I Want to Hear Your Story!
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Thanks Brian! We're working hard, I think it helps that I'm doing this with him. We've tried stuff like this before but we weren't on the same page so we ended up yo-yo-ing; but now we're both dead set on getting him healthy and it's just a bonus in health for me too.0
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You're right. It helps a lot when you're on the same page. II'm looking forward to hearing of your successes0
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Hi,
On Friday, I had a major headache and I self-checked my BP and it was 148/102. I started using myfitness pal back in September and I was not tracking my sodium intake just my calories. After joining this group, I've realized why my BP spiked. My sodium intake on average was 3000 per day. My mother currently suffers from High BP so this is in my family. I am 28, very active, I work out 6 days a week and I am currently 10lbs away from my healthy weight. I am happy I joined this group! I am a little more educated on how much sodium I should be eating and I am learning new recipes. I hope I can decrease my BP.. I really do not want to get on meds.
I pray everything goes well with my doctor’s appointment on Saturday!0 -
Hello Skbfinest!
Welcome to MFP, I'm glad to hear you are actively working towards making healthier choices. My husband has high blood pressure as well (as well as many others on here); know you're not alone and do your best on getting healthier. The community will help back you up and support you along the way.0 -
Thanks... I am excited to be apart of a group.
I am learning more every day0 -
Thanks to this group. My doctor put me on High blood pressure meds and I only lasted a week and a half on them. I never realized how much sodium I ate per day... now I only eat like 1500mg. Thanks for the previous post I learned a lot on how to cook and eat. I also stop eating subway.0
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Yeah subway is only the "healthy" option for people that are already healthy. My husband and I found that out after I entered it in on MFP. The salt is so high! And congrats on being off the pills.0
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Hi Tiffany and others,
I'm here for hubby, too. I actually have the opposite problem from him, my blood pressure runs a little low, but I do all of the cooking and when recently tracking our sodium intake, I was SO frustrated that ANYTHING that is boxed/canned/frozen is just loaded with salt. Even with low BP, I don't want to be eating all of this hidden sodium, but to really avoid it would require a lot more time than I frankly have to shop, prep and cook and even then... Well, I won't rant on. [sigh]
My husband is on BP meds and has had heart stents and I want to do the best for him I can in the kitchen, but yikes... it's almost like it's a full-time job just putting decent meals on the table.
I was reading an article earlier today about bottled water that has added salt. I'm surprised they don't add extra salt to table salt. (Just kidding.)
Have a great day!
- Ariel0 -
I know how you feel Ariel!
I work full time during the day (with fairly frequent overtime), have class twice a week at night and work on homework or my art portfolio inbetween (not to mention trying to find time to spend with the hubby too!). So I definitely understand where you're coming from with time restraints and not having the time (or some days really just not wanting to) cook.
I find that eating fresh is not only the best way for the lowest sodium intake but also in feeling better all around. I feel like I have so much more energy when I make the meals I eat fresh, VS the pre-made ones at the school I work in. That being said, it's unfortunately not very 'convinient' to have a freshly made meal every day for every meal (hence why I sadly still eat the pre-made ones at lunch)...
I'm lucky enough to have Saturday's and Sunday's off (and so does the hubby), so we generally dedicate Sunday as a 'cooking day'. It's nice because it gives us both quality time together and goof around in the kitchen; make several meals throughout the week, and it forces me to take a real breather once a week. I don't know what your schedule looks like, but by doing this at least once a week (ideally twice would get you more meals and more variety of meals) you can stock up on freshly made meals and can freeze whatever you don't eat for another day. Plus! You can always do something different with the leftovers (which ultimately takes less time).
What it comes down to is how badly you want to make sure he's healthy. If you want to make sure he's healthy for a long time, you'll find the time somehow. But don't get me wrong, it's ok to have a quick meal once in awhile, just make sure it's less frequent than the healthy meals.
