Your heart needs care for life. A healthy heart is about enjoying a healthy lifestyle and making this part of your everyday life. It is also about taking positive steps to reduce risk factors.

The good news is that if you lead a healthy lifestyle, as outlined in the information in this section, you can reduce your risk of developing heart disease.  

Select from the menu at right to learn more about how you can lead a healthy lifestyle.

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The Heart Foundation’s top five tips for sticking with healthy living resolutions

• Small changes to your eating habits can make a big difference. Try switching to reduced fat milk instead of full fat milk, ditching the cakes or biscuits for morning tea and choosing a piece of fruit or opting for wholegrain bread instead of white.
  
• Look for ways to build physical activity into your day.  Walk or ride a bike instead of driving.  If you must drive, park further away and walk the extra distance rather than driving around for the perfect park, or take a break during the day and go for a 15 minute walk.
  
• Review the changes you’ve made and note how you are feeling.  Changes should be long term so it’s important to be enjoying your life and feeling good about yourself.
  
• Reward yourself – when a change becomes a habit, buy yourself some new clothes, or visit a place you enjoy.
  
• Keep going with your changes – it’s normal to have days when it all becomes too hard, but don’t worry about it.  Just keep going with your changes the next day.