By Lori Berkey, Contributing Writer
Westborough – Kristen McCordick posts health information year-round on the bulletin board outside her office at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Westborough. As the parish nurse and chair of the congregation's health ministry, she makes herself available to talk with church members about their health concerns and how to take positive steps to address them. Since February is American Heart Month, McCordick offered tips for a heart healthy lifestyle.
McCordick stresses prevention. As the mother of twin 12-year-old boys in an age where many kids are glued to electronic devices, McCordick works to keep them from having a sedentary lifestyle. She encourages them to go outside their Westborough home and play with neighborhood kids. The family has a basketball hoop in their driveway, and her kids have a ball staying healthy.
According to McCordick, being sedentary poses a great health risk for all ages. She encourages people who work at a sit-down job to get up and move, take the stairs, park farther away from their destination. She pairs her recommendations with advice for people to talk to their doctors, get an annual physical, and to find out what activity level is safe and advised for them by their physician.
McCordick said many people set up lofty resolutions at the beginning of the year for losing weight and exercising, and then they feel discouraged when their goals slip away. Acknowledging that making healthy changes can be difficult, McCordick encourages people to set smaller goals. Instead of wiping all treats off the menu, for instance, she said people might find it easier to cut back.
“From a health point of view,” she added, “that's what works for me; I's saying to myself “I's only going to have one sweet thing a day,” so if I have a piece of cake at work for somebody's birthday, I's not having a cookie after supper.”
McCordick said since people with a family history of heart disease can's change their genetic risk factors, it is especially important for this group to focus on aspects they can control. Smoking is one controllable habit she urges people to try to break.
According to the American Heart Association, people who smoke have a greater chance of contracting various chronic disorders such as atherosclerosis, which can result in coronary heart disease, a heart attack or stroke.
McCordick named stress as another hazard for heart health. When people try to combat stress by drinking alcohol, or turning to drugs or other unhealthy habits, the health risk becomes even greater, she added. She encourages people to talk with a trusted person about their stress and to get help in establishing healthy ways to cope.
McCordick said many people consider heart disease to be a man's issue, but she would like people to be aware that large numbers of women are affected too. She recommends visiting the American Heart Association's website, www.heart.org, where she said great information can be accessed on “all the do's and don'ss.”
McCordick believes all people can triumph at living a healthy lifestyle if they piece their aims into tiny, incremental steps using the “one day at a time” mantra.
During Heart Month, McCordick would like everyone to think about their heart.
“Your heart is your heart and it's not easy to get another one if you don's take care of the one you'se got,” she said, “Everyone can succeed with baby steps.”
