Laurie's Story

I invite you to read the following recommendations from a couple who have been through the experience of an unexpected heart attack.  Laurie and Drew get an A+ for embracing the opportunity and working hard to learn better eating habits. 
Laurie writes:

Drew was home and recovering from his triple bypass.  The past several days had been scary and hard.  But everything was going to be okay, and we felt incredibly grateful.  He was 70, I was 60, and we had much more of life to share.

Nutritionally, though, things had to change.  My basically healthful cooking had also freely used such Julia Childs staples as butter, cream, eggs, cheese, chocolate.  Drew loved eggs with sausage or bacon for breakfast.  We’d happily dive into pizza, desserts, sauces, movie popcorn, etc.   

But what had to stop was all I knew.  There was no GPS recalculating the way.  Most of my go-to cooking was now outside the new playing field.  I felt overwhelmed with the responsibility of instantly switching to heart healthy meals that would 1) help ensure he (and we) would never have to go through anything like this ever again; 2) be tasty and satisfying so he (and I) wouldn’t feel deprived or depressed about the “good ole days;” and 3) not result in having to obsess over food for the rest of our lives. 

Fast forward a year and a half to now.  Heart-healthy eating is our new normal.  The transition’s been made.  Drew continues a 2-3x/week cardiac rehab regimen.  He lost 25 lbs the hard way but has kept it off.  And because of our more healthful diet, I’ve trimmed down to where I was in my 20’s. 

If you’re reading this, odds are a heart attack event has hit your family.  Because we’ve been there, here are a few recommendations and reality checks that hopefully might help as you go forward:

Recommendation #1

I needed some specific heart healthy cooking help to get me jumpstarted.  So I went to Barnes & Noble, stood there in front of the shelves of cookbooks, staring at the rows of books, willing one to jump out at me.  One did.  The WomenHeart’s All Heart Family Cookbook.  It was exactly what I needed to get off dead-center and start finding my way.  It’s clearly written, attractively laid out, easy to navigate.  Part I devotes one page to each of 40 heart healthy foods, explaining benefits and cross-referencing to recipes featuring each food in Part II.  Several of Part II’s heart-protecting recipes have become go-to favorites.

Recommendation #2

This is painful but necessary.  Pitch anything and everything in pantry and refrigerator that’s high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and/or sodium.  (And if you take the time to rinse out and recycle the containers, you get extra good-steward-of-the-earth points.)  Keep a grocery list going of replacement items to look for that are more nutritionally heart-friendly. 

Recommendation #3

However long grocery shopping typically takes you, double that.  Triple it.  Go when you’re not pushed for time.  Go when crowds are likely to be smallest.  Give yourself that gift.  Why?  Because for the next weeks and even months, until you get a feel for what to immediately look for, you will be comparing all options for every item on your grocery list for the one with the best nutritional value – every can of black beans, loaf of bread, bottle of dressing, jar of marinara sauce … everything.  If you try to do that in a hurry and/or in crowded aisles, it will be incredibly stressful.     

Recommendation #4

For the first 2-3 months, I kept track of the amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium for every single meal and snack Drew consumed.  I’d total each on a daily basis to see how we were doing with the recommended targets.  If I was using a recipe with that information already broken down, great.  If not, I figured it out.  (See Recommendation #5.)  It was kind of a tedious pain, but very worth it for helping both of us to become more educated and intuitive about what and how much.

Recommendation #5

Use the internet.  It’s a gold mine of easy information.  There are lots of useful websites out there for finding nutritional values of every kind of food/ingredient;  ingredient substitutions; etc.  Google is your friend.

Recommendation #6

Be open to trying products and making substitutions that never found their way into your kitchen before.  For me, anything other than real butter was eeewwww.  Drew switched over to HeartSmart spread but I stuck with my butter.  Then a friend had me try yogurt-blend Brummel & Brown, and (just like Mikey) I really liked it.  Even better, its nutritional content is identical to HeartSmart’s, and so now we both use it.  In addition to taste, I also like how Brummel & Brown melts like butter and can often be used as a butter substitute for cooking, unlike the other [fake ewwww] spreads. 

