These doctors face the same daily chaos you do — here’s how they keep their hearts healthy anyway

Being told to eat better, sleep more, stress less, and exercise regularly sounds simple enough — until life reminds you it is anything but. Between packed schedules, demanding careers, and the never-ending pull of family responsibilities, maintaining heart health can feel like a luxury reserved for people with way more free time. But here’s the thing: female cardiologists are navigating those same messy, real-world obstacles — and they’ve figured out how to work around them. Their solutions aren’t complicated or expensive. They’re smart, sustainable, and surprisingly human.

For years, Sharonne N. Hayes, MD, a cardiologist and professor of cardiovascular medicine at Mayo Clinic, wore her five-hour sleep schedule like a badge of honor. That changed when she kept running into research she couldn’t ignore: adequate sleep is directly linked to lower rates of death from cardiovascular disease, and it supports healthier blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight management.

The shift for her wasn’t just personal — it required buy-in from her spouse. The two now go to bed at the same time every night, a habit backed by research showing that irregular sleep patterns are associated with increased arterial plaque buildup. If one of them isn’t tired, they’ve agreed the other reads in the dark. The TV went off. The sleep came on. To keep up with late-night content, she relies on curated newsletters and on-demand viewing. Small compromise, big payoff.

Cardio — the category of exercise literally named after heart health — can reduce the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by up to 31 percent when practiced 75 to 150 minutes per week. The challenge isn’t knowing it works; it’s actually doing it consistently.

Martha Gulati, MD, inaugural director of the Davis Women’s Heart Center at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, found her answer in two very enthusiastic training partners: her dogs. Between Binkley, a 12-year-old springer spaniel/Aussie shepherd mix, and CocoBella, a 5-year-old Portuguese water dog, skipping a run is simply not an option. She straps them both to a hands-free leash and they’re off — a ritual that doubles as joy for all three of them. For those interested in high-energy breeds built for distance, the American Kennel Club points to Weimaraners, dalmatians, vizslas, Rhodesian ridgebacks, and German shorthaired pointers as top running companions. And even if your dog prefers a leisurely stroll, research still shows that dog ownership is linked to reduced blood pressure.

Dining out doesn’t have to derail heart-healthy eating. Amparo C. Villablanca, MD, director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine Program at the University of California, Davis Health, skips the main entrée section almost entirely — she finds the portions oversized and the ingredients too limited. Instead, she orders two or three appetizers or side dishes, prioritizing plant-based options rich in heart-healthy fats like olive oil. The goal: lean on variety, go light on processed foods, red meat, and sugar. It’s a simple reframe with real results.

Optimism isn’t just a feel-good trait — it’s a clinical one. Research published in Psychosomatic Medicine found that people with a positive outlook had a 35 percent lower risk of cardiovascular events. Stacey Ellyn Rosen, MD, executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell Health, cultivates that mindset twice a day through a structured five-minute journaling practice. Morning and evening, she works through prompts about intentions, highlights, and lessons — a ritual she credits with improving not just her mental state but her sleep, physical activity, and diet. The brain trained to focus on good tends to take better care of the body carrying it.

Whether you’re a new mom with zero downtime or someone managing a decades-old back injury, the path to better heart health is less about perfection and more about creativity.

Emily S. Lau, MD, director of the Women’s Heart Health program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, relies on what researchers call “exercise snacks” — brief bursts of movement woven into the day, like taking the stairs or walking during a break. A study in Sports Medicine and Health Science confirmed these micro-sessions genuinely improve cardiorespiratory fitness. And C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai, manages a long-standing back injury with just 12 minutes of daily physical therapy stretches — a routine she’s maintained for 30 years without a single flare-up.

The throughline across all of these women? They stopped waiting for perfect conditions and started building habits that work in the life they actually have.

Source: Women’s Health