I want to be a greeting card writer someday.

If I do say myself (and I do)…I can write one line zingers that can give you a tooth ache with my eyes closed. There might be a few typo’s with my eyes closed and all but nothing a little white out can’t handle.

Anyway, as you probably know by the explosion of Hersey Kisses and Conversation Hearts in your grocery stores, we are quickly approaching one of the biggest Hallmark holidays of the year. And, if you have a Valentine, congratulations. No really, congratulations. I just read this article in the Washington Post that there are many health benefits of falling and being in love.

Doesn’t that make your heart go pitter-patter? It should.

And, do you know what makes my heart go pitter-patter? It’s BLOG YOUR HEART OUT DAY, a campaign created to spotlight the importance of heart health, sponsored by fitlosophy, inc., the makers of fitbook.

To celebrate I think we should grab a glass of red wine and all TELL 5 friends about the Go Red For Women campaign by sending them a greeting card (sort of) straight from the American Heart Association’s website. All you have to do is enter the email addresses of 5 women you love and they’ll do the rest. And if your friends want more information about heart health, they’ll send information about the warning signs related to heart disease and tips on preventative measures like exercise, healthy eating, and heart check ups .

It’s kind of like sending your friends a free e-card only this one could save lives.

Now I really must Go Red! Happy Blog Your Heart Out Day with lots of hugs and fitness!

When I grow up I’m going to open the happiest place on Earth and it shall be called Fitnessbucks.

Or Dunkin’ & Spice.

Or Sutter’s Best.

OK, I haven’t quite decided on the name yet but that’s not important right now.

What is important is that by morning my store will feature coffee and by night it will be a wine bar. And there will be chocolate by morning, noon, and night.

Why coffee, wine, and chocolate? Because these are 3 of my favorite things. That, and they are all heart healthy. I would know. I just asked Dr. Web, also known as, WebMd and here’s what he said about the potential benefits:

Coffee: “Coffee may help protect your heart by warding off type 2 diabetes. Studies show that people who drink 3-4 cups a day may cut their risk by 25% — and even decaffeinated coffee works.”

Red Wine: “If you drink alcohol, a little red wine may be a heart-healthy choice. Resveratrol and catechins, two antioxidants in red wine, may protect artery walls. Alcohol can also boost HDL, the good cholesterol.”

Chocolate: “Dark chocolate and cocoa are rich in antioxidants called flavonoids. Research suggests that eating flavonoid-rich chocolate helps to keep blood vessels healthier by improving their ability to expand. One small study showed that eating high-flavonoid dark chocolate daily helped high blood pressure patients lower their blood pressure and reduce LDL.”

I don’t make this stuff up. Besides, what isn’t healthy about grapes and beans (in moderation, of course)?

And speaking of heart health, if you have a blog, I’d love for you join me and Blog Your Heart Out tomorrow, February 11th, an event to support the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign. Just visit www.getfitbook.com for all of the details.

Now I really must go have a glass of wine and work on the name of my shop….what do you think about a Cup of Jo(anna)’s?

I am a big believer in the buddy system. In fact, it’s one of the ways I stay on track in a number of areas of my life from business to healthy-living. Angela, God bless her, wears both hats when it comes to keeping me on track to achieving my goals.

Each Sunday Angela and I email each other our goals for the week and then we talk, Twitter, and email each other throughout the week to make sure we’re staying on track. And, it works. If you don’t have someone like this in your life, FIND ONE. I’d suggest finding someone that has a similar (or better) training style and work ethic that you do, that way you can help one another set and achieve realistic, yet challenging goals.

Week 4 of the BetterU program focuses on the importance of creating social support…the two legged or the four legged kind. In fact, in our lesson this week they reminded us that:

Research shows that dog owners who walk their dogs are more active and have a lower Body Mass Index (healthy weight for height) than people who don’t own or walk their dogs.

I have to say, I’m pretty lucky to have Ang and my dog, Bella, in my life to keep me on the fast track to a BetterMe!

Now I really must go take Bella for a walk and call Angela for a pep talk!

Today kicks off my first of 12-weeks following the American Heart Associations BetterU program and already I’m feeling pretty SMART.

The weeks program kicked off with a 5 question quiz and guess who got an A+? Yours truly!

There were a lot of great points in week one of the BetterU program, but I thought we could briefly chat about two: Signs of a heart attack and SMART Goals. Ready to go to BetterUniversity? Let’s get started by talking about….

Signs of a heart attack

It’s important to know these signs to help you spot when a heart attack may be happening:

• Discomfort in the chest or other areas of the upper body
• Shortness of breath
• Other signs of discomfort like breaking a cold sweat, nausea and lightheadedness

If someone has signs of a heart attack, 9-1-1 should be called immediately for help. If someone loses responsiveness or stops breathing, an AED should be used (if available) or CPR performed, in addition to calling 9-1-1.

Want to take an online CPR course or find a CPR class near you, click here.

Moving on to…

SMART GOALS

I’m a big fan of goal setting. In fact, ever since I’ve started using my fitbook, a 12-week training and nutrition journal, I’m getting better about setting, reflecting, and achieving my goals. fitbook helps set 12 week goals, break those goals down into one week chunks,  and then break them down further to one day at a time.

The BetterU lesson this week suggests making SMART goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Appropriate
• Realistic and has a…
• Timeframe

I’m no CPR dummy so I’m going to follow this SMART way of goal setting and take accountability for building a BetterMe.

Now I really must go study for week 2 of BetterU…I want my GPA to be like my blood type and my attitude: B-positive!

My sister, Jennifer, has a very big heart both figuratively and literally. The girl will go above and beyond-beyond for just about anyone. She also has (to put it simply) an enlarged heart, a condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM).

You’d never know Jennifer has HCM because it doesn’t slow her down, she’s as normal as you and me, but she has to stay on top of her health with meds and frequent visits to the cardiologist for the rest of her life.

Jennifer was born with this heart condition, but for most of us heart disease is preventable through diet, exercise, heart check ups, and  lipo-protein blood screening.

When the American Heart Association (AHA) and fitlosophy, the company behind fitbook, asked me to participate in the BLOG YOUR HEART OUT campaign over the next 12 weeks, I jumped at the opportunity to SPEAK UP for heart disease.

Over the next 12 weeks I’ll be following the AHA’s BetterU program, a free online 12-week nutrition & fitness makeover.  I’ll be blogging about this program about once a week and tracking my progress in my fitbook each day.

Why am I so passionate about being part of the Blog Your Heart Out team?

• Heart disease kills about 1 woman every minute, or approximately 450,000 women each year
• More women die of heart disease than the next five causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer
• 90% of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease
• 80% of cardiac events in women may be prevented by making the right choices involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking

How can you get involved?

• Celebrate National Wear Red Day by wearing (you guessed it) red today!
• Join the Go Red For Women movement and become part of the fight against heart disease
• Grab a fitbook, and join me for the free 12-week BetterU program
• Follow me and the Blog Your Heart Out team for the next 12 weeks
• If you blog, join us February 12, 2010 to SPEAK UP for heart disease on Blog Your Heart Out Day

My next 12 weeks will be dedicated to my sister and to all women and men who help fight heart disease one day at a time.

Now I really must go eat a heart-healthy breakfast, hit the gym, and, well…GO RED!