🫀 The Heart Numbers Every Woman Should Know—and Why They Matter
Feb 23, 2026When it comes to a woman's heart health, having personal knowledge of your numbers is very important. With easy access to the patient portal, there is absolutely no excuse not to keep tabs on this.
Knowing your heart health numbers is important.
Understanding what they mean for you is even more important.
This is especially true for women, and particularly for Black and Brown women, whose risks are often underestimated or discussed too late.
🔢 The Heart Numbers That Matter Most
🍬 A1c and Blood Sugar
Heart disease and blood sugar are deeply connected.
Prediabetes and insulin resistance often develop silently, years before symptoms appear.
Yet many women are never told how high blood sugar levels affect heart health.
Here are A1C Diagnostic Ranges
✅ Normal
A1C: < 5.7%
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Reflects normal glucose metabolism
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Lower cardiometabolic risk
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Typical estimated average glucose: <117 mg/dL
⚠️ Prediabetes
A1C: 5.7–6.4%
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Indicates insulin resistance and impaired glucose regulation
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Increased risk of progression to type 2 diabetes
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This is the actionable window for lifestyle interventions such as exercise and diet.
🚨 Diabetes
A1C: ≥ 6.5%
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This is typically diagnostic
- Correlates with average blood sugars over 125 mg/dL
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Associated with increased microvascular risk
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Typically requires medical management + lifestyle support
🧪 Cholesterol (More Than One Number)
Cholesterol is not a single value.
Understanding how LDL, HDL, and triglycerides—and how they interact with your overall risk—is essential.
Ideal levels are as follows
- LDL < 100 mg/dL (or less than 70 mg/dL with cardiovascular risk factors such as type 2 diabetes, prior heart attack, stroke)
- HDL > 40 mg/dL
- Triglycerides < 150 mg/dL
🧬 Lipoprotein(a): A Risk Factor Many Women Have Never Been Tested For
Lipoprotein(a), often written as Lp(a), is a genetically determined cholesterol particle that can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Unlike other cholesterol values, it is largely inherited and not significantly changed by diet or exercise, which means many women may have an elevated risk without knowing it. Ask your physician or healthcare provider for a one-time blood test, which can help clarify whether Lp(a) is contributing to long-term cardiovascular risk—especially for women with a family history of heart disease.
👉To learn more about Lipoprotein a, you can read my Client Education Series on the topic by clicking here.
📏 Waist Circumference & Metabolic Health
Weight alone does not tell the full story.
Where weight is carried—particularly around the abdomen—matters more for heart risk than the number on the scale. Carrying a lot of weight around the abdomen, a condition called central obesity, is associated with inflammation, which leads to insulin resistance. This increases the risk for heart disease as well as Type 2 diabetes. Here are some things to know. In women, the waist circumference should be less than 35 inches. In certain ethnicities, such as women of Asian descent, recommendations are for less than 25 inches.
🌟 How the CLEAR™ Navigation Path Can Help a Woman Understand Her Heart Health
The CLEAR™ Navigation Path helps women move from numbers to understanding:
C — Clarify the Medical Landscape
Understanding what your numbers mean in the context of your life.
L — Lead the Care Strategy
Knowing which numbers deserve attention now—and which require monitoring.
E — Empower Confident Decisions
Avoiding fear or dismissal when results fall in “gray zones.”
A — Advance Recovery & Survivorship
Protecting heart health after events such as a heart attack, stroke, other diagnoses, or life transitions.
R — Reinforce Long-Term Health & Self-Advocacy
Tracking trends and knowing when to ask your physician or healthcare provider deeper questions.
🍀 A Strategic Way Forward
Heart health is not built—or damaged—in a single visit.
It is shaped over time by what is explained, what is missed, what is followed up on, and what quietly falls through the cracks.
Many women do everything they are told to do.
They attend appointments.
They get labs drawn.
They may be assured that things look “fine.”
But here's the thing-
❌ They don’t know which numbers truly matter.
❌ They don’t know what should be watched more closely.
❌ They don’t know whether past experiences—like pregnancy complications, chronic stress, or family history—change the picture.
This is where the services of a health advocate well-versed in medical navigation become invaluable.
As a health advocate, I can help you step back from individual test results and see the whole story of your health—connecting the dots across time, providers, and life experiences.
💡 This is where CLEAR™ Health Strategy Sessions come in.
CLEAR™ Health Strategy Sessions are designed to provide structured support for women who want more than isolated answers. The sessions anchor your care within a clear framework—helping you understand your health in context, prioritize what matters most, and move forward with intention.
These sessions are strategic by design.
They may involve one focused session—or unfold over several sessions—depending on your needs and goals.
If you’re not sure what level of support is right for you, the best place to start is with a complimentary Discovery Call.
The Discovery Call is a brief, no-pressure conversation to explore your concerns, understand your goals, and determine whether CLEAR™ Health Strategy Sessions are the right fit for you.
👉 Schedule your free Discovery Call and take the first step toward clarity, confidence, and a more intentional approach to your heart health.
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