Welcome to your LOVE MY HEART Journal!

Transcription

1 Welcome to your LOVE MY HEART Journal! Use this book to learn about your heart and ways to keep your heart healthy. Talk with your family and friends about the things that you do and learn in this book. Have fun! Index of Topics You and Your Heart A User s Guide 2 Your Heart and How Blood Flows 8 Activity 1: Learn Your Family s Heart Health History...10 Activity 2: Staying Healthy Together.11 Exercise Activity 1: Staying Active for a Healthy Heart..12 Activity 2: Know the Guidelines..13 Activity Logs and Fitness Planning Nutrition Activity 1: What s in the Foods You Eat.19 Activity 2: Cut the Fat!. 23 Activity 3: Help Your Family Cut the Fat! 24 Activity 4: In the Mood For Food? 26 Activity 5: Set Your Goal.27 Activity 6: Rate that Snack!. 28 Activity 7: Track Your Nutrition 29 Notes. 32 My Heart Healthy Pledge 33

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8 Your Heart and How Blood Flows In the picture of a heart below, the areas with solid arrows are rich with oxygen and pump blood and oxygen to the body. The sections of the heart with hollow arrows receive blood that has delivered oxygen to the body. This blood travels to the lungs where the oxygen is replenished. Then the blood flows to the left side of the heart, to again carry oxygen to the body. To help you understand how blood flows to and from your heart, if you like, you can color the oxygen-rich side red, and the oxygen-depleted side blue. 8

9 The heart is a muscle, so, just like your leg muscles, the heart uses oxygen from the blood for fuel. Coronary arteries provide the blood and oxygen for the heart to keep healthy and pumping. The picture below shows what can happen to a heart when it is not healthy. Atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in an artery, creates a sort of roadblock for the blood as it tries to get through. This is dangerous! Some things that lead to atherosclerosis like our genetics aren t able to be changed by us. Other things like exercise and nutrition can be changed by us to promote a healthier heart. Let s take a look! 9

10 You and Your Heart Activity 1: Learn Your Family s Heart Health History Ask your parents to help you make a record of your relatives who live or who have lived with heart conditions or diabetes. Share this information with women in your family and teach them about steps they can take to stay heart healthy. These are the steps that you can take to stay heart healthy: Remember, love your heart. Love your family. Take steps with the women in your family to be aware of your heart health! 10

11 You and Your Heart Activity 2: Staying Healthy Together Accountability Contract Talk with a woman from your family or a close friend about how both of you can improve your exercise habits. Set a goal together and brainstorm ways you can reward yourself as you work toward your goal. Some ideas for a reward are time spent stargazing together, playing a special game together, baking a healthful meal together, or dancing to your favorite song. Stick with your program for one month. Use the contract below to help you. We are two women. Our names are and. Together, we have decided to treat our hearts well and make an improvement in our exercise habits. For one month beginning today, (date), we will. We know that having a reward to look forward to will help us to stay motivated to reach our goal. A healthier heart is one reward, but here is our other reward:. Here s to our hearts! Signed: Date: 11

12 Exercise for My Heart Activity 1: Staying Active for a Healthy Heart Visit MyPyramid.gov and print out a copy of MyPyramid. With your family, talk about the pyramid and act out the different activities. Put the pyramid up on your refrigerator at home to remind yourself and your family of activity guidelines every day. Why is exercise good for your heart? How do you move your body every day? What are your favorite activities? How can you be more active? 12

13 Exercise for My Heart Activity 2: Know the Guidelines Use the Go Red Girl Scout webpage to answer the following questions. Talk about the answers with your troop and with your family. What are the national guidelines of exercise for girls your age? What is the difference between light, moderate, and vigorous exercise? How often do you engage in each of these? Light exercise: times per week Moderate exercise: times per week Vigorous exercise: times per week Use the activity log on the next page to record your physical activity for a week! 13

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15 Great job filling out your Activity Log! Now that you have a record of the physical activities that you have done in the past week, it s time to think about which activities you liked the most and to develop a goal. Making exercise fun is the key to keeping it an ongoing part of your life. The following three worksheets will help you figure out which types of exercise you enjoy most, and how to stick with them. So, here we go! First, you ll figure out what feelings and goals can motivate you, what activities you actually like to do, and how you can free up time for fitness. Then, you ll learn how to choose fun fitness activities for a balanced exercise routine. You ll also plan your fitness schedule so exercise becomes part of your weekly routine. Fitness Plans courtesy of Center for Young Women s Health, a part of Children s Hospital Boston 15

