Follow Up: How I Lowered my Blood Pressure in Six Weeks

I have the secret!  I lowered my blood pressure from 140/90 (average) to 127/80 in six weeks!  You will never believe how I did it!

Diet and Exercise.

No secret.  Plain and simple......if you think you are eating healthy, and the bulk of the items in your diet have a shelf life of over a month,  you probably are not. 

After much research, here is what helped me..........

Diet:

• No caffeine after 7:30 am
• Total sodium of each meal no higher then 700mg (This is KEY).  Less than 650 is best.
• Increase raw veggies and fruits
• Drink 90 ounces of water per day
• Red meat only1-2 times per week (hard when you have a freezer full of Organic beef in your garage!)
• Limit desserts and sugar
• Replace half sugar in coffee with Truvia

Exercise:

• Run like Forrest Gump.  7-9 miles per week over 3 days
• Cross train 2 days - challenge different muscle groups
• Stretch every day!
• Weight training

For me, five days in the gym for 45 minutes - 1 hour is the only way I can lose.  I am thinking 4 days will be great for maintenance.

The results since 1/10/11:

• 15 pounds lost
• Lower blood pressure
• Lowered my running time - from a 11.30 minute mile to 9.00 minute mile.  Two miles in 18.32.
• Placed second in a 5K

So there you have it.  I am still a work in progress, but for a 36 year old who gave birth to 3 children, I think that is pretty satisfying!