About a year ago I went for a doctor’s appointment for a bad case of poison ivy. Along with being treated for the poison ivy I ended up being put on a very strict diet to help lower my high blood pressure reading. I had always wanted to drop a few pounds but being told to either lose the weight and see if the blood pressure would come down, or go on pills for the rest of my life, I opted for the first choice.
I year later I am forty five pounds lighter and haven’t felt this good in quite a while - not to mention how good I feel in my once tight clothes. My blood pressure reading couldn’t be better. The best part is I did it with diet and exercise.
To start losing the weight, I was put on a twelve hundred a day calorie diet and I incorporated yoga into my lifestyle. I was a couch potato and knew that I needed some type of exercise in my daily life. I saw yoga as a healthy way to exercise plus I was looking for any way that I could to lower my blood pressure and I knew that yoga was good to help get me to relax and get rid of stress.
I have always been a vegetarian (who admittedly loves junk food). My doctor put me on a diabetic diet - because of the types of food that I eat. You can not believe the calories you consume in a day until you take a look at a calorie counter chart. I was amazed at the amount of calories I ate every day.
To begin my diet, I substituted diet soda for regular soda. I drank unsweetened tea instead of making sweet tea. I munched on carrots and popcorn instead of candy bars. You will be amazed how many calories you can save in a day just by switching a few things in your diet. I was told to eat nuts but watch how many I ate. They are high in calories but good for your body. The best thing to do is research what foods are best for you. Blueberries and broccoli are very healthy for you. I got on the internet and checked out what foods were good to help lower blood pressure. I changed fatty food to food that was good for me.
To take a look at what kind of calories you are consuming daily, keep a journal of what you eat. Check out the calories for the food you consumed. If you are interested in weight loss, you need to look and see what you can substitute to save the calories.
Of course, exercising helps. The more exercising you do, the more calories you burn. I like yoga because not only does it exercise the whole body, but it is a relaxing kind of exercise and not a high impact exercise that can burn you out quick. I purchased morning and evening yoga tapes - that helped a lot. The morning tapes helped my body wake up and center me for the day ahead. It helped me be more productive and made my days more stress free. The evening yoga tape let me get rid of the stress of the day. By doing the yoga daily it helped my mind and body have a deep relaxation.
Remember that you didn’t get over weight over night. You will not drop the weight over night either. It is going to take time. If you have high blood pressure, check with your doctor first before trying any of the above.
