128/80 Walking and diet works!

[lifeoriley]

Just wanted to share a success story. Tonight I checked my bp at Rite Aid and it was 128/80. This is after 4 weeks of changed diet (chicken instead of red meat, lower sodium choices) and daily walking (I walk about 2 miles a day with my 2 kids). Before I started my bp was fluctuating from 140/90 to 150/100. I had a very sedentary lifestyle and a high fat, high sodium diet. My doc had prescribed a diuretic and a cholesterol lowering drug. Because I take lithium for my biploar condition, the water pill was causing toxicity so I stopped taking the medication in favor of diet and exercise. Hopeullly when I go to the doc next time I can stay off the meds. I learned that walking and diet can truly lower bp!

[Lenin]

How low are you able to keep your daily sodium intake?

[lifeoriley]

The recommended limit from the American Heart Association is 2,400 milligrams, but that is too much for me with my tendency to have high blood pressure.

I try to keep it below 1,500 mgs. Ways I am able to do it?

* Drink more water
* Read labels and make choices (ie; Kraft Macaroni and cheese is out)
* No chips
* No sliced sandwich lunch-meat, it is packed with sodium
* Try to always have bananas in the house as a snack
* No salt shaker adding to food


Here is a helpful webpage on sodium for hbp sufferers:

[url]http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/prevent/sodium/sodium.htm[/url]

lifeoriley

[WYSIWYG]

Of course I am happy for you, but aren't you posting in another thread that you are just learning to use a home monitor? Once you follow the advice there-- to calibrate it in sync with your doctor's readings-- you will not need to depend on sometimes-unreliable drugstore models to follow your BP over time.

~Susan

[lamac]

lifeoriley...I am so happy to come across your post. I have high blood pressure...a bit higher than your high numbers and I have just applied to begin a non-surgical weight loss managment group at the hospital. I have problems getting started on my own and thought this dr., dietician, excercise expert led group would help me. To hear the success you have had is great. Now I will need to find the sleep apnea site and find out if the weight loss and excercise will help with that!

Continued success to you!

Lamac