February is Heart Awareness Month, and there are many ways to honor and celebrate our vital organ.
Here are three doable and sustainable options:
- Give and get as much Vitamin-L as you can. For those new to the Morselist, L is for Love.
- Move and get some fresh air, or as the Germans say, “Luften time!” Luften literally means a breath of fresh air. I read somewhere that it’s also known as house burping, an interesting visual. The practice is about letting fresh air into each room for approximately ten minutes upon waking and before bedtime, even in the winter.
- Reduce your sugar consumption. I know you’ve heard me say this over and over, but it’s true! Diabetes and heart disease are connected. Be extra sweet to your heart by choosing fruit paired with a healthy fat for dessert. I’ve been on an “Asian pear or apple slices dipped into almond butter” kick. Indulge in a decadent piece of high-quality dark chocolate, or savor your favorite dessert in a bite-sized or “morsel” serving. Back when I sold my Morselicious Treats, I offered bite-sized morsels for a reason. And, while I don’t sell my Morselicious Treats anymore, I still make all kinds of bite-sized treats, and they still satisfy. 🙂
What are some of your favorite ways to celebrate and honor your heart? Please share here and/or on my Instagram page.
For more resources on women’s heart health, I find the American Heart Association’s GoRed to be a wonderful organization. And remember, I am available for health coaching services. Happy Heart Month, Everyone!
Love, Mo (aka, Maura, or Mo, the Morselist)
p.s. I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that today is Fat Tuesday. Growing up Catholic, I always started Ash Wednesday by giving up sweets. Here’s an oldie but a funny from one of my 2012 posts.
During high school & college, every Fat Tuesday, my sister, friends, and I would celebrate Fat Tuesday by baking, cooking & shopping for our favorite BINGE foods.
Committing one of the seven deadly sins: Pure Gluttony before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, was this Catholic schoolgirl’s favorite ritual.
Ahh..the joys of pigging out.
We had Pig Out Parties, and I’ll admit, I was the leader & host of almost all of them. We brought our favorite binge food & set it on a platter, sometimes documenting by taking photos of our bountiful feast & gorging till, to quote Monty Python, “F. off. Can’t eat another bite.”
We shared our Lenten Vows- giving up sweets, 40 days & 40 nights of NO sweets. Some of us, less “hard core,” chose the NO chocolate route. PURE TORTURE!
The next morning, Ash Wednesday, a day of Fasting, we all awoke with food hangovers. Sick from the sugar rush & carb overload, none of us wanted to eat, so fasting was not difficult. The remaining 40 days & 4o nights bonded us in pure commiseration. We would create concoctions to get around the “No sweet” vow, peanut butter & rice cakes, Yoplait yogurt with raisins, apples & peanut butter. Many are too disgusting and embarrassing to write, but I’ll share one: Saltine crackers mushed with milk, peanut butter & raisins. GROSS, I know!
To add salt to our wounds, our school had its Annual World’s Finest Chocolate Candy Bar Sale during Lent. Talk about Temptation!
St. Patrick’s Day was usually exempt from our 40-day punishment, since it would be sinful not to celebrate an Irish Catholic Saint. Wink. Wink.
Every midnight before Easter Sunday, we would call each other and ask, “Are you going into the freezer to get your Chocolate Easter Bunnies?” Most of us did…at MIDNIGHT! How nuts is that? We would still have the sugar hangover/chocolate mustache at Easter Sunday Mass the next morning.
Why am I writing this? To prove that an ex-sugar-pigger outer addict can be saved. Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, and this year, I plan to do more volunteer work & give more to charity for Lent. No more of this crazy suffering & self-sabotage. I mean, who was it benefiting? Besides, it’s the little things in life that make me happy, and having a little chocolate or a few morsels every night makes me a happier and better person, thus able to spread more good in the world.
P.S. I forgot to mention that my classmates named me “Most likely to be late for my opening night on Broadway because I just had to eat the box of Oreo, the jar of peanut butter & the bag of m&m’s…”
