First of all — welcome to my new readers! Whether you found me through my guest post on Eating Bender or my recent tale of woe with social media, I hope you like what you see.

And if you’re new, here are some ways to get to know me!

• My Best Posts
• My Videos
• My Backstory: Weight Loss, Marriage and More
• Triathlon, Half Marathons, P90X oh my!

And of course, I’m on Twitter, Facebook and you can email me anytime.

So, today, I made sure to break out the red and sparkly:

Not only for me…

Why red? Why today? To mark national Go Red For Women Day, organized by the American Heart Association.

I have a personal connection to heart disease, which I’ll detail in a moment. But ponder this:

• Heart disease is the #1 killer for women.
• More than 459,000 people in the United States die from coronary heart disease every year.
• Heart disease can affect you at any age — it’s not an issue that you can wait to learn about!

How am I connected to Go Red? I have a condition called Supraventricular Tachycardia, or SVT. You can learn more about it here. Chances are, someone you know has it, too! For me, it is a serious but controllable problem. SVT can cause your heart to race, even when you’re not exercising or under stress. It is hard to anticipate, can rock your world for up to five minutes at a time, and is very scary.

I started having SVT symptoms in high school and college, which led me to finding a cardiologist. After a round of tests, including cardiograms, a heart monitor and treadmill stress test, I learned that my SVT does not need to be controlled with medicine or surgery, but I do need to check in with my doctor every year. It has not stopped me from doing ANYTHING, as evidenced by my ability to do several triathlons and two half marathons in 2009!

I’m lucky. I found out about my disease, got checked up, and am confident that with a little monitoring, heart disease does not have to take my life.

But now it’s time for YOU to be informed.

The Go Red For Women Web site has some amazing tools, including:

• A list of risk factors so you can assess your chances of developing disease
• Inspiring stories from women, including many who are under the age of 35!
• Blogs from women who are sharing the nitty gritty details of dealing with heart disease.
• Posters, computer screensavers and other fun stuff to help you Go Red all year long!

And I’ll leave you with one more message, that may convince you to pay attention. Come on — have a heart!

          

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