I hope this helps! This site and group (and google) have helped me out so much! I also suggest watching "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" It's very eye opening and when I know I need my calories but am not that hungry, I tend to make a 'mean green'
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Jim! You had a baby at 56! You go boy! Im glad you're back to fighting the good fight and let us know if we can help :-)Hi all, thanks for sharing your personal hypertension histories, struggles, tips, etc. I am a 56 y.o. man presently living a mostly sedentary life. I am 5'10" and weighed in this morning at 208. Five years ago, I was pretty fit at around 170#, working out regularly and on an Isagenix maintenance regime. But then we had another kid and I blew off the exercise routine plus arthritis set in -- I am now contemplating double hip replacement, and even walking as an exercise is difficult. So I was not surprised to learn six months ago from my GP that my BP was too high and it has only risen since then. It has been higher since them but this morning the reading was 161/93.
i am *not* a pharma fan, so I want to try to bring it down through diet and natural methods and give them a chance before I consider going onto meds. I am open to ideas and want to learn from others' successes (and failures too). I am presently focusing on these things:
- reducing sodium intake to the 1500 level
- reducing caloric intake to the sub-1500 level
- consuming herbs and other natural supplements that are known to be helpful in the treatment of hypertension.
Today, I have re-started an Isagenix regime since it is consistent with these things and to track everything here on MFP. Please feel free to "friend" me.
Thanks,
Jim0 -
just joined, had a stroke last week due to high blood pressure, numbed left arm and hand, face. scared the crap out of me, on meds and make appoointment with neurologist tomorrow, this happened on 1/2/13 stayed in hospital for 3 days. cutting way back on salt, checkinf bp 5 6 times day and still way over, when hospital 212 and kept staying between that and 160's, now 150' to 180's. need aal the suggestions i can get, and 50 lbs over weight also
Have you got any answers yet? Where are you with this? Feel free to add any of us!0 -
For me, my moment wasn't when the doctor put me on meds. What can I say, at that time in my life, I was more content to bury my head in the sand than deal with my problems. It wasn't until my father had an aortic dissection, because of years of uncontrolled high blood pressure.
For those of you who don't know, an aortic dissection is when your aorta has a tear in it and it leaks blood into your body. The problem with my dad's is that it tore from just above his femoral artery in his legs all the way to the carotid arteries in his neck. He wasn't supposed to live with these types of injuries.
It has been a wake up call for me, especially because he had a ton of heart and medical problems after that, mainly from not taking care of himself.0 -
Jim! You had a baby at 56! You go boy! Im glad you're back to fighting the good fight and let us know if we can help :-)Hi all, thanks for sharing your personal hypertension histories, struggles, tips, etc. I am a 56 y.o. man presently living a mostly sedentary life. I am 5'10" and weighed in this morning at 208. Five years ago, I was pretty fit at around 170#, working out regularly and on an Isagenix maintenance regime. But then we had another kid and I blew off the exercise routine plus arthritis set in -- I am now contemplating double hip replacement, and even walking as an exercise is difficult. So I was not surprised to learn six months ago from my GP that my BP was too high and it has only risen since then. It has been higher since them but this morning the reading was 161/93.
i am *not* a pharma fan, so I want to try to bring it down through diet and natural methods and give them a chance before I consider going onto meds. I am open to ideas and want to learn from others' successes (and failures too). I am presently focusing on these things:
- reducing sodium intake to the 1500 level
- reducing caloric intake to the sub-1500 level
- consuming herbs and other natural supplements that are known to be helpful in the treatment of hypertension.
Today, I have re-started an Isagenix regime since it is consistent with these things and to track everything here on MFP. Please feel free to "friend" me.
Thanks,
Jim
Hey, it's me again (I'm 57 now :-(). I completely forgot about this thread and my posting. Actually, I was reading the first part of it thinking "this guy's story is just like mine"! Anyway, here's an update...
Late June, I went Low Carb / High Fat (LCHF) and then, after reading Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint, I adjusted my regime in line with Paleo/Primal, which is actually a lot easier. There are a lot of reasons I went this way but it boils down to eating and living healthily the way our genes were programmed over the course of 100,000s of years. So now:
- no highly processed foods
- no wheat/gluten
- no grains of any kind, including corn, rice, oats, etc.
- no sugars
- no bad fats: canola, high omega-6 soy/veggie based, transfats, etc.