16 * For explanations of the exercises that are underlined, check out: 16

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19 Nutrition In this next section, you will have the opportunity to learn more about what is in food. * Food label courtesy of: 19

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21 Nutrition Activity 1: What s in the Foods You Eat *Use the previous page to help you answer these questions. What important nutrients do we get from lean meat, poultry, and fish? What important nutrients are found in vegetables and fruits? What are other reasons that fruits and vegetables are wise food choices? Name some healthful milk products. What important nutrients are found in milk products? What nutrients are found in breads, cereals, pasta and other starchy vegetables? Why are all of these so nutrients so important to our bodies? Why is it important to eat food from all of these different groups? 21

22 A Word about Calcium Calcium is an important nutrient for everybody, especially growing girls like you. What does it do? Calcium is essential for the growth of strong, healthy bones. Helping your bones to be as strong as they can be while you are young is the best way you can help reduce your risk of osteoporosis when you are older. What foods have calcium in them? What calcium-rich foods do you like? How can you increase the amount of calcium you consume? 22

23 Nutrition Activity 2: Cut the Fat! Use the Cut the Fat worksheet on the next page and the Face the Fats link from the Go Red Girl Scouts webpage to answer the following questions. To access the Go Red Girlscouts Resource Page: Visit uwhealth.org/gored and click on the Go Red Patch Program. On the next page, find the patch again, and right next to it, click on the Go red Girl Scouts Resource Page. What are saturated fats and trans fats? How are they different? In what foods do you find saturated fats? Trans fats? What happens in your body when you eat foods with these fats in them? What are the good fats? What is a common misperception about fats? What are some alternatives to fatty foods? 23

24 Nutrition Activity 3: Help Your Family Cut the Fat! Now that you have learned about fats, look at the Cut the Fats page with your family. Are any of the foods listed in the left column something that you eat frequently? As a family, try to find one thing from the right column that you would be willing to substitute for something from the left column. Remember your heart will thank you! 24

25 When you ve found something, fill out this pledge: We, the family, have decided to treat our hearts well. We are committed to healthful decisions, and we have decided to take action. Instead of eating, we will now try. Here s to our health! Signed: Date: 25

26 Nutrition Activity 4: In The Mood for Food? In the Mood for Food? Do you eat when you re bored? Stressed? Lonely? Angry? Do you nibble when you watch TV? Do homework? Want to reward yourself? Go out with friends? If you eat when you re not really hungry, you can eat too much. Jot down three things you can do instead of reaching for food when you re not really hungry. 1) 2) 3) It s your choice! Use the chart on the next page to help you enjoy healthy and tasty meals and snacks. 26

27 Nutrition Activity 5: Set Your Goal! MY GOALS I CAN DO MORE I DO ENOUGH Make smarter food choices Pay attention to how much I eat Use food labels Choose foods with less fat Make smarter beverage choices Make smarter snack choices Avoid the urge to eat too much Try new foods 27

28 Nutrition Activity 6: Rate That Snack! 28

29 Nutrition Activity 7: Track Your Nutrition Use your Nutrition Tracker to answer these questions: How many fruits and vegetables did you have? Did you reach the recommended amount? Fats? Did you stay under the recommended maximum? Sweets? Did you stay under the recommended maximum? Using what you have learned about heart health, how healthy would your heart be if you continued to eat this way? Rate each food, and strive to improve these choices for the rest of the week. My goal for this week:. When you are done, fill out another Nutrition Tracker on a different day. Ask your mom or another adult in your life to fill one out, too! 29

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31 Take care of yourself, but Being aware of how much physical activity you get and the food you eat is an important way to keep your heart healthy. Constantly thinking about exercise or food, though, can become unhealthy. If you struggle with food or with exercise, talk with an adult that you respect. 31

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33 CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed your. As a final step toward a healthier heart, sign the Heat Health Pledge below. Heart Health Pledge Now that I have learned more about my heart and the importance of treating my heart with healthy habits, I pledge to share this information with. Together, we will take steps to keep our hearts healthy! Signed Date Signed Date 33