Benefits of Membership (Click Here for Demo)

Whether you are interested in lowering your triglycerides, losing or maintaining weight, lowering cholesterol, decreasing blood pressure, decreasing blood glucose, or decreasing your risk for heart disease there is a Living Heart Membership Plan that will work for you!

The Member Section (password protected) of the website at www.livingheart.com has been tested at Baylor College of Medicine in the Internet Diet Study and shown to be effective for helping people make important changes in their diet and lifestyle to lose weight, lower cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood glucose.

The Member Section includes the diet of your choice, online diet materials, and diet support. It is:

	Convenient Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Confidential Member Section is password protected and private Personal Materials are personalized based on information you enter when registering for Membership Responsive Questions for the dietitian will be answered quickly in the Diet Support Center Supportive Discussion forums online and private messages will keep you focused and motivated

Diet

The Living Heart Diets provide everything you need to know about the diet, and easy-to-follow steps for making dietary changes, and comparing what you eat with your diet goals.

The calorie level suggested as a guideline for you in the Member Section will be based on information you report for weight, height, age, and gender when you register. These guidelines are part of nutrition education for making dietary changes to accomplish your diet-related goals. The amount of fat, carbohydrate, protein, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and cholesterol is based on guidelines of the National Cholesterol Education Program 2001 for cholesterol lowering. The amount of vitamins and minerals is based on the Recommended Dietary Allowances. You are advised to check with your physician before starting a diet or exercise program.

Each of the Living Heart Diets has been revised in 2001 and follows the latest guidelines from the National Institutes of Health. Each one emphasizes decreasing risk for heart disease, the number 1 killer in the United States.

The diet you select in the Living Heart Store can be downloaded in PDF for printing.

Online Diet Materials

Each Membership includes the following online materials.

• Nutrient Analyzer© to give you immediate feedback on the amount of calories and 16 nutrients in foods you eat
• Comparison of what you eat with your goals
• Meal Plan at the calorie level you need to lose weight or maintain your current weight
• Menus at your calorie level
• Menus for Eating at Home, including Menus with Convenience Food and Menus with Recipes
• Menus for Eating at Restaurants, including Fast Food place
• Weight Graph that shows daily progress toward your weight goal
  
• Exercise Chart that keeps track of your exercise
  Recipes
  
• Restaurant Guide with "preferred foods" in fast food places and restaurants serving ethnic and American cuisine
  
• Brand-Name List of Foods low in saturated fat and sodium

Diet Support

Being a Living Heart Member can be a wonderful experience with support, encouragement, and good ideas flowing from one member to another. Sharing your difficult times, seeking help, and sharing your successes with others will enhance your journey to good health.

• Diet Support Center with forums for discussing topics such as:


• Weight plateaus


• Eating due to emotions, such as stress, boredom, anger, frustration


• Problems keeping weight off


• Craving sweets
• Working exercise into a busy schedule
• Forum where dietitian will answer your questions
• Private message box for regular messages to keep you focused and motivated