You may have heard of The Heart Truth Fashion Show, The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s annual event where Canadian celebrities and fashion designers bring the Red Dress to life on the runway, raising awareness of the need for women to protect themselves from heart disease and stroke.

This year, they’re shaking things up a little, and in addition to their roster of top-tier Canadian celebs, they’re looking for a few good women – role models for the rest of us – who are living healthily and vitally into their senior years.

The Heart Truth is now hosting a Model of Health contest on http://www.facebook.com/TheHeartTruth  (ends January 31st) to find three Canadian women between 70 and 100 years old to walk the runway wearing a fabulous red dress at the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Heart Truth Fashion Show this March!

They’re asking Canadians to nominate a special senior woman in their life who has reduced her risk of heart disease and stroke and can tell us how her heart healthy choices have benefited her life and her loved ones. Model of Health winner(s) and their guest(s) will receive the VIP treatment with roundtrip airfare to Toronto, 3 nights first-class accommodation, food, transportation, travel medical insurance, and an entertainment voucher to enjoy the sights and sounds of Toronto. Plus, if a woman you nominated is chosen you’ll win a Heart Truth Gift Pack worth $250!

If you know a senior woman you’d like to nominate for the Model of Health Contest, be sure to visit http://www.facebook.com/TheHeartTruth. The winners will be in the company of some fantastic celebrities, who are yet to be confirmed, but last year’s models included (click on names for their bios):

Other former models have included some of my favourite ladies:

                                                     Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau

Through The Heart Truth campaign, the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s goal is to encourage Canadian women to protect their heart health in mid-life, in order to lead full, active and rewarding lives in their senior years. Women can put their heart health first by assessing their risk through The Heart Truth quiz, talking to their doctor and making heart healthy lifestyle choices.

I tried the quiz myself and took a look at the results. My “protective factors” at this point in time include my age, lack of family history, being a non-smoker, having a low Body Mass Index (BMI), low alcohol use, not being diabetic, and low cholesterol and blood pressure. My “risk factors” include not eating enough fruits and vegetables, not being active enough (I’ve been on the treadmill every day of 2013, but that hasn’t been long enough to swear that I get more than 30 minutes of physical activity EVERY day), and eating high-fat foods more than once a week. That I can swear I do every day. Unfortunately.

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