Any nurses out there.....

[SunAngel]

Cereal is something I rarely eat, so at least I don't have to cut that out. I usually prefer eggs, oatmeal or Cream of Wheat (but add sugar to the last 2 and that prob makes them bad). Milk is one of my main drink choices, probably need to limit that. I do get 2% though. At least I don't have to stop drinking soda, as I don't really care for it or drink it very often. Main snack food is usually Hard Sourdough Pretzels...good or bad? My mother is diabetic, so guess I should definitely start eating better, so I don't end up the same way.

I will check out the library and see if they have either of those books. Thanks so much for the help and suggestions!

 

[BirdBrain]

Probably bad as it is a highly refined snack that is probably high in salt.

 

[wombat]

A leading cause of short-term blood pressure spikes is dehydration. If you become dehydrated, your body attempts to hold on to what it's got left through vascular constriction, which will spike your blood pressure.

Cut back on your soft drink intake and other sources of sugars, cut out the caffine, and drink plenty of water. Since you have a BP testing unit of your own, see if you can go without soft drinks and caffine for three days, and up your water intake for that same period. See what that does for your BP spikes.

Go see a doctor, too. You may have other issues, and the spikes might not be related to dehydration, or you may still be prehypertensive and the spikes are over and above underlying problems. Since you're not a chicken, you're probably better off seeking medical advice from a doctor than seeking it here.

 

[Wifezilla]

Main snack food is usually Hard Sourdough Pretzels...good or bad?

Bad. Flour rapidly converts to sugar during digestion.

Forget 2% and go for regular milk. When you pull the fat out of milk, you leave all the sugars, but take away the thing that makes you feel full...the fat. Just drink a little less if you are worried.

I usually prefer eggs, oatmeal or Cream of Wheat (but add sugar to the last 2 and that prob makes them bad)

Well, the sugar on the cream of wheat and oatmeal isn't great, but the cream of wheat and the oatmeal are basically sugar themselves. You are really just piling sugar on sugar. A cup of oatmeal has around 50g of carbohydrates. That is the equivalent of 1/4 cup of table sugar.​

 

[SunAngel]

Yikes... I am definitely going to have to do some food research. Things I never knew, go figure.

Time to find some new snack foods and breakfasts!

 

[NancyDz]

My lower # has been around 90 so my doc put me on what is basically a water pill, it's helped mine go back down to a normal level. But definitely talk to your nurse/doc tomorrow as your ranges are too high , making the dietary changes will be good but dont let your heart work at that stressed rate for too long. My boyfriend's was high, he got on meds and then was weaned off them when he lost weight and now he eats and exercises regularly and doesnt need the meds but it's a process that won't happen quickly hence the meds help your heart not to be strained until you can get in better shape.



Good luck!

Nancy

 

[Wifezilla]

If you go to a site like www.fitday.com, you can check the composition of most food items. Joining is free.

 

[SunAngel]

I will check that site out, thanks!

If the doc thinks a pill would help me, I will definitely take it. I am not a big exerciser, although I do get out and clean the chicken coops, do yard work, go to a lot of walking events (like flea markets, etc), just the boring daily exercise stuff I can't get myself to do.

 

[Wifezilla]

I used to exercise an hour a day, 6 days a week. I did it for 2 YEARS and never lost a pound. I quit all the classes except for 1 (dance class...it is really fun), and quit going to the gym. Then I went low carb and the weight fell off.

Exercise never helped me lose weight. I still do it for FUN (and it does help with flexibility), but I no longer believe it has much value on the weight loss front.

Here is a great article about how little exercise helps with weight loss...
http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/

And here is a quick article that might help you wrap your brain around the sugar issue a little more.
http://www.examiner.com/x-798-Denve...en-a-sugarfree-cookie-isnt-a-sugarfree-cookie

 

[StupidBird]

Hey, number one is that chronic or acute severe pain makes the blood pressure go up. My bp is normal to normal low, except when I'm in a flare-up of pain from one thing or another... fix the pain at the source if possible, see about different pain meds. If the pain is so bad, as was mine, to make sleep hard to impossible, then I'd look into that before jumping all over diet or bp meds. Just my experience anyways.