This Week's Healthy SC Challenge Tips

The Healthy SC Challenge is the Sanford family's effort to get all South Carolinians to do just a little more to live a healthier lifestyle. The tips are designed to encourage individuals and communities to live healthier lifestyles in three categories - nutrition, exercise and help to quit smoking.

Healthy Tips
Nutrition
Patients with heart failure have to be particularly concerned with water retention. Sodium draws fluid from your body into the blood, increasing the blood volume that your heart must deal with. This places strain on your heart that is particularly dangerous in patients of heart failure. This is one reason that it is important for you to maintain a weight chart. The amount of water your body may be retaining can cause your weight to sway by large increments, placing a larger workload on your heart and circulatory system.

Many processed foods contain large amounts of salt (sodium). Instead of processed foods, choose fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy products. It is also a good idea to get rid of the salt shaker, and use other seasonings instead. Check with your doctor before using salt alternatives since many contain large amounts of potassium which your body may have a hard time getting rid of.

If you are used to eating salty foods, it make take a while for your taste buds to adjust to the absence of salt. During this time it is important to be sure you are consuming adequate calories and nutrients. Spices and herbs can help keep your meals exciting. Learn to cook with spices such as allspice, dill, lemon, pepper, rosemary, onion, garlic, etc.
-Margaret Wing-Peterson, MSN, RD, www.heartfailure.org

Physical Activity
Unlike many aerobic activities, rowing engages the strong action of both the upper and lower body muscles, but requires proper technique to help prevent injuries and improve the efficiency of a workout. A gradual integration of rowing into your workouts will not only add variety, but also enhance your overall level of fitness. If you have a chance to row outdoors, enjoy the scenery and the challenge of overcoming the resistance of water. For indoor rowers, the scenery may be different, but the experience and benefits are always the same.

If you have a membership to a gym, you've probably seen a few rowing machines tucked away from the popular treadmills, steppers and elliptical machines. Rowing is a fun and invigorating form of exercise, but it can be intimidating. The addition of rowing to your exercise program will add variety and challenge to your workouts. When you compare rowing to treadmill running, the seated position during the row has the added benefit of improving the heart's efficiency to pump blood and the return of blood to the heart which allows you to exercise at a lower heart rate, but at the same relative intensity of treadmill running.

If you belong to a club, ask a professional trainer to show you the correct form for rowing or watch an instructional video. As a beginner, exercise for no more than 10 minutes at a stroke rate of eight to 10 rows per minute. A moderate to experienced rower generally aims for 15 to 30 rows per minute for a total of 20 to 30 minutes. Furthermore, you may choose to warm-up on the rower for five minutes and perform the final five minutes after completing your resistance training routine. Resistance training is important to improve overall body strength and exercises such as seated pulleys, body squats, back extensions, abdominal crunches and bicep curls will improve the integrity of your row, delay fatigue and prevent injury.
-Truestar Health, Inc.

Tobacco
Get more help if you need it. Join a quit-smoking program or support group to help you quit. These programs can help you handle withdrawal and stress and teach you skills to resist the urge to smoke. Contact your local hospital, health center, or health department for information about quit-smoking programs and support groups in your area. Call the National Cancer Institute at 877-44U-QUIT to talk to a counselor. To get live, online assistance from the National Cancer Institute's LiveHelp service, go to www.smokefree.gov and click on "Instant Messaging."
-The Federal Government Source for Women's Health Information