Happy Heart

 Before I begin, someone told me at class the other day that she thinks she is shaped like a fire hydrant.  She just cracks me up.  By the way, I don't see it.  Hmmm,  wonder what I'm shaped like?

Anyway, onto the heart...

Here is a fact that many people do not know...Heart disease is the number-one killer of American women.  The first time that I heard this I was surprised.  I thought that maybe breast cancer or uterine cancer (both horrible) would be the leading cause of death.  Women tend to brush off the warning signs as stress, flu, fatigue, common headache, etc.  This includes women in their 20's, 30's and up.  Why am I talking about something so depressing??  Here comes the good part.  You can take care of yourself!!

I started my Zumba classes the first week of January 2010.  I constantly get stories from students about how their cholesterol and blood pressure have gone down.  I'm going to tell about a few of the stories I have heard recently.  I get similar stories all of the time, just the names and faces change.

Mona (that's her real name, she said that I could use it) walked into class a few weeks ago, and came over to talk to me before we started.  Mona told me that the only thing she has done differently in the last several months is Zumba.  She said that as she was going to see her doctor, she had decided that if her cholesterol was not down that she was done.  She had already tried everything else, and was working so hard that a negative result would cause her to just stop doing Zumba.  When the doctor walked into the room, he looked pleased and asked Mona what she had been doing.  She replied that the only thing she was doing different than what she did in the past was Zumba.  OK...are you ready?  Her cholesterol went down 37 points!!  She looked at me, and said, "I just bought another punch card."

While talking to Mona the other day, Bea told me that her cholesterol was down as well.  I get one story after another like this.

A woman who has been taking my classes for about two months came rushing over to talk to me. She said that her doctor told her she had to do exercise at least three times a week.  She picked a stationary bike at home, and my Zumba class.  Well, you guessed it, she went to the doctor, and her blood pressure and cholesterol were both down as well as her weight!  She just looks wonderful, and feels fantastic.  The doctor asked her what she was doing, and she said Zumba.  The doctor said that she had another patient that does Zumba, and had lost 70 pounds.  Guess it works.

When you take care of yourself it makes it easier to care for others.  Your thoughts become clearer, your breathing is easier, your energy is higher and your heart is happier.