Do you have a diet/exercise routine that works for you? If so, share it with a comment.
I’m going to go off the beaten path and talk about a subject that I rarely mention on this blog – diet and exercise. A blog reader emailed me about an idea for her own blog. When I emailed my response back to her, it turned out the post outlined my struggle with high blood pressure over the last two years, which prompted me to post my experience here.
I was diagnosed with high blood pressure about 2 years ago, it’s hereditary. Since I’ve been in my thirties and forties I’ve been on the heavier side, but people wouldn’t necessarily categorize me as “fat” – I was skinny while in my twenties, seriously.
Anyway, I was on different meds for the HBP off and on for a year. Every med gave me a negative side effect. Soon I got tired of that crap and went to a holistic doctor. She gave me a list of a bunch of vitamins and herbs to take. I take them all. The main one that keeps my HBP down is the Hawthorn. Also, exercise helps.
Exercising at home was not working for me. My job was stressful, and when I got home, all I wanted to do was sit back and relax. So, I decided to exercise during my lunch time while at work. I bring work-out clothes and go for a brisk walk/run for about a half hour or 45 minutes. Plus, they have a gym at my job so if it’s cold or rainy, I get on that treadmill! Exercising is nothing “new” to me. I used to run 10K races while I was in my twenties/early thirties. Also, I exercised regularly at the gym.
My routine lagged when I got pregnant. The pregnancy was difficult and after our child was born, I didn’t really feel like exercising. Well, our “baby” is six now, so, I guess I can’t use the child as an excuse for not exercising!
I’ve been exercising during my lunch break for about eight months now. I cut out fast food (except on weekends – I was eating fast food almost every day when I was diagnosed with HBP) and I watch my sodium intake but, for the most part, I eat whatever I want whenever I want. I love carbs, so I don’t really watch my carbs. I eat oatmeal (the oatmeal that’s JUST OATS, the holistic doctor told me to stop eating the flavored oatmeal packets, too much salt in them) or some low-sodium cold cereal every morning for breakfast. I eat my breakfast at work. I also eat a low-sodium lunch and dinner. Sometimes I snack, sometimes I don’t. Depends on if I feel hungry or not.
People just started randomly commenting about my weight loss about a month or so ago. At first, I didn’t really notice it. I don’t weigh myself (too depressing) and I don’t really watch my figure – I started this new plan to keep my HBP down not for vanity reasons. The weight loss was secondary since I didn’t really have a goal of losing X amount of pounds – I just wanted a normal blood pressure reading so that I could stop taking that terrible medicine the doctor gave me.
However, lately, people have been saying, “Hey, you’ve lost weight,” or “Hey, you’re slimming down.” At first I thought they were just being nice, but, too many people were randomly commenting about my weight loss, plus, my jeans are very loose, they barely stay on my hips, so, I’m starting to pay attention now.
I love sweets! The weekend before last, I made vanilla bean panna cotta for the very first time! Yum! Last weekend, I made an apple pie and it was GOOD!! I don’t eat sweets every day, but I eat them when I want them. If I want to bake something, I do it! I don’t count calories or pounds.
OH, BTW, my blood pressure is BELOW normal/NORMAL now. I usually do a reading whenever I go to the grocery store at the BP machine and I also have a small BP contraption at home. It’s just a small square contraption with a cuff and a rectangular box – like the picture on this blog post.
This routine is working for me, so I was curious about others who read this blog. So, do you have a diet/exercise routine that works for you? If so, share it with a comment! Also, I’d be interested in knowing if something happened to make you change/start your diet/exercise routine.