| The Hon. Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi
This is the second year I’ve taken on the Healthy Heart Challenge – I’m really excited to be involved again! As Lord Mayor of Perth I have a hectic daily schedule so I’ve decided my goal for the Challenge will be to be active every day. I try to walk as often as possible – hopefully doing the Challenge with thousands of other Australian women will help keep me motivated!
I really believe in the Go Red for Women message and am looking forward to lots of ‘red’ events in Western Australia… I will definitely be at the Red Dress Dash on the Perth forshore! The annual KPMG breakfast is another highlight for me during Go Red for Women month – I’ll be speaking to a room of Perth’s top professionals about women and heart disease, and urging them to take their heart health seriously.
Challenge update Doing the Healthy Heart Challenge has forced me to concentrate more on exercise in these winter months – and I’m very grateful. I attend so many functions I often say I’m on the canapé diet.
Like many women, it’s hard for me to exercise every day and to always make healthy meal choices, but I do try. When I do get to make my own food choices I make sure they are healthy ones, and I’ve been making an extra effort to exercise on the weekends when I have a bit more time.
Luckily I’ve been blessed with a good metabolism, but I am diligent when it comes to health checks. As the Heart Foundation says, it’s essential to know about those hidden factors which predispose us to heart disease.
We need to heed this call to action during the Go Red for Women campaign, and year round. And like I do, tell your friends and family to do the same! It’s important to look after each other.
After the Challenge Doing the Healthy Heart Challenge this year has made me focus on keeping up my good habits, where possible. Like all the other Heroes doing the Challenge, I admit to finding it hard to exercise every day. But I do love to take extra time on the weekend for this goal, such as long walks, as part of winding down from the week.
Many goals women make when they aim to get fit involve making physical changes, such as remembering to go to the gym. But for me, and I’m sure for others, the Challenge has had a range of well-being spin-offs.
One of the things I am good at, despite my packed schedule, is keeping up with medical check ups. During the Challenge this year I’ve encouraged other women in my life to do this too – I can’t stress enough how important this is for yourself, your friends and your families.
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