February is Heart Month and we’re celebrating by sharing some of the ways we are staying heart healthy with smart devices. This whole heart healthy thing should be a breeze, right? Eat healthy, exercise a moderate amount, don’t stress too much and watch your weight, all simple things anyone cando, but sometimes, they aren’t always so easy to achieve.
Keep tabs on your heartrate
With many wearable smart devices, you have the ability to track your heartrate. This is important while working out, but also while resting. Some wearable technology will alert you if your heartbeat become irregular.
Track your workout
Knowing how hard you’re working when you’re working out is always important. With a smartwatch or similar fitness tracker, you can track your workout. Some devices have the ability to connect with apps on your smartphone to show you things like the path you ran or how many laps you swam per minute.
Connect your smart device with a smart scale
Part of maintaining a healthy heart is managing your weight. This is easier than ever with smart devices. Usually, smart scales have the ability to connect with your smart phone to display not only your weight, but your progress or maintenance as well. Some scales even track things like BMI and analyzes body composition, storing all of the information right at your fingertips.
Manage stress
Stress in inevitable with day to day life, but it’s how you manage it that makes a difference. Dr. Deepak Bhatt, director of the Integrated Interventional Cardiovascular Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital explains, “people turn to comfort foods—like pizza, pie, and cookies—when they’re stressed. These high-fat, high-cholesterol foods contribute to the artery damage that causes heart attacks and strokes. Stress can also lead us into other heart-damaging behaviors, such as smoking and drinking too much alcohol.”
While managing the actual stress may not be the easiest task, managing how you deal with stress can be easy. Stay away from the negative things, like heavy foods, drinking and/or smoking. Lean more towards things like meditating and exercising to not only take your mind off of the stress but to also give your body the physical boost it’s looking for. Most smart watches can give you reminders throughout the day to breath. While this may sound silly, sources say, taking a minute to engage in focused, abdominal breathing can increase the flow of oxygen to your brain, in-turn, allowing for a sense of calmness throughout your body. Give it a try!
Track your food, water and sleep intake on your smartphone
There are so many apps out there to track your different intakes. Hit up your favorite app store and find one that tracks all three. Most tracking apps will send you notifications throughout the day to drink more water, let you know your calorie intake or tell you it’s time for bed!
Hopefully you’re able to put some of our tips to good use and start Heart month off on the right foot. Staying heart healthy during Heart Month is great but getting and staying heart healthy all year long is the big goal!
This article is AT&T sponsored content written by Tiffani Anderson, a TechBuzz contributor. The statements in this article are her own and don’t necessarily represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of AT&T.