- grass fed meat and dairy
- mostly organic veggies, fruits, poultry, eggs (lots of eggs)
- wild caught fish, especially sardines, mackerel, salmon that are high in omega-3
- healthy fats (EVOO, coconut, butter, ghee, lard)
- targeting 55g carbs, 90g protein and 95g fat /day during weight loss period
For this month I am doing the "Whole30" and have dropped all booze, dark chocolate and dairy and am experiencing:
- weight loss
- deeper sleep
- high energy level
- amazing [apparent] drop in inflammation (arthritic)0 -
My name is Brittany, I am 26 years old and 4 weeks ago I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. I have been on a low sodium diet and have lost 10 pounds. High blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes run in my family. I am determined to get healthier for a better future.0
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Ecka723, How are you doing now?0
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Hi I am CKD prevent. I was diagnosed with hypertension 6 years ago, in my late 30s, when attempting to give blood, it was 155/112. I made a doctor appointment immediately. Physician started me on Lisinopril and due to my work schedule I was unable to exercise and was constantly eating unhealthy food. My husband was great, he cooked, but not low fat, low salt, or low calorie. My hypertension kept going up, the meds went up. I changed doctors and he told me to stop eating in the cafeteria at the hospital, it was all high salt, recommended I start D.A.S.H. and exercise. My work schedule is not as hectic now, so I am exercising every weekday morning, eating a 1500 calorie diet, low salt, low carb. Nothing from a box or can. Cook from scratch to keep salt down. I am now cooking for the family again. Highly recommend The Story of the Human Body” by Daniel E. Lieberman, Ph.D. He writes about why so many of us are coming down with chronic diseases that generations ago no one or very few got.
I am a mother of 3 adult children, all still live at home at the present. My oldest daughter is getting married in November. I don't want to scare anyone, but I am a inpatient coder, I read hospital charts all day, if you saw what I have to read when patient's don't take care of themselves and don't exercise, eat right, take rx: it is very sad. Don't go down that road.0 -
Hi Everyone
So I'm kind of embarrassed to tell my story, because I basically only have myself to blame.
I am 29 years old, obese and on very strong bp meds. BP is a big problem in my family, so I actually now better.
I got the shock of my life when, two weeks ago my bp shot up to 189/110-ish and didn't want to come down. Doc wanted to admit me right away but I basically begged my way into more meds. I promised her to immediately change my habits as I am an admitted salt addict and couch potato.
I am sticking to my promise as I have since then cut out all extra salt, sugar, fat, carbs etc. I VERY CLOSELY research every.single.item I buy or put in my mouth. The first week was hard. Very hard. But I must admit the prospect of imminent stroke or heart attack pulled me through and I've now settled into our new routine. My husband and I have also taken up light walking in the afternoons. BP has finally equalled out to 115/80-ish, but there's NO WAY I'm going back to my old habits. I have been threatening to lose the tons of weight I put on since getting married and now that I've lost the first 3kg, I'm really motivated. I can actually see my toes again!!0 -
Hi I just joined this group.
I was (maybe still am sometimes) in the same situation in that I didn't care that I was overweight, had both high blood pressure and cholesterol. So of course I kept getting worse.
Using MFP and working out some I eventually lost some weight, so the doc reduced my meds (Yipee!)
But then I got complacent
Well starting in late August I got serious again. I signed up for a class that my gym offered and sort of liked it. Much better than just running on a treadmill. They then offered a similar class on Saturdays. So I continued with that.
They just announced a Couch to 5K and I joined that too.
Now I worry about failing. But I figure, I have to face my fears, so I posted a status on Facebook and announced to the world that I'm going to run a 5K on Sunday November 2 (guess I'll miss the football game - lol)
My hypertension seems to go up and down. I need to start tracking it more consistently and schedule another follow-up with the doc.
Excited to be doing something about my situation, but nervous too
Yes I'm a big worry wort, always was. So I do fear failing0 -
Good for you and great inspiration for the rest of us
I'm hoping that together (all in this group) we can motivate, encourage, and support one another to do what we all know we need to do.0
