Devestation, Fustration and then Happiness

I had known that my blood pressure readings were high the last couple of years. I just sit in my chair of denial and tell myself that it was because I was nervous to visit the doctor, or I had just taken the stairs instead of the elevator to get to the doctor's office. Three weeks ago I was at the doctor again, my blood pressure was high 136/84, they re-checked it 15 minutes later and it was still high 138/88. Hypertension is diagnosed after 3 BP readings of 140/90 or greater. I was getting too close to that. I have family members with hypertension and will likely develop it someday. I am making changes in my like to keep that diagnosis as far away as possible.

I am now on a low sodium diet. Sounds easy enough until you go to the grocery store and look at the sodium content of all the foods you normally eat. I cried through that first grocery store visit. I am on a 1200-1500mg sodium per day diet. I felt like a commercial for sodium:

Tomato sauce - 450mg

Bread - 130mg

Deli meat - 290mg

cereal - 250mg

soup - 500mg

cheese - 730mg

Finding that you can't eat a lot of the foods you normally would eat - Devastating!

The good news is that I can eat raw fruits and veggies, meat that I prepare myself. I can eat most bread, eggs, rice, and shredded wheat is sodium free as well.I found low sodium peanut butter, unsalted nuts, and chocolate is very low in sodium as well. My mom even found low sodium tortilla chips - they taste great. However, it all comes at a price. Low sodium foods are more expensive than their sodium filled counterparts. Who knew it cost more to NOT ADD an ingredient.

I have found that I still can make my kids mac'n'cheese or chicken nuggets and I'll just make myself some parmesan noodles or an egg salad sandwich. We all still eat fruits and veggies and salads on the side. I can make more foods from scratch though that is tough for me time wise some nights.

I've been working on this diet for nearly 3 weeks. I have also been working on fitting more exercise into my week, everything from walking the dog, taking the stairs at work and running around on the playground with the kids. All of this has lead to more energy, less bloating and feeling happier all around. In addition I am pleased to report that when I last checked my BP at work it was 122/73 and I have lost 3 pounds. I'm feeling great!