The Healthy Heart Blog | Finding tools for a healthy heart!!!

Faced with changing my entire life, my first response was to panic! What next? How will I support my family? What about retirement? What about my abilities, are they gone too? I had my notebook in hand and went to a person I knew had changed his career after an illness. We talked and he shared some valuable experience with me. This helped me to go to the next step in my movement toward a Healthy Heart career search.  

Even after the thourough self examination, and the visit with a friend that had gone through the same type ordeal, I was still a mess. The first thing after the visit with a friend was a visit with my doctor. My friend shared his lesson… that the most successful folks in the world are successful in part, because they know the abilities they have developed, the strengths they have grown into, and finally… the limitations they have and should recognize.

The visit with my cardiologist was for no other reason than to get his opinion of my physical abilities, and limitations in light of my congestive heart failure. His answer was very short and to the point, “You will know when you exceed your limits.” Well duh! He did give me some advice… that advice was for me in my situation, the important thing to remember is get the advice of your health care professional prior to a new venture. I know that one of my limitations is that I have always  pushed  the envelope .. too far at times… and in part that is what caused the enlarged heart.

After the visit with the doctor I moved to gain a place on a sales team. I have always been a sales professional, now I was to getback in the game. HOORAH!!!! Now I sell pest control, a brand new product. Thsi new activity stimulates my body with physical activity… and my mind as I learn about the wonderful world of pests.

This new start came four years ago, five next February, and has been a great move for me. I enjoy the business, the learning, and most of all the people I serve…my customers. Getting fresh air, controlled activity, and learning are just what the doctor ordered…no pun intended.

I had to realize that my new condition was not the end… could be the begining…I simply put one foot in front of the other and took some action toward a new and different “HealthyHeartCareer”

I hope this helps you find the direction you need, and motivation to get better heart health, and a more enjoyable life!  

 Who are you? Who are You? Who are you?—John-Roger and Peter McWilliams

 This article is to share some of the ideas we talked about and how we chose our exciting new venture(s). We are aware that the real strength of any person is enhanced when the person knows his, or her, weaknesses. It was first necessary for us to examine ourselves,find our strengths and weaknesses, and to find the right “niche” for our new income venture.

It has always been easier for me to look at another person and identify that persons strengths, weakness, faults and atributes. Often I have done that and made wrong judgements. Judgement is a very natural thing for us humans, we make over 1000 judgements in the first 60 seconds after we see someone, often before a word is spoken. The most unfair thing I do is to set these judgements in stone at the end of the first minute of  my meeting with someone. It is very important that I keep my mind open with others, it also is important that I have an open mind in my view of myself. An open mind and flexibility to change are very important in my relationships with others and in my relationship with myself.

To see myself in my truest sense, my mind must be open to both the assets I posses, and the faults that posess me. I also must be flexible enough to change myself when and where there is an opportunity for improvement. To do the most thorough and honest look at ourselves is the very foundation the success of our new venture(s) will grow on. After all, our new income stream is OUR  decision, OUR activity, and OUR responsibility. It only makes sense that we start with the best foundation we can build.

To get a look at myself and to build the strongest foundation possible, I needed some help. Needing help is not a weakness, asking for help is not a fault , so I did ask for help. I got a lot of help from folks telling me what I should change about myself ! That was not the help I was looking for, I wanted to know a method of self-searching that was proven, and would work to find the “true me”, so my foundation would not be on unsteady ground. The help came from a lot of folks working on one type of problem or another, and this process has been around for a long time.

The process is this:

1. List  our faults, those things about us that have caused failures and problems in the past. Things like jealousy, fear, procrastination, etc.  2. List the things and people that make me mad. Why am I mad? What could I have done to change the situation that caused the angry reaction?  3. What am I afraid of, and what does that fear make me do (or not do) that gets in the way of my success and happiness?  3. How do I relate to people? Am I selfish, jealous, helpful, etc.?  4. What are my assets?  5. What are my interests? Because I learned that I am very materialistic, I needed to put all of this in a tablet and work on the process for a time (1 Week), then I had my foundation together. By putting this in a tablet I have a way to check myself, and change when I need to, I also can mark my progress, and I have a way to repair the foundation if and when it gets a bit weak in any area. A daily look, or journal also helps me to keep on track, and to note any helpful ideas I may have for improvement.

Doing this process took some time and effort, but, it has paid dividends both in my work, and in my personal life. That makes the time and effort an investment rather than a chore.

 Small Opportunities are often the beginnings of great enterprises. — Demosthenes

 In this day and age there are no reasons why a person cannot add to their income if they so desire.  All of us have some talent, and I believe each of us (unless medically unable) should do something to add to society.  I believe we should all be compensated in some way for what we do.

