Shopping for Heart Healthy Snacks at Walgreens

Did you know that February is American Heart Month?

This little fact hit closer to home this month as my father underwent triple bypass surgery. I was a nervous wreck about the entire thing. After 9 days in the hospital, he came home. Since my dad always likes to make an entrance, he left the hospital on the perfect heart-friendly day: Valentine’s Day.

My family has a history of both heart disease and diabetes. It’s something that I’ve been keenly aware of and always keep in the front of my mind when talking with doctors. I even began lowering my sodium intake when I was in my mid-twenties because I noticed how my fingers would swell a bit more while at the gym if I had had more salt in my diet than usual. Diet and physical activity are the two areas that I hone in on when I think about helping myself overcome any genetic dispositions that may lead me down the same path to heart disease. Having that family history is a HUGE motivator to trying to live a healthier lifestyle.

Walgreens Shopping

I recently had the opportunity to visit Walgreens to make some heart healthy purchases. Since we already use lower sodium options to foods, eat lean meats and try not to have much in the way of bad fatty foods, I focused my attention on snacking. The snacks we have in the house aren’t always of the most heart friendly variety. My husband and I like to munch on almonds and other nuts, but one of our children has a nut allergy so we’re limited in what we can serve the boys. One way I’m hoping to overcome this is for us to have more home cooked, kid-friendly snacks on hand. I’ve been meaning to make oatmeal raisin cookies so this was the perfect time to pick up those ingredients!

Cooking with lean meats and using low sodium ingredients whenever possible is a great way to keep your heart healthy. One of my favorite quick and easy recipes uses either lean ground turkey or strips of chicken and is tossed with low (or no) sodium diced tomatoes and serve with brown rice. While at Walgreens I picked up my usual garlic powder and onion powder to season this healthy, filling and delicious meal!

Walgreens Balance Rewards and Mobile App

With three small children, I’m always in planning mode whenever we do anything. I live by a schedule otherwise we would never get out the door! Before heading out to the store, I always have a list prepared. I sometimes even have that list ordered by how I shop a particular store just to expedite the amount of time we spend shopping. Anything that makes my life easier is definitely welcomed!

That’s where Walgreens Mobile App comes in handy. I was able to easily download it from the Google Play store to my smartphone, set up a Walgreens Balance Rewards account and was ready to start my list. To my delight, there is a shopping list feature in the Walgreens Mobile App. In fact, I can even scan the barcodes of items I already have in my pantry and add them to my shopping list. I can also access coupons and the weekly ad for my store. How convenient!

The Walgreens Balance Rewards program is a great money saving program. Your membership allows you to save instantly on sale items and earn points on featured items each week. You can then redeem your point balance with as few as 5,000 points either at Walgreens or at Walgreens.com.

I noticed throughout the store many displays about the Walgreens Mobile App and Balance Rewards program. Even if I hadn’t already downloaded the app prior to visiting the store, my Walgreens store had signage all over informing customers of the Balance Rewards program as well as displays with QR codes to easily download the Mobile App while shopping.

I was able to earn 9% on my recent purchases. In addition to rewards points you earn on purchases, you can also earn points through the Walgreens Walking Rewards program. For every mile walked, Walgreens will add 10 points to your Balance Rewards membership!

Walking is a great way to help fight heart disease and with the warmer weather approaching I expect to be outside with the kids more often! Just this weekend I used the Walgreens Pandora Happy & Healthy Rock station on my smartphone while walking with the baby around the neighborhood. My walking companion was not happy, but she dozed off at soon as we started walking and I noticed I had picked up the pace while listening to some great tunes.

I’ve already logged in over 1000 steps to the Walgreens Walking Rewards program! I’m hoping that the baby, along with her big brothers, understand the importance and necessity of keeping their bodies active by learning through our examples!

You can stay connected with Walgreens by visiting their Twitter and Facebook pages.

What tips do you have to help keep your Heart Healthy?

*Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Walgreens.  All opinions are my own. #cbias #SocialFabric