High blood pressure is an indicator of cardiovascular problems. That is worrying. Did you know that for 40% of the people who die from a fatal heart attack, the first indicator that they have any problem at all is the heart attack that kills them? If you know you have high blood pressure then you have already had your warning!
So if you know there is a problem and you know you have to do something about it then where do you start?
The first thing to do is to consult a doctor and ensure that you have things under control. You may need some medication in the short term to ensure that nothing bad happens to you while you are working on improving your situation.
If you have high blood pressure then I strongly recommend that you look into Omega 3 fatty acids and see just how much they can do for you to help reverse your problems.
You should also review your diet. You should review it for your choice of foods and you should review it for the effect it has on your weight.
There is a direct correlation between your weight and your blood pressure. As your weight rises then so does your blood pressure. If you lower your weight then you will normally lower your blood pressure.
All the fat in your body is serviced with a spider web of capillaries and other blood vessels, kilometres and kilometres of them. The more body fat you have the more work your heart needs to do to keep blood pumping through your body.
The process of losing weight sounds easy, and I'll give you some easy guidelines to think about but first let me say, time your time, be sensible about it.
Deciding to get fit to lose weight and starting an exercise program like you used to do 10 years ago is not a very smart thing to do. Take your time and change some things that will stay with you. What I mean is that going to the gym 6 days a week will be great while you are doing it but what happens when you stop? The weight comes back on!
Make some changes in your life that are sustainable and the weight you lose will stay off and your blood pressure, hopefully, will come down and stay down.
First, remember that your body will work with you if it is comfortable. If it is not getting the basic nutrition you need it will think it is staving and will work directly against you with a slow metabolism and by trying to store fat. A good, broad spectrum, nutrition program or nutrition supplement is always a good place to start. If you are using meal replacement, though make sure it is soy based and try to go with an established company who has done the clinical trails to prove their process and not the latest trendy thing that is likely to be pulled off the shelves in the next 6 months.
The next thing is to look at your current lifestyle.
A kilo of body fat, that's a couple of pounds, requires about 7,000 calories. If you could find a way to keep everything else the same but to cut out 500 calories a day from your current diet then, if your metabolism is okay, you an expect to drop about 3,500 calories a week which equates to half a kilo, or about a pound. This amount of weight dropped of weekly over 5 months is more that 10 kilo, 3 stone.
What is 500 calories?
- Replace a coffee with sugar and a donut with a piece of fruit and a glass of water, just once a day and you have done it.
- Replace a chocolate bar with a tub of fruit yogurt and you have done it.
- Skip desert or just take a very small serve.
There are many ways we can make small changes in our lives that lead to ongoing weight loss with the corresponding drop in blood pressure.
20 or 30 min of light exercise a day, 3 or 4 times a week, will have the same sort of beneficial effect. If the exercise has an aerobic effect to get your breath active and your blood pumping, maybe brisk walking, bike riding, swimming, then this level of exercise is enough to set up the "training effect. When that happens your body will work with you to get you into the condition you need to be to handle regular exercise. You will have more energy and find it easier to lose weight.
Regular exercise also has a direct effect on lowering blood pressure and balancing out cholesterol. Active people have a measurably lower risk of heart attack than people of the same weight who are not active.
Choosing a more diet friendly choice of food when you eat your main meal is another way that small changes can improve your weight, improve your blood pressure, potentially save our life.
So, drop out some fats and sugars from your diet, start a nutrition program, do some regular exercise, think about your food choices. These things alone should be enough for you to get steady weight loss and steady decrease in your blood pressure.
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