Care for Yourself

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Make Time for Your Health

Too busy caring for others to take care of your own health? We offer six smart ways to build daily habits of self-care that will help keep you (and your heart) healthy.

By Veronica Lorson Fowler

Ellyn Hardiman is all too typical. The suburban Chicago homemaker takes time in the morning to make healthful breakfasts for her three children, husband, and aging father who lives with them.

But somehow, there's never enough time for Ellyn, 49, to sit down and eat a nutritious breakfast, so she often grabs a candy bar.

Ellyn suffered a mild heart attack a year ago. Yet it's hard for her to give herself the same care that she gives everyone around her.

It's a common scenario, particularly for women who care for others, according to several studies.

"It's like the oxygen mask in the airplane," says Deborah Halpern, spokesperson for the National Family Caregivers Association. "If you don't protect your health, you can't protect your loved ones."

Read on for six ways to care for yourself.