The most serious health problem facing Canadian women is heart disease and stroke. Every year, seven times more women die of these two diseases than breast cancer. Yet, according to a recent survey by Becel, The Mom Report, 60% of Canadian moms felt they didn’t have enough time to take care of themselves because they were too busy taking care of others.
Canadian comedian and motivational speaker Jessica Holmes helps Becel, founding sponsor of The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s The Heart TruthTM Campaign, encourage moms to place just as much importance on their our own health and well-being as they do for loved ones.
Having already lost a grandmother to heart disease, Jessica understands the facts all too well, “Heart disease and stroke is the number one killer of Canadian women. The good news is that we can lower that statistic by as much as 80% by just remembering to take care of ourselves a little bit more and remembering that taking good care of our kids includes taking care of our own health.”
During her years on Royal Canadian Air Farce, she had two children – this is when a hectic schedule began to affect her health. “Doing 12 hours days was not a sustainable way to take care of me and my family and I had to figure out a balance between work and home – that was part of the reason why I left the show.”
Jessica started to make changes in her lifestyle choices but soon realized that she was setting her goals too high and could not reach them – like cutting out ALL junk food or going to the gym three times a week. She decided to set more attainable goals – like replacing some of the junk food in her diet with better choices or taking an extra five minutes in the day to walk her kids to school. Her plan worked – this last year she has lost over a dozen lbs and now feels healthier and happier.
“Getting a bit of balance in my life and getting over the terrible guilt that us working moms feel – it was a bit of an uphill battle. Now that I have figured it out, I just want to shout it from the mountain top!”
Jessica encourages you to share Becel’s new video link with your girlfriends. To access your risk for heart disease and stroke visit www.thehearttruth.ca. Find community support at Facebook.com/thehearttruth, heart health tips at twitter.com/thehearttruthCA and healthy lifestyle inspiration at pinterest.com/thehearttruthCA.