I love the month of February!   My birthday is this month, followed by Valentine’s Day and the long President’s Holiday weekend.   It is a time of year when we tell people we love them, maybe buy flowers or gifts for our partner or spouse.  But it is also heart health awareness month.  We need to treat this most vital organ with love and care too.  Heart disease remains the #1 killer of men and women in the US.  Red is the color of the month and I always think of passion and fire when I see the color red.   I thought I’d focus this month on what we can do to be more heart healthy and feel more passion in our relationships.

Try implementing these small tips and see how it serves your heart!

1.  Cook healthy meals together.  Help your partner with the prep and clean up. Any one can wash lettuce, chop veggies and set the table.   Clean up together after the meal, as it is no fun for one person to do all the work.

2. Work out together.   Both you and your partner will benefit from the results. You will have more energy during the day, improve sleep at night, and most importantly, look hot in and out of your clothes!

3.  Spice up your meals.  Add some cayenne pepper to your stir-fry or cinnamon to your shake or oatmeal.  The cayenne helps speed metabolism and the cinnamon helps with reduce cravings. Ginger aids in digestion and Tumeric is a powerful anti-oxidant.  Adding these spices will lead to a hotter you!

4. One of the best ways to show support for each other is to keep all junk food like chips, cookies, candy and ice cream out of the house.   If it’s not there, you won’t eat it.   My weakness is tortilla chips and salsa, but instead of eating the chips, I have fresh cucumber, celery and jicama slices already cut up in my fridge.  I either dip them in the salsa or enjoy some fresh spicy hummus.  (LIKE my Facebook page and I will send you the recipe).

Skip the Valentine chocolates this year and use that money to enter a 5K race together.

5. If you workout at different times, take a walk or walk your dog together a few times a week and catch up on each others lives.

6. Lots of couples enjoy a glass or wine or a beer when they have dinner.  If you are trying to cut calories and working toward a goal, like looking hot on Valentine’s night, cut back on the alcohol. Alcohol can easily add a few hundred calories to your daily intake and make it hard to lose that fat around the middle.

7. When you are in training, make sure you are eating often. Small meals work best.  You can share your pre and post workout snacks with your partner.  For instance if you are making a protein shake for breakfast, (which I do everyday) make enough to share with your partner.   Encourage each other to eat more fruits and veggies every day. The powerful anti-oxidants in fruits and veggies will boost your immune system, help with your recovery after exercise, and keep your skin hair and nails strong and healthy so you glow from the inside out.

8. Find one thing to compliment your partner on each day.  You know how good you feel when someone tells you, “you look great or nice jeans. So be generous with compliments! It will do your heart good!