Only YOU can prevent heart disease

So, we've already established that I love Cheerios. But, now I love them even more.

This week I want to draw attention to a little something that Cheerios is doing to help the cause of women's heart health.

You've probably heard the statistics about how coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. Did you know high cholesterol is one of the major factors in coronary heart disease? This can be prevented, people! High cholesterol can be controlled with diet and medication, but if you don't get screened, how can you prevent it?

This is where Cheerios comes in. Their campaign - Cheerios Circle of Helping Hearts - is working hard to get the word out there about this important cause. You'll find specially marked boxes of Cheerios that have codes inside. When you go to www.cheerioshelpinghearts.com and enter your code, Cheerios will donate $1, up to $200,000 to raise awareness about women's coronary heart disease and to fund cholesterol screenings for women in need.

Never in my life have I believed in preventative medicine MORE than when I started working at a hospital.

I see men and women come in there in their forties with serious heart problems, cancer, all sorts of stuff that could have been prevented, if only they had received preventative medical care.

Ladies, you already get the girls and the hoo ha checked by a doc every year - it doesn't take much more time or effort to add a cholesterol screening to that tiny list. You, and your heart, are worth it.

And remember to go to the website when you finish your boxes of Cheerios (or, after your kids dump the entire contents of the box on the floor...) to enter the code and help spread the word about this cause.

So, three of you are going to be receiving beautiful freshwater pearl bracelets, courtesy of My Blog Spark and Cheerios. Each bracelet has a heart charm to represent women's heart health. I received mine in the mail, and it's gorgeous!

I love pretty things, and I love me some BLING, so I know there are some of you out there who want one, too.

So, here's how you can win! Be sure to follow the directions, ok? They're simple. Really.

In order to win, you MUST:

• Leave a comment telling me what YOU do to take care of your heart OR tell me about a woman you know who suffers from heart disease

If you want EXTRA entries:

• Follow my blog. I love followers - you are my favorite. And occasionally, I do giveaways that are ONLY for my followers, so it's best that you just go ahead and jump on that bandwagon 5 minutes ago, okay?
• Blog about my giveaway - the more of us spreading awareness, the better.
• Follow me on Twitter. Click here to do that, and leave me your Twitter name in the comment so I know you're not pullin' my leg.

Leave me a separate comment for each entry so you get all the chances you deserve, okay?

Contest ends on Sunday, March 22nd at midnight - I'll announce the winner on Monday, the 23rd.

Now, mosey along. Go eat your morning bowl of Cheerios and dream about the beautimous pearl bracelet that COULD be yours...

*This post is a part of Tuesday's Tribute, hosted by Jay at Halftime Lessons and Deb at Dirty Socks and Pizza.