Hearth Health: Take Care of Yours

Written on: February 1, 2022

As a caregiver, you put your HEART AND SOUL into all you do to care for your loved one. This is great and something you probably do without reservation. February is Heart Health awareness month which is why you need to stop and take a moment to care for your own “HEART AND SOUL”.

Heart Disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States.

Frequently, it becomes easy to get caught up in providing for the needs of others that we put off caring for ourselves. We are busy scheduling someone else’s doctor appointments, monitoring medications, running a household, raising our own families, and possibly working, that we can forget ourselves. If we want to continue to fulfill all the multiple tasks needed as a caregiver, we need to schedule our own doctor appointments, exercise, follow a healthy diet and get quality sleep. While this may seem obvious, statistics indicate that caregivers frequently neglect their health and well-being. But, part

of being a good caregiver is caring for ourselves so that we can be there to care for our loved one.

Take a few minutes today, for yourself, and schedule that overdue

doctor’s appointment. Stop and reflect on what foods you are eating, or not eating. Instead of trying to get a 30-minute workout in, break it down into two or three 10 minute exercise breaks. As a caregiver, I found breaking it down this way became a more realistic achievable goal. The reality is that some days this works and some days it doesn’t.

And, as always, follow your Heart and be kind to yourself.