Everyone in my family has high blood pressure and is on medication — except me. It’s actually quite simple…
High blood pressure runs in my family, along with addiction and mental health issues — mostly anxiety and depression. Everyone has either been on blood pressure pills at some point, or is unmedicated and struggles with daily high blood pressure..….CONTINUE READING
I knew from a young age that I didn’t want to follow suit, I always had this resistance to being on pills. I’m not sure where it came from — but I had a reluctance and fear of taking them.
I definitely got the anxious gene — and I always felt like I would have a bad reaction to a pill and would think — what’s really in there?
I was fearful of ending up an addict — like both of my parents, so I guess that could be why. Substances scared the shit out me, even if it was just a Gravol for an upset tummy….I would just not tell them about my tummy aches, and hide in my room so I could avoid having to take a pill.
As I grew older, the trend continued and I wanted to avoid anything that would cause me to have to take pharmaceuticals. I managed my anxiety with tools rather than Ativan. I got through illnesses with fluids and rest rather than cold medication.
I’m still alive, so I guess it’s working.
As for my blood pressure, it has always been low. Every time I get it checked the doctor complimented me on it.“Wow, that’s perfect!”Or“Keep doing what you’re doing!”
Everytime I tested it myself, I was in the “optimal” zone. I knew I wasdifferentthan my family —but the results still came to me as a surprise every time.
Despite having a very stressful job for years, despite it running in my family, against all odds — I still have managed to keep it low and under control.
So…what am I doing differently?
Photo by Thirdman: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-healthcare-worker-measuring-a-patient-s-blood-pressure-using-a-sphygmomanometer-7659564/
Well, it’s really quite simple and these might be things you’ve already heard before, but I’m going to share because they work — and shouldn’t be underestimated.
1. What I consume
I eat a predominantly plant-based diet, with meat maximum of once a week. Good quality, grass-fed beef usually. I avoid anything processed as much as possible — it makes up about 5% of my diet.
Most importantly, I make my meals 95% of the time. Once a weekmaximumI will get takeout, otherwise, I’m making all my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners from home. This is the most important factor by far
. All the added oils and salt and sugar in takeout are tremendous — if you simply cook at home for yourself I’m certain your blood pressure will be lower.
The other thing I do — is drink a lot of water and herbal tea. I don’t drink pop or highly processed juices — or anything remotely close to that. Just water and tea. The odd glass of champagne or kombucha is nice — but again, that’s a rarity.
Do I treat myself, ever?
OF COURSE! I love good local ice cream, I love baking pies, I love cakes! And I fully allow myself to have those — just not every single night, and even if I did, the rest of my day is so healthy that I wouldn’t even worry about it! I also bake most of my goodies myself or buy locally — freshly make desserts.
2. I move my body
I don’t run, I don’t do intense cycling, I don’t do Crossfit — I walk. I walk alot.I like to walk when I’m on phone calls with clients or when I’m listening to podcasts. I also love to do yoga, stretch and breathe. Sometimes I like to put on music and dance around a bit.
Moral of the story — I get my juices flowing! Lately, I’ve been adding in more resistance training, and I have little weights I use, some squats, etc — but mostly I do bodyweight exercises like yoga.
The key here — I move my body every day
. I have a standing desk and I don’t sit docile very often, unless I’m unwinding and relaxing.
3. I manage my stress
You can be skinny, fit, eating healthy, and still have high blood pressure from one simple thing — not managing your stress well. I actually just chatted with a friend the other day who is struggling with this. He is very stressed out at work and his doctor said he should go on medication, he doesn’t want to and he knows what its from —stress. So, he’s going to work on the right tools to manage it.
How do I manage it?
Well, one of the biggest game changers for me was yoga. I did yoga every day almost for over 10 years and truly learned everything I needed to know about how to really notice stress in the body and how to release it.
We hold so much stress in the body and if we don’t get it moving out — it will manifest into stress and eventually disease.
I pause throughout the day — simplynoticethe stress — focus on it, listen to it, and it tells me what I need to do to release it. Normally it shows up in my shoulders or my solar plexus — I breathe into that area and slow myself down. The answer always comes.
The key here — is to not hold on to the stress.
You need to find ways to get it movingoutof you and release it, every day, often times multiple times a day.
Yoga was a great tool for me, but so were many books and so was therapy. I recommend starting with something that resonates with you and being open to a few different ways to learn how to find the perfect tools for you to release your stress.
And remember this — even good stress is stress
. So sure, you may love your spouse and your kids, but that can be a huge source of stress too! Do what’s best for you — your health with thank you for it.
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I hope this was insightful and helpful to any of you. High blood pressure is one of those things that self perpetuates the problem — when it’s high, you stress so it goes higher! Youmustfind tools to learn to not let that get you more wound up. You have more control over changing it than you may think.
I am not by any means saying you should not medicate, but if you’d like some tools that work for someone who had all the bets stacked against them, try these simple things and I’m sure they will help you...….CONTINUE READING