Last week one of the episodes featured a piece on 5 silent killers in women.  In addition to the likes of hepatitis and uterine cancer, right up there on the list, as no surprise, is heart disease. I know most of you know it’s the number one killer of women, but the question really is about whether you’re taking proactive steps to prevent heart disease and lead a clean eating lifestyle the way you know you should.

For me, there are two specific actions you can take to decrease the likelihood of heart disease and heart attack: clean up your eating and increase your self-awareness about your body.  The former has everything to do with long-term, lifestyle changes, while the latter is all about being present in your body to notice when something’s awry. It’s the combination of these two actions that provides such a powerful method of prevention for women, yet we don’t always make either a priority.

Your willingness to embrace clean eating and kick foods full of sugar, sodium and preservatives to the curb, is the first step in supporting your heart health.  Whole foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, fortified with antioxidants, and low in fat and calories keep excess pounds off, blood pressure and cholesterol in check, and decrease the likelihood that you’ll develop Type 2 Diabetes.

To me, the beauty of clean eating is that it’s fun and you can get totally creative. Here are just a few ideas:

• Try a new fruit or vegetable that you’ve never had
• Go on a health food store tour and enlist your friends to join you; together you can discover all kinds of healthy foods
• Create a Clean Eating Club and cook with friends. Once a month you can gather and create simple and delicious dishes that are heart healthy

In addition to helping prevent heart disease through healthy eating, it’s also important to be tuned into what you’re feeling in your body and what feels normal for you.  Ever notice those days when you’re on the run with a lengthy to do list and barely time to eat? Those are exactly the times when you’re less tuned it. As women, we tend to be so focused on getting things done or doing things for others that we lose sight of ourselves. Imagine leading an over the top, multi-tasking lifestyle where we barely stop to breath deeply, get quiet and listen to what our body needs.

But preventing something as severe as a heart attack starts with body wisdom and your own self-knowledge. Time and time again I’ve read stories about women who tuned in enough to recognize that something just didn’t feel right, they remembered the signs of heart attack in women, and they made a beeline to the emergency room just in time to save their life.

Here are a few suggestions to help you tune into your body:

• Get a regular physical exam and yearly blood work to monitor your heart health
• Get familiar with the symptoms of heart attack in women so you’ll know what to look for. Here’s a handy guide from Dr. Oz.
• Slow down your hectic pace and make time to breath and listen to your body every day. Super busy? I bet you can fit 5-10 minutes in!

So what’s it going to be your life? Can you see the benefit of clean eating and tuning into your body to help you prevent heart disease? What are you currently do that’s working and where do you have room for improvement?

So when my doctor called me a few days ago and left me a message about discussing the results of my recent blood work I was little apprehensive. Was I going to have good news or not? Would she uncover some kind of chronic disease like a thyroid problem or would I find myself in great health?

Much to my relief when we connected on the phone today, I got the great news that all was good with the exception of a slight Vitamin D deficiency. But the best news of all — my cholesterol was only 129 with both my good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) in the optimal ranges. 

That news made my day and with good reason. The time, energy and care I put into consistently preparing healthy and tasty meals has been paying off.  Lots of fruits and veggies, low fat beans and legumes, and ample amounts of whole grains make a BIG difference with our health.  It’s a powerful reminder that when we make our health a priority, build time in for meal planning and healthy food prep, any of us can reap the benefits with our health. Seriously, if I can do it, you can too!

What about you? What’s the last happy health news you’ve received and what efforts are you making to get and stay healthy?

In today’s video, we’re making a simple dish that’s so good — the sesame seeds, toasted sesame oil and orange zest give it an amazing lift.

And you know what else? It’s low fat, heart healthy and super flavorful. Give it a try and enjoy!

What’s your favorite simple way to prepare fish? Please share your thoughts and favorite recipe.

Most of us are usually pressed for time in general. The thought of fitting in a workout sometimes just seems too much. But what if I was to tell you that you could benefit from just a 15 minute workout 3x a week?

By putting together a workout in circuit form, you are raising your heart rate, burning fat as your muscles pump up from the exercises and boosting your metabolism so that your body will continue to burn calories, even after your workout is done.

Here is a quick and effective 15 minute workout for you:

It used to be when I was single I had a lot more time to get together with my girlfriends to connect, laugh, and support each other.  I swear it was like I had time on my hands. But these days, between running a growing business, working with clients, spending time with my husband and our families, and all the other stuff of life, I don’t have nearly as much time as I’d like for the girls. In fact, my lack of sufficient time to connect was weighing on mind so I decided to do something about it and jump into action.

So one thing I’ve started is a monthly happy hour to encourage as many of my friends to get together as possible. We hold it the first Friday of the month at different locations. Whoever is free and can come shows up and stays as long as she can. It’s unstructured and in the moment and I’m convinced whoever shows up is meant to be there that month.

Sometimes we check out healthy places, sometimes it’s whatever strikes our fancy, mostly it’s about being in the moment and connecting on that heart to heart level that infuses me with optimism and gratitude.  For me, keeping my friendships strong is all part of the puzzle of staying healthy and strong. It feeds me in a different way than spending time with my husband or family, yet has a critical role.

And you know what else? Staying connected with our friends keeps us heart healthy. Studies show that when we have at least four close friends — we’re much more likely to have a healthy heart, live longer, be less vulnerable to depression and have a more optimistic outlook on life.

