Okay, so we all have our issues. The other day I went to the doctor, not because I was sick, but to finally nail down a primary care physician for the first time. The nurse told me my blood pressure was 116/85. Actually, she didn’t tell me, I had to ask her for this information. 116/85 I thought to myself! I’m going to have a heart attack tomorrow! How is this possible…I eat healthy, I exercise regularly and have my entire life, I’m not over weight…what’s the deal! Mind you this number has steadily increased over the last 3 years from about 103/58 being my norm.
About what my blood pressure was!
Of course the doctor has no problem with the number at all because “it’s within the normal range.” But, it’s not normal for me so now I start Operation BP with the goals of decreasing it. Other things that can increase blood pressure are stress, irregular sleep patterns and of course genetics. So, the first thing I did was call my parents. Dad got high blood pressure when he was in his 20’s! Mom, however, didn’t get it until she was in her 50’s. So there might be a small bit of the genetic factor but I believe I have a chance.
I’ve always been told I’m a bit of a stress ball. I’m talking the kind of stress ball, OCD person that bought my first organizer in elementary school! Yes, I even had different pen colors for each different activity. This was before computers, but now it’s just a different color on the notebook or calendar. The kind of person that tries to control everything, even other people’s driving! Although I have to brag and say I’m not as bad as I used to be (depending on who you ask) :), I believe this is what has contributed to my increase in BP. So, let’s see what I can do about it. I’m giving myself 6 months and these are the things I believe will help:
1) Do something fun daily. In other words, laugh. You see life gets so busy that I forget to do fun things! I don’t watch TV so there’s no laughing there. Not to mention what my life has been like for the last 14 months. For beginners, I got a trampoline!
That would be me and my new trampoline!
2) Drink hot tea every day. This is a habit I tried to form at the beginning of the year but it never stuck. There’s even research available that cultures who consume tea have less incidence of stress related diseases.
3) Take up yoga. They always say that exercise is supposed to be a stress reducer. So what do I do…try to push myself to the limit in every sport I become involved in. Surely, you can’t do that in yoga!? And, they say it’s relaxing.
4) Relax! I can’t say that I’ve ever done this well. I have at least 10 different things going on a any one time, but it’s never too late to learn something new.
I will start this week and keep you updated on my progress!
