15th October 2013
Life is like a camera…. Focus on what’s important, capture
the good times, develop from the negatives, and if things don’t work out, take
another shot.
Yesterday food wise was Sunday’s leftovers, I had roast
dinner x 2, as what I bought to make our roast easily served four, that’s the
downside of only feeding two people, everything sold is usually to feed more,
mom didn’t fancy a dinner again so I ended up having one twice because I wasn’t
wasting expensive healthy food, they never warm up as well as the first time
you eat them though do they.
I had another appointment at the hospital yesterday and my
blood pressure reading was 150/91! That’s
not good, so I had to go to my own doctor later to have it redone and it had
gone down to 120/80 – phew, it turns out I was just suffering from white coat
syndrome – basically I’m scared of hospitals/doctors etc and had got myself
wound up! What hearing that reading did
make me do was of course google ‘high blood pressure’,
Factors that can raise your risk of developing primary high
blood pressure include:
- age: the risk of developing high blood pressure increases as you
get older
- a family history of high blood pressure (the condition seems to run
in families)
- being of African or Caribbean origin
- a high amount of salt in your
food
- a lack of exercise
- being overweight
- smoking
- drinking large amounts of
alcohol
- stress
And other reasons…
mmm so ‘lack of exercise’, I’m quite active in my work but I
could be more active in my spare time, I tend to get lazy when the colder
weather arrives. Salt mmm, likes salt I
do. Being overweight – yep according to
those damn charts I still am and drinking large amounts of alcohol =
guilty.
How to lower bloody pressure;
are some changes you could make to your lifestyle to reduce high blood
pressure. Some of these will lower your blood pressure in a matter of weeks,
others may take longer.
- Cut your salt intake to less than 6g (0.2oz) a day. Find out how you can reduce the amount of salt in your
diet.
- Eat a healthy, low-fat, balanced diet, including plenty of fresh
fruit and vegetables. Get tips on eating more healthily.
- Be active: being physically active is one of the most important
things you can do to prevent or control high blood pressure. Get tips on being more active.
- Cut down on alcohol. Get tips on cutting down, download a drinks diary and
keep track of your drinking.
- Stop smoking. Smoking greatly increases your chances of getting
heart and lung diseases. Get help quitting.
- Lose weight. Find out what your ideal weight is using the BMI healthy weight calculator.
- Drink less coffee, tea or other caffeine-rich drinks such as cola.
Drinking more than four cups of coffee a day may increase your blood
pressure.
- Try relaxation therapies, such as yoga, meditation and stress
management. These treatments are not normally provided by the NHS.
Now I was lucky that my high blood pressure reading was
temporary and only because of my fear, however before I had that proven by my
own gp I did spend some time thinking about my habits, yes I spout healthy and
happy to anyone who will listen but am I practising it as well as I could? That of course depends on whose truth you
believe, do I believe that women Women
should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day – I don’t know but I guess
they know what they’re talking about! Do
I believe we should eat less salt, probably, but I don’t eat a massive amount
so that’s not a concern for me. Should I
exercise more – yes I think I should, but in a way I enjoy, so walking for
sure. Should I lose weight, most likely
half stone yes, I’m working on it – honest!
What I did
realise is it’s okay to be blasé and cocky about your behaviours when your
health is good, because we tend to think “oh I’ll be ok” we have this belief we’re
indestructible (well I do anyways) but yesterday I realised that actually I’m
not indestructible and I might not be ok so I will take on board all those
things because my trip to the gp could’ve turned out that I did in fact have
high blood pressure and had to go on medication, and that wouldn’t have been a
good thing, I need to be healthy to take care of my mom, and of course to take
care of myself (I don’t have the loving daughter to do for me what I’m doing
for mom later in life).
So from today I’m going to try to remember how I felt for a
few hours yesterday afternoon thinking I may have high blood pressure and I
will do my best to cut my consumption of alcohol which will actually
automatically help me lose weight and I’ll start walking more despite the fact
I may get wet!
What habits or behaviours do you have that you know could be
affecting your health but you’re choosing to ignore?
Remember we’re not immortal and our bodies need taking care
of.
Eat Gorgeous, BeYOUtiful and take care of that body xx
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