Certainly I believe in giving, and I believe in giving without expectation of return. I also know that when my income is down, giving does (or should) not stop. My giving may take on a different form, time, clothing (not worn anymore) donations, free labor, etc.—but the giving should not end. However, we all need the money tools to get our needs taken care of.

How can we add to our income? That question allowed me to procrastinate long enough to almost get our famiy in a real bind. I must have spent months (Off and On) finding ways to avoid the task of earning extra money.  The diagnosis was driving me backward! “After all this sickness I am supposed towork more?”—YES, it keeps my mind off of me, and my backside off the pittypot!

We can do anything we want to do, if we stick to it long enough….Helen Keller

When dollars direct treatment, it is time to make changes, when the lack of dollars hinders treatment… changes must be made. We got to the point that we were needing to make changes. The first assessment was examining the earnings we had, and to find ways to add to our income.

The obvious was … we needed more money but how and where. First step was my change of employment…scary move with my health and other factors such as age, experience (in this industry), time in this area and all of the other things I could imagine would block the path to better living. As you might already know my thought was that there were more ways to not get what we needed…. than to get where we needed to be.

Long story made short…as long as I thought in a negative manner—the results were negative!  I changed my thought process and made myself do job applications every day until I found employment that would provide what we needed as long as I was willing to give my employer what he needed. In the end the task was not as difficult as I made it.

Finding a new employer was a task that took about a year..it would have only taken weeks if I had changed my attitude…and become positive sooner! I stayed with it long enough to get the job, and learn the lesson.

“The good news is…the bad news can be turned into good news…. when you change your attitude!”—–Robert Schuler

When we found ourselves facing the changes we needed to make, we were a bit (a lot) scared. A new way of life after a few years is not so bad, but to teach an old dog new tricks is a bit ….let’s say intimidating.

Where would I find the strength to make all the changes? Was I willing to make the changes? Do I want to make all the changes? Why am I still here in this limited condition…does this all mean the end to my entire life? How much change do I have to make? How will I support the family? Would they be better off if they did not have this “partial person” to drag around? This list is but a few of the questions that came rushing in as I began to feel the diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) take its place in my life. I felt less than whole, inadequate, and unable to control any of the situation…for one time in my life I felt I had no choice!

After the fear described above was duly recognised, came anger! This will not get me down…I’ll show everyone how to whip this thing…get out of my way I am doing the driving here …it is my life don’t mess with it! These ideas were just a few of the thins I was thinking and acting out. No wonder I was considered a pain in the tail!

Then came the good news…an attitude adjustment from the one person I would listen to…my wife. In the very strong, loving, and kind way she has of grasping the controls when all seems lost…this lady got my attention.

She helps me to understand the word WE, shows me the meaning of Loyalty, she is the highest example of Trustworthy. In short…she became the one to guide me to the reality that life is not over, there is a different way to live and enjoy life, and that it can be done when WE do it together.

In short the bad news of CHF was the begining of a stronger and deeper relationship with my Maker, my wife, and the world. The jopurney is ongoing, the struggles are still there but the truth is ….doubt and fear can be the begining of faith with the catylist of compassion and love.

This day I can move forward with the knowledge of we, the awe at the second opportunity given to me, and the walking stick of faith.

When we started the blog the purpose was to offer information about our experience with heart disease, and to offer suggestions and merchandise we found helpful. The hope at first was that it would be self supporting, and a type of therapy for the mental challenge of the restricted lifestyle I have put upon myself and have become forced to live.

Our purpose is still the same…our mission is to inform others of  the journeyto healing we have taken, share the successes and the pitfalls we have encountered to help them on the way to healing mentally, physically and spiritually. We want to offer information, products and services we have encountered on our way and make access to these products easy and economical.

A journey like the road to better health is not without challenges and pitfalls.  We have had some really big ones and learned, some really small ones and learned, and the greatest lesson is that as long as we learn….it is beneficial to meet some challenges as we go. At some of the roadblocks we met, we now can laugh!

So we hope our inactivity did not cause an inconvenience for you, if so we are very sorry and hope you will forgive and stay with us as we progress.

One of the challenges was money, with some heart illness ability to work changes and income can go up or down…ours went down. We have learned to live with a budget…I mean one that is written down and really used. We found help on the radio first, then online, and we are proud to say “we are doing better than we deserve…living like no oned else so we can live like no one else. I do not have permission to link, so I can only recommend …daveramsey.com!

This system is working for us and we are still in the beginning baby steps!

