Don't spook your heart this Halloween's

Here's a top Halloween tip...

Did you know that pumpkins count towards your 5-a-day for fruit and veg!

Check out some more of our top tips for how to have a heart healthy Halloween here

Change not as good as a rest - at least for your heart

Sometimes change is good - but not it seems when it comes to heart health and women.

Latest BHF-funded research shows that major life changes can affect the amount of physical activity women do.

Starting work, a change in relationship such as getting married and becoming a parent all saw women doing less physical activity according to a team of researchers from the Department of Public Health at the University of Oxford.

Dr. Steve Allender study author from the University of Oxford said: “It is clear that these key life changes affect the amount of physical activity undertaken by women. A decrease in physical activity can contribute to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, back pain, poor joint mobility and psychosocial problems. The effects on our health must not be underestimated."

You can find out more about heart disease and women on our website.

Plus information on how to get active.

Yoobots are here!

Ever wondered what you'll look like in the future....?

Now you can find out by creating a mini digital Yoobot version of you.

• Bring it to life
• Give it your face
• Dress it
• Decorate its room
• Feed it
• Decide everything it does

By travelling through time, you’ll see what you’re going to look like when you get old. You can even decide when your Yoobot dies!

The Yoobot game is latest part of our Food4Thought campaign to help children take more responsibility for their own health.

It encourages children to consider the long term consequences of their food and activity choices – and offers them a chance to experiment with their own future.

Join the Yoobot revolution!

Fitness First takes to the skies for the BHF

Staff and members at Fitness First have shown they are all heart by raising more than £81,000 for the BHF, the gym chain’s fundraising partner.

In the first year of the three year partnership, gym members have taken part in events including sky dives, our London to Paris Bike Ride and a static marathon run.

Daredevil Helen Cooke, 24, works at the Northampton branch of Fitness First. She raised more than £400 for the BHF by taking part in a sky dive.

Helen says: “I’d wanted to do a sky dive for a long time so when I saw the opportunity advertised in my gym I decided to go for it. The experience really was as amazing as I thought it would be and it was great to know I was raising money for a good cause at the same time.”

Douglas Rouse, Head of Corporate Partnerships at the British Heart Foundation said: “We are thrilled Fitness First has really risen to the challenge this year. With their enthusiastic fundraising they are playing an important role in helping raise awareness of heart disease as well as raising vital funds to fight it.”

Each of the 170 Fitness First clubs in the UK will continue to work closely with BHF over the next two years.

Find out more about Fitness First and the BHF and our other Charity of the Year partnerships.

Your Heart Matters

We've just launched Heart Matters, a brand new free service for you if you're looking to improve, or look after, your heart health.

When you sign-up you'll receive a special Heart Matters pack (pictured right) including a 'heart risk' tape measure, a guide to heart health and a 5-a-day Food Diary.

You also get access to a dedicated Heart Matters HelpLine, staffed by cardiac nurses and heart health advisers, regular issues of 'heart health' magazine, plus the chance to receive regular support emails on issues including getting active, healthy eating and well being.

Find out more about Heart Matters at the new website

And don't forget to let us know what you think about our new free service by posting a comment below...

From sofa slouch to exercise addict

Everyone has different motivations for exercising – from losing weight or letting off steam, to getting fit or keeping active in retirement.

But if you haven’t set foot in a gym since school, making that first move can be the hardest part.

Take for example BHF Heart Runner Andy Baston. Aged 43, he has a family history of heart attacks and a high-stress job as an air traffic controller. Andy worried for his health, but used to be too exhausted to do anything about it.

Then, two years ago, a friend said he was going to enter the London Marathon. Andy decided to take stock of his sedentary lifestyle and joined a running group at his gym.

Andy says: "The following year I ran a 10k race and a half marathon for the British Heart Foundation, and this year I ran the London Marathon for BHF in three hours 50 minutes.

"I couldn't believe it. Now (my wife) Tina has run a 10k race. If we can do it, anyone can. There's even a man of 75 who runs with my group.

"Competing for charity is close to my heart and will hopefully give me more years than my father and grandfather could enjoy."

If you’ve got an individual place in the Flora London Marathon, find out how you can run for the BHF

Find out how you can get active for your heart

Read more about Andy plus other inspiring stories on the Daily Mail's website

How to take control of your diabetes ‘destiny’

According to a new BHF study, women at high risk of diabetes can reduce their body’s insensitivity to insulin – which affects blood sugar control – by exercising.

Diabetes is a major risk factor for heart disease.

People with a family history of diabetes are predisposed to the condition and tend to have greater ‘resistance’ to insulin.

However, after just seven weeks of an exercise programme, insulin resistance had reduced by nearly a quarter in women whose family history put them at a high risk of type 2 diabetes.

Rose Traynor from Glasgow, a social worker with South Lanarkshire Council, took part in the study. Her mother has diabetes. Her father, now deceased, was also diabetic.

Rose says: "Before taking part in the study I wasn’t aware of the effect exercise had on my likelihood of getting diabetes and it wasn’t something that I had really given much thought to.

"I now realise that I can be proactive in minimising the risk of this simply by increasing the amount of exercise I do. The exercise regime really gave me the kick start I needed to get exercising properly. It has now become just a part of everyday life for me."

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the BHF, commented: "I hope the findings will encourage people to get active for their health."

Take five minutes out with our online games

Online gaming is big news these days. But you don't need to feel guilty about wasting time in front of the computer.

Online games can be a fun way for both adults and kids to put their knowledge to good use and learn new information at the same time.

Our BHF online games cover food, lifestyle, nutrition and exercise.

Snack Attack and the Food4Thought Challenge will get you thinking about which foods are best for your heart.

If your footy skills aren't up to much on the pitch then you can sit back and watch the goals roll in with our Freekick Football game.

There are plenty of heart operation games if you've always fancied yourself as having a bit of medical flair.

And if you're trying to give up smoking then the Smoking Tetris game could be just the little bit of extra motivation you need.

There's always time, of course, for a quick game of Escape the Office before you actually do!

Got a high score? Challenge someone to beat your score by posting a comment below!

Walking your way to heart health

Feeling brave - as we do from time to time on the BHF Blog - we feel sure that the weather will be kind to the UK on Thursday.

Which would be good, because 24 April is officially national Walk to Work Day - or at least break your regular commute and walk part way to work if you live too far away.

Walking is of course great for your heart health, so naturally we're all in favour of this initiative promoted by Living Streets, a charity campaigning to create better streets and public spaces for people on foot.
There's also more on our website about the heart health benefits of getting active.

Now, let's have a look at that weather forecast for Thursday...