Instead of pizza take-out, make it.  Sure, not as fun, but as with all other heart-protecting adjustments, the trade-off’s worth it.  A good, nutritionally-friendly pizza dough is New York Pizza Dough at Ingles (frozen balls to thaw and roll out), on which healthful sauce, cheese, and toppings can be added.

Substitute lean ground turkey for ground beef.  Turkey bacon for regular bacon.  Canadian bacon even better.  Eggbeaters for eggs (for many baking uses, plus Drew scrambles them with frozen peppers and onions for breakfast).  Remove skin from chicken.  Pure maple syrup over Mrs. Butterworth’s.  Brown rice beats white.  Large bags of individual frozen salmon and tilapia filets.  Whole wheat pastry flour (in bulk at EarthFare) instead of white flour.  Etc etc.

Salt was a bit of a conundrum.  We tried salt substitutes.  Didn’t like.  Mrs. Dash varieties okay, but not the same.  We’ve ended up either omitting salt or adding very little, depending on the food.  Kosher salt, sea salt, and Lawrey’s seasoning salt are better options than table salt, as their sodium content’s a little less.

Reality #1

Heart-healthy meals cost more due to heart healthy ingredients’ typically higher quality.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are emphasized more.  Name brands’ nutritional values are typically better than store brands, and organic options are typically better than name brands.  Leaner cuts of meat.  Whole wheat pasta.  Organic, free range eggs (lower cholesterol).  Drew loves making ham, roast beef, or turkey sandwiches with cheese for lunch, so I’ve switched to the more expensive, but nutritionally superior Boar’s Head brand at the deli counter.  Grocery shopping is now more about heart healthy than price.

Reality #2

At first I was so freaked out that I thought meals had to be as close to zero saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium as possible.  Then I learned about recommended daily targets for each, plus carbs, fiber, etc.  I discovered how many “keeper” recipes fall within those targets.  And now I can easily navigate heart healthy daily meal planning.  Delicious and easy heart-healthy recipes are everywhere – magazines, newspapers, on-line.

Reality #3

While we never dined out frequently before all this, restaurants are now an every now and then special treat.  When I started checking area restaurants’ websites for their menus’ nutritional breakdown – both sit-down restaurants and fast-food – I was shocked.  For most of them, saturated fat, cholesterol, and/or sodium content is stratospheric.  Subway has some decent options.  And Panera’s.  You just need to do some web site checking or ask your server for menu nutritional breakdown information to help you make smart choices.

Related:  At first, when going to a special event or on vacation, I’d stress over all the out-of-bounds food.  But then I decided to chill, leave my Food Nazi hat at home (mostly), and let Drew enjoy his occasional exception to the norm.  A culinary splurge every now and then is okay. 

Bottom Line

So take heart!  Whether survivor or caregiver, it’s a new lease on life that can be lived fully, happily, actively, and most of all, gratefully.

Drew Adds…

With a heart healthy diet, like all other good intentions, there’s a tendency for backsliding.  The biggest example for me is alcohol.  I’ve always loved a cold beer and good wine, probably in amounts too liberal, certainly by heart healthy standards.  One technique I’ve found helpful for drinking wine, though, is to sip it.  Besides making a smaller amount last longer, it also savors the flavor.  I do realize, though, that wine and beer consumption has slipped from recommended amounts, although still not as much as before.  I urge you to do better.  It’s an indulgence I hope won’t show up later.  So far so good. 

Which leads me to the next comment …. Because of backsliding tendencies like the above, it’s a good idea to see your cardiologist annually to monitor cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.  It’s also helpful to monitor your weight on a daily basis to ensure it stays within a target 5-pound range.

Finally, a critical antidote to backsliding is a good drill sergeant at home.  Laurie’s that for me – or, as I affectionately call her, my Food Nazi.  It’s a form of nagging based on love that, far from creating marital problems, has made ours even stronger.