What do you do to actively stay connected to the friends that are most important to you? In what simple ways can you start getting more connected if you’re missing those bonds? How can those connections support your overall health?

And to be honest with you, it’s not about quantity of friends – this is all about quantity.

These days I find it difficult to get together with all the friends in my life that I care about.  We’re all so busy between work, family, children and taking care of the everyday tasks in life.  But that doesn’t stop me from connecting with my closest friends, even if for only a few minutes by phone. Just yesterday I phoned by oldest and dearest friend Alyson, just for a moments, in the middle of the day, to quickly connect.

Take a look at this week’s video about why friends are so important and a little celebration with my close friends I recently attended.

What about you, how do you stay connected to your friends and how does it support better health?

Given how busy we are all these days, it’s no wonder that it can be a challenge to stay connected. And it only gets harder as we age and family and friends move away or die. Which is why forming those connections now makes all the difference later on. I can’t imagine life without my good friends Jannae, Michelle and Scherri and we’re all about being there for each other.

This is exactly what my colleague Kari Henley of Gather Central, and I talked about on Monday night on my monthly heart health teleclass. We had a great call, shared a bevy of ideas and got people thinking about simple ways to get and stay connected to stay heart healthy. Want to know more? You can hear the whole call and start integrating our ideas by clicking here: http://tinyurl.com/5no6oy.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a creature of habit and when it comes to eating, as much as I enjoy cooking, it’s sooo easy to eat a lot of the same things over and over, if it will save me some time. And because I’m all about planning meals that are quick and healthy, given our busy schedule, I tend to resort to my old standbys. But that can get old real quick.  And the same old eating yields the same old health results – inability to lose weight, lack of energy and high cholesterol, just to name a few.  Not to mention that we can often miss out on important nutrients when we make the usual dishes. In fact, optimal eating and health really requires inclusion of a broad spectrum of foods.

So for weeks now, I’ve been eyeing my friend Ameet’s falafel recipe, itching to make it but not making the time. I love Middle Eastern food and truth be told, it really never dawned on me to make falafel myself, but I saw the recipe and I was immediately intrigued.  I love beans and the fact that they’re low fat, heart healthy and full of fiber.  I also loved the idea of making it fresh (not one of the falafel mixes) and so I set out on Saturday afternoon to buy the ingredients – dried garbanzo beans, lots of lemons and a few other ingredients (for the falafel and quinoa tabouli). Plus, Bruce and I are consciously eating less meat, so it sounded both tasty and a nice departure from the usual fare.

As you know, Sunday is prime time for me in the kitchen and this week was no exception. Even though I ran back and forth between the den where the Jets were playing the Bills (yep, Jets won), and my many simmering concoctions, I turned out some pretty good falafel, for a first try.  Between that, the tabouli (simply delicious ) and the fresh microgreens I’ve been enjoying, we’ve been mixing things up for great results (like loads of energy and being super-regular). What about you, how do you mix things up, how does it support your health and what have you tried lately?

Why are my friends so great? We talk, we laugh, we shop, we eat (far too many desserts to even mention!) and we simply connect and are there for each other  through thick and thin  — parents dying, jobs lost, romantic heartbreak and wedding bliss (that’s the three of them at my wedding in June). Having close friends, in fact, is the key to women sustaining optimal heart health.

I know you probably know that heart disease is the number one killer of women, yet it’s highly preventable. In fact, research shows that when women have at least four close friends, they dramatically decrease the chances of dying from heart disease. And I’ll point out that it doesn’t have to be about connecting with your friends all the time. Think social networking, email and phone as simple options to get or stay connected. In the end, it’s really about the authenticity of our friendships, not the volume.

What about you, do you have at least four close friends? How do they help you stay heart healthy? The girls and I are already talking about how one day we just might all get a house together if our spouses aren’t around – you know, a modern, hip version of the Golden Girls.  It sure sounds like a great idea to me and knowing how much fun we have together, how could it not help us stay heart healthy?

Want to know more about the latest research on women and the power of connecting to help prevent heart disease? Join me for a fr*e*e teleclass, “Building Community: A Key to Optimal Heart Health” on Monday, November 10 from 8-9pm ET.

Register and join us for this awesome call designed to help you get connected and protect you heart! http://tinyurl.com/6edu3r

In fact, I think it’s a ploy by the soybean industry to hoodwink consumers into thinking soy is good for us. Not that different than what the beef and dairy industries do, in my estimation — promoting foods that can be poor quality, full of growth hormones, yet touted as good for us.

Here’s the scoop on why soy isn’t good for us and doesn’t necessarily promote a healthy lifestyle.  It’s been linked to a whole host of health conditions. Here’s just a sampling of findings about soy:

• It can contribute to certain forms of cancer
• It’s not conclusively shown to reduce the risk of heart disease
• It can support the growth of fibroid tumors (trust me I know from past and present experience!)
• It can contribute to asthma

And that’s just scratching the surface. And trust me, I’m not just making this up. There has been plenty of research to support the idea that soy just isn’t as good as it’s cracked up to be. Check out this recent article from Dr. Joseph Mercola, a well-respected physician who regularly writes about health issues.

These days we have to be so careful about what we put into our bodies and how it impacts us. And as you know, there’s a whole host of conflicting information about almost everything. But when it comes to soy, I trust my instincts and the research that it’s not helping my fibroid tumors, in fact, there’s a chance it’s making them worse. 

What about you, are you for or against soy? Why do you or don’t you think it’s good for you?