By Chris & Laurie Kemp

February is American Heart Month. You can celebrate by taking some steps to improve your own heart health. According to the National Institute of Health there are many things you can do. Here are just a few:

• Exercise regularly
• Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Don’t smoke
• Know your blood pressure and keep it under control
• Test for diabetes, cholesterol and triglyceride levels and keep them under control

If you want to make these seem less like work, find ways to do them as part of a group. Start a walking group that meets several times a week. At the end of the walk sit down together to enjoy some fruit or juice. Both of these will help to maintain a healthy weight. The same group could even work together to support each other with activities to keep blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels in check. Alone these activities can be hard to maintain, but with a group it becomes more of a social occasion with physical benefits!

If you would like more information on keeping your heart healthy, visit the American Heart Association website at www.heart.org