Love your health this February

Love your health this Valentines Day

February is not only about love between couples, but also love for ourselves, our bodies and wider wellbeing. The month is well known for being British Heart’s Foundations ‘Heart Month’ but it’s also Valentine’s Day on the 14th too. No matter whether you are single or you are firmly coupled off, February serves as a good reminder about how important our hearts are in our wider health.

It’s that time of the year where we have gone through the January Blues, perhaps hit ourselves hard with our new year’s resolutions and started to get back to normal after receiving a rather welcome January pay day. Fortunately in February, if we can continue to grab the bull by the horns and keep focussing in on our health, we can ensure that we’re on the right path to more healthier choices for the whole year around.

[bctt tweet="No matter whether you are single or you are firmly coupled off, February serves as a good reminder about how important our hearts are in our wider health #EmpoweringWellbeing @ConnectiveChiro #bhf"]

Love your Heart and it will love you

Your heart is one of the most important organs in the body. Not only does your heart pump blood around your body, it pumps around 2,000 gallons of the red stuff every day. Your heart keeps your blood pumping around to carry nutrients and oxygen to the cells of your body. It also helps to take waste products away to sites such as the kidneys or the liver to process and detoxify them.

Blood is so important to life. It even helps us to regulate our temperature, transport hormones around our body and even can protects us by housing part of our immune response system and helping us to heal when we cut ourselves by the formation of clots. Looking after your heart and blood system will undoubtedly keep you going for longer. Love your heart by living a balanced, active lifestyle and it will look after you.

Don’t overspend: The Stat’s say too much love can be a bad thing

We don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but did you know you’re statistically more likely to break up in or around February or any other month of the year? 25% of the couples in one study (from Elite Singles and The Science of Relationships) broke up after Valentines Day. Similarly 40% also think its too cliched to propose Valentines Day so might not be the greatest idea.

Instead, do something that shows you’ve thought on the day itself and go out another day, at probably a reduced cost, without the raise in blood pressure.

Take time to Eat Together

Eating when stressed or rushing means that we’re associating the two together, and the more it happens, the more difficult it will be to stop. Looking for other avenues to relieve your stress, such as a walk or taking your time over eating together, ensures that you’re digesting your food properly. Spending time together is inherently better for both romance and health but also may help you to saviour your food more too.

Cook a meal together instead of going out

While we should be checking the ingredients of the food we consume, we can also go one better and try to cook more often. While you may not always have the time, ensuring you fits some time in when you can will ensure that you’re fully confident of what ingredients have been used to prepare your meal. It’s often cheaper and healthier from the outset too: Least of all you know what’s going into your meal. Make a love themed twist to your dining to ensure you have a healthy, balanced meal but still score love points!

Inject Exercise into Your Daily Routine

Is your workplace nearby but you still take the car? Get your heart pumping by making the most of this time by walking, cycling, running instead. Exercise doesn’t have to be anything strenuous, it’s about finding opportunities and taking full advantage of them. If your looking for something to do together, you could always try an exercise class.

Whether it’s visiting family or catching up with old friends, ensuring that you’re seeing the outside world ensures that your mindset is the best it can be, as well as making sure you get some fresh air. Getting your heart racing so that you’re breaking a sweat is a great way to exercise.

Making love: Yes, it can help

We couldn’t write a blog post about love and exercise without mentioning sex.

Sex is indeed an exercise. It’s often suggested that you can burn 100-200 calories per session, but the evidence suggests it may not actually be all that great in terms of proper exercise. From the perspective of calorie burning, there are better things you can be doing, but from a relationship or psychological perspective, making love can be such a wonderful thing to do. There are numerous articles on how you can switch up your romance from flex-sex to exercise (you heard it here first!) but all in all, it’s the time you spend together that’s the important thing.

Be at your optimum: Stay well away from aches or pains that reduce your bounce for life or love.

Let’s face it. If you have an ache or a pain lurking behind the scenes, you’re less likely to focus on what you’re doing for having your attention stolen by it. You can, of course, come to see us at Connective Chiropractic for a consultation to find out if there’s something we can do to help you focus more on who you want to be focussing on instead.

No matter what you are doing this February, doing a little bit of additional exercise, making closer connections with the people you love and getting yourself out of distracting aches and pains can be great way to enjoy February, stay healthy and prepare yourself for spring