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One of the most popular New Year's resolutions people make every year is to be healthier, but many people have a hard time maintaining the effort beyond the first few days or weeks of a new year. Dr. Amy Pollak, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, offers three tips to make it easier to get healthier in 2018.
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With the start of the new year, many people will make resolutions to be healthier in 2018. Dr. Pollak has three tips to help make it happen.
"The first one is to check your blood pressure, because you don't know if it's high or if it's at goal unless you're checking it," Dr. Pollak says.
Dr. Pollak says you should be checking it about two to three times per week so you notice any changes.
"Tip two: A low salt diet," she says.
As good as it tastes, Dr. Pollak says too much salt can wreak havoc on your heart.
"So really focus on lower salt options and also balance this with unprocessed foods – fruits, vegetables, lean meats," she says.
"And, then, tip No. 3 is you have to get active."
She says that doesn't mean you have to spend an hour on the treadmill every day. Find something, anything, you love to do that gets you moving.
"And the goal really should be five days a week," Dr. Pollak says. "And there are going to be periods in your week, in your month where that's not possible. And, so, cut yourself some slack. And then just start fresh the next week, because I've decided that life is a process of getting back on the bandwagon, getting back in shape."
