exercise. An inactive lifestyle is a risk factor for heart disease. But regular, moderate-to-vigorous physical
activity helps prevent heart and blood vessel disease. The American Heart Association recommends a minimum of 30 minutes
of physical activity on most days.
Maintain a healthy weight. People who have excess body fat -- especially at the waist -- are more likely to develop heart
disease even if they have no other risk factors. Excess weight makes the heart work harder and also raises blood pressure and
cholesterol. Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean protein can help you lose weight. Avoiding trans
fats and limiting saturated fat can directly reduce heart disease risks.
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Control blood sugar. Diabetes significantly increases your risk for heart disease. Maintaining a normal blood sugar most of
the time can help reduce that risk.
Watch how much you drink. Drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure. The risk for heart disease in people who
drink moderate amounts of alcohol is lower than in nondrinkers. Moderate drinking means no more than one drink a day for
women and men 65 and older, and no more than two drinks a day for men younger than 65.
Krames Staywell
Make Housework Manageable
You can’t make housework disappear, but you can make it more manageable. Here are some tips to help you simplify your home
life:
Write down schedules and priorities:
Make daily and weekly schedules and to-do lists. It’ll help you prioritize tasks and organize assigned chores. Using these lists and
schedules, see how much time you spend on various household tasks. Are you spending too much time in one area? If needed,
readjust the time you spend on tasks so you can have more time for the most important things, like quality time with your children
and partner.
Shop efficiently:
Shop for groceries once a week and buy nonperishable items in large quantities. Stock up on family favorites and meals that can be
made quickly in case you are running late for dinner.
Use a grocery list:
Using a grocery list can come in handy, especially when you’re at the supermarket and can’t remember that one really important
item you needed to pick up. Make a list each week of all the ingredients you will need for each meal and post it on the refrigerator,
leaving space for write-in requests from your spouse and kids.
De-clutter:
Use a “clutter basket” at the foot of the stairs or in each room. Make
it a family rule to stash away all clutter in the basket before leaving
the room.
Minimize cooking time:
When cooking, stick to simple and nutritious meals. If making a main
dish or a family favorite, try to make an extra portion to freeze and
reheat at a later date. Think about using leftovers in family lunches:
Soups, pastas, and other meals can be carried to work or school in an
airtight container. You can also make and freeze a week’s worth of
sandwiches or cut up and bag a week’s worth of veggies to place in
lunches throughout the week.
Make laundry a family affair:
Younger children can help sort out and fold laundry, and older children can have laundry duty once a week. This can teach children
responsibility and show them that they are important members of the family team. In order to avoid mismatched socks or looking
all over for the other sock in the pair, buy children’s socks in one style and color.
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Eat out of Take-out:
Make it “family night out” once a week at your favorite restaurant. Consider take-out or having dinner delivered if you find yourself
running low on time.
Minimize cleaning time:
Organize cleaning supplies in one place, and avoid cleaning something unless it really needs it. If it’s affordable, think about hiring a
cleaning service.
Written by Life Advantages – Author Delvina Miremadi ©2013
Looking at Happiness as a Choice
Are you a person who can act on tough questions? Questions like: What
am I grateful for? What choices do I have? What actions can I take to
improve my life? What are my primary strengths? How can I live a more
balanced life?
People who can act on these questions likely also describe themselves
as happy.
“Happiness is neither a mood nor an emotion. Mood is a biochemical
condition, and emotions are transitory feelings,” says Dan Baker, Ph.D.,
director of the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch in Tucson,
Ariz., and author of What Happy People Know. “Happiness is a way of
life, an overriding outlook composed of qualities like love, optimism,
courage, and a sense of freedom. It’s not something that changes every
time your situation changes.”
People often think happiness is something you’re born with, but you can learn the qualities of happiness by mastering Dr. Baker’s
happiness tools described here.
Appreciation
This is the most fundamental tool. It is a form of love that asks for nothing and gives everything.
“Taking time each day to appreciate what you have, to think about people who have made a difference, to acknowledge the love
you have or have had. Each of these things can turn your attention to the good in your life,” says Dr. Baker. “This process shifts
your attention away from fear, which is often the basis of unhappiness.”
Choice
Feeling like you have no choices or options in life is like being in jail. It leads to depression, anxiety, and learned helplessness.
“Unhappy people make the mistake of giving in to fear, which limits their perception of the choices they have,” says Dr. Baker.
“Happy people turn away from fear and find they have an array of choices they can make in almost every situation.”
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Personal Power
Personal power has two components: taking responsibility and taking action. It means realizing your life belongs to you and then
doing something about it.
“When you’re secure in your personal power, it keeps you from becoming a victim,” says Dr. Baker. “When you have it, you know
you can handle whatever life dishes out.”
Leading With Your Strengths
Focusing on your weaknesses reinforces unhappiness. By focusing on your strengths, you can solve problems and improve
situations.
"Building and broadening your talents and positive qualities feels good and improves your rate of success in every endeavor," says
Dr. Baker. "People get energy from building on their successes, not fighting their failures.”
Power of Language
You think in words, and those words have the power to limit you or set you free. Similarly, the stories you tell yourself about your
life eventually become your life.
“Self-talk is powerful, so it’s important to choose your words carefully,” says Dr. Baker. “If you use destructive or critical language,
you’ll push yourself deeper into fear. Even something as simple as calling an unexpected situation a possibility instead of a problem
can change the way you look at it.”
A good rule to follow in self-talk is to talk to yourself the way you want others to talk to you.
Multidimensional Living
There are three primary components of life: relationships, health and purpose, or work. Many people, though, put all their energy
into just one area.
“But doing so never works,” says Dr. Baker. “Happiness comes from living a full life.”
Krames Staywell
For assistance with challenges like these, please call your
New Directions EAP at 800-624-5544 or visit us online www.ndbh.com
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