We as humans resist change to the point that we hurt ourselves….that is just what we did with this blog….we spent money,time, energy, and effort to the point that we were frustrated at no real reward.

Perhaps we should just enjoy the lesson we learned and move on…that is where the resistance to change comes in…..we gave in and gave up! That is not the way I was raised… want my grandchildren to know me … and is certainly not the USMC way!!!!!!!!!! So we are making changes in our business, our life has changed, my heart is healthier … but for the last  three months is only stable. I got that news today and it is driving me to accept what is, and change what can be changed.

The prayer goes: God grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change—the courage to chage what I can— and the wisdom to know the diference.

Here we go again….only different.

Some changes since my diagnosis of congestive heart failure are: no more smoking, no more over eating (new diet—if it tastes good spit it out!), I have changed jobs, more exercise, more doctor bills, no more life insurance (with the exception of group plans), my VA medical benefit is more valuable than ever, my wife (best friend and partner–the one I love more than anyone on earth) worries about me constantly, the list goes on and is so long I must stop here. CHANGE___CHANGE___CHANGE

This adds more stress, and the more I fight change….the more change seems to win.

The answer I am told is to surrender to win…seems like a conflict of all I have been taught — however, it works! …..How ever it works!

We are not starting from scatch…we have learned we cannot do everything on our own so now is the time toaccept help. Thank you in advance to all of our helpers. Some of these folks will be mentioned by name in the future — after we get permission. In the mean time…we will work at a change in our attitude about change!!!

 Ingredients

Prep Time: 12 mins

Total Time: 12 mins

• 1/3 cup(s) cheese, ricotta, part-skim
• 2 1/2 tablespoon cream cheese, light, softened
• 2 1/2 tablespoon orange marmalade
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup(s) whipped dessert topping, fat-free, thawed
• 1 1/2 cup(s) strawberries, sliced
• 1 cup(s) blueberries
• 2 medium kiwi, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon chocolate, semisweet, grated
• 2 tablespoon nuts, almonds, sliced, lightly toasted

Preparation

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Fold whipped topping into ricotta mixture.

2. Combine strawberries, blueberries, and kiwifruit in a bowl, toss gently.

3. Spoon about 1/2 cup fruit into each of 6 dessert dishes; top each serving with 3 tablespoons cannoli cream, 1/2 teaspoon grated semisweet chocolate, and 1 teaspoon sliced almonds.

4. Enjoy!!!!!!! 

Yield: 6 servings.

This is a reprint from somewhere I cannot remember. I do know it was the internet, and I know this is a good tasting dish.

 Store

Leave time in your busy schedule to follow a walking program that will work for you.

• Choose a safe place to walk. Find a partner or group of people to walk with you. Your walking partner(s) should be able to walk with you on the same schedule and at the same speed.
• Wear shoes with thick flexible soles that will cushion your feet and absorb shock.
• Wear clothes that will keep you dry and comfortable. Look for synthetic fabrics that absorb sweat and remove it from your skin.
• For extra warmth in winter, wear a knit cap. To stay cool in summer, wear a baseball cap or visor.
• Do light stretching before and after you walk.
• Think of your walk in three parts. Walk slowly for 5 minutes. Increase your speed for the next 5 minutes. Finally, to cool down, walk slowly again for 5 minutes.
• Try to walk at least three times per week. Add 2 to 3 minutes per week to the fast walk. If you walk less than three times per week, increase the fast walk more slowly.
• To avoid stiff or sore muscles or joints, start gradually. Over several weeks, begin walking faster, going further, and walking for longer periods of time.
• The more you walk, the better you will feel. You also will use more calories.

Our HealthyHeart Store 

Makes 8 (3-skewer) servings Prep time: 15 minutes
Start to finish: 10 minutes Ingredients
3 tablespoons trans-fat-free margarine
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce, or more to taste
1 teaspoon canola oil
3 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 24 (1-inch) cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 celery stalks, cut into 24 (1-inch) pieces
Blue Cheese Dipping SauceInstructions
1. Cut chicken breasts and celery into 24 (1-inch) pieces.

2. Melt margarine in a medium nonstick saucepan. Whisk in pepper sauce and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened; set aside.

3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, add to pan, and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. Add margarine mixture to pan and gently toss chicken until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Remove chicken from pan and skewer each cube with a toothpick. Skewer 1 piece of celery at the base of each. Arrange on a platter and serve with dip.

Nutritional Information:
150 calories
9 g total fat (2.5 g sat)
1 g carbohydrate
16 g protein
0 g fiber
250 mg sodium