#ygkChallenge: Have a Heart

Welcome to Kingstonist’s weekly challenge, dare, resolution or whatever you prefer to call it. Each week we establish a new and ambitious community goal, encouraging our readers, followers, friends and families to step out of their comfort zones and do something great, and hopefully a little out of the ordinary. Consider this your official and personal invitation to join us in completing a small but meaningful achievement. By taking part in this community-wide initiative, we hope to make Kingston a slightly better place to live, work and play. And of course, we also hope that you will feel proud of your contribution and achievement.

This week’s challenge encourages you to:

Do something good for your heart. February is Heart Month, which was established by the Hearth and Stroke Foundation to “empower researchers to turn the tide on heart disease, and to educate Canadians about their hearts”.   Since 90% of Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease, what better time than now to take a step back and look at how you can improve your cardiovascular health.  Physical activity ranks pretty high up there amongst the suggested ways of strengthening your heart, while the Heart and Stroke Foundation suggests that we all should be getting a minimum of 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. If you’re not getting enough exercise, that doesn’t mean you need to rush out and buy a gym membership. Doing small things like shoveling snow, going for a walk during your lunch break, and parking a few extra blocks away from your destination are all easy ways to work in a bit more exercise.  Nutrition also plays a vital role in our cardiovascular health, and again there are no shortage of ways to tune up your game at the grocery store, in the kitchen or when dining out.  Something as small as introducing green tea can help make a difference!

Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag: #ygkchallenge. As you work towards completing this week’s task, please feel free to lend others a helping hand by providing tips on how you achieved success.

Thanks to Mr. Bula for today’s photo.