Nancy Zarriello: A Journey to be Heart Strong

FEATURED PHOTO: Nancy Zarriello | CREDIT: Carmela Caracappa Photography

During the month of February our country honors presidents, football champions, movie stars, love of every kind, and groundhogs with special events, holidays, and celebrations. But the second month on our calendars is also designated for the battle against heart disease, and since 1963, February has been American Heart Month. Bringing this nationally recognized crusade closer to home is Nancy Zarriello who, on February 4, was honored at the Woman’s Day Red Dress Awards for 2020.

You may know Nancy as a long-time teacher in Lincroft, or maybe you’ve bumped into her walking her dog down by the water in her hometown of Sea Bright. But after a cardiac scare last year, she has joined an elite group of women who have made heart health their goal as part of the Live Longer and Stronger challenge, and recently flaunted it on the red carpet at Lincoln Center as part of the 17th annual awards ceremony.

“With my health such a focus at that time, I was drawn to the article and the thought of my very own heart health makeover,” explained Nancy. “I had written a book three years earlier and had done nothing with it, so I honestly wrote in to validate my writing skills. But with all that has happened, this health scare that was once a huge negative has turned into something positive.”

The challenge is designed to help real-life women lower their risk of heart disease, lose weight, and adopt a happy, healthy lifestyle they can sustain. Nancy was one of five women selected from across the country and given a tailored and ongoing nutrition and exercise counseling program from nutrition expert Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN.

“After making it through several rounds, I was thrilled and grateful to be selected for the opportunity to help spread awareness,” said Nancy. “For the past eight months, we were given monthly challenges and biweekly calls with Joy and the LLS team. We also have monthly Google hangout chats with experts from Northwell Health. Because of this challenge, I have totally changed my diet, improved my endurance and stamina, lost 24 pounds, 23 inches, and dropped my cholesterol 87 points!”

The LLS challenges introduced Nancy to many things she had never tried or worked-on before. One centered on motivation, another helped her learn the importance of proper sleep, and the final task was practicing mindful eating and slowing down the process of a meal. But discovering new exercises would lead Nancy back to the hospital. “When I submitted the video of me climbing a mountain in Upstate New York, Joy Bauer and the LLS team were concerned when I expressed how I couldn’t breathe,” said Nancy. “I ended up at NYU where the Director of Women’s Health ordered a cardiac catheterization, angiogram, and microvascular testing to assess my heart health. Subsequently, I became part of a study to test for microvascular disease (MVD) found in women, in a less invasive way. My tests came back negative for MVD but did confirm a blockage. I learned that more women than men die during their first heart attack because women’s bodies are prone to hardening of the microvascular system. NYU is doing cutting-edge research to try and understand everything about how this happens.”

Heart disease is the number one cause of death for women in the United States and has been for many years, yet only in the past 20 years has the movement toward awareness for women taken shape. In 1999, Woman’s Day then editor-in-chief Jane Chesnutt co-founded the Women with Heart Lunch to benefit the American Heart Association (AHA). That same year, the nation’s first organization to address the issue of heart disease in women was founded. But it wasn’t for another three years, in 2002, that The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute launched The Heart TruthSMcampaign and the Red Dress® as the symbol for women and heart disease awareness. Two years later, in 2004, Woman’s Day held its first Red Dress Awards to honor those who make a significant contribution to the fight against heart disease specifically in women.

One of Nancy’s favorite quotes sums up the past year for her, “If you want change in your life, go make it happen. You’re the only one who can.” Married to her best friend, Scott, for more than 30 years, Nancy had many good reasons to make the changes she needed to stay on a healthy course.

“We absolutely love living in Sea Bright,” said Nancy. “In the summer, we only travel by foot or bike. It’s a great walking community offering everything we need. It helps me to make sure to get my 10k steps in every day. I also log my food and find it a fun challenge when eating out to swap menus for healthier options. I look at food differently now and have become more mindful of what I put in my mouth. My passions going forward are to continue my writing and my heart health journey and spreading awareness, because it’s a life-long change for me. I am better and stronger than I was eight months ago and I plan to continue. I’d also like to improve my golf game, but that may be a bigger ask!”

Readers can view Nancy’s journey on Instagram @movingswiftlyoverfifty.