One Week Since My Hospital Visit

The Issue

It has been one week since my visit to the hospital and my symptoms have largely subsided. Since then, I've tried to make some proactive steps to make sure that my health is in order. This is really out of necessity because my blood pressure levels were really high and my heart rate was experiencing tachycardia. It was a scary experience that I do not wish on anybody. I'm thankful that all of my tests and levels came out normal; however, this has been an eye-opening experience that I need to take some significant action about my health.

There are many causes of high blood pressure including:

• Smoking 
• Being overweight 
• Lack of physical activity 
• Too much salt in the diet 
• Too much alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day) 
• Stress 
• Older Age 
• Genetics 
• Family history of high blood pressure 
• Chronic kidney disease 
• Adrenal and Thyroid disorders 

Of these possible causes there are some that I can immediately rule out: Smoking, Too much alcohol consumption, and Older Age. There are a couple more that are completely out of my control or unknown: Genetics, Chronic kidney disease, and Adrenal and Thyroid disorders. At this point, none of these issues are an immediate concern because I really can't control it and would be highly unlikely. So why worry about it? I do have an outstanding 24-hour urine analysis that is checking for the levels of catecholamines and metanephrines in my urine that I'm pretty sure are testing to see if I have a pheochromocytoma. That one is pretty hard to forget but I'm trying.

So that leaves that following causes for me to deal with:

• Being overweight 
• Too much salt in the diet 
• Lack of physical activity 
• Stress 

The Plan

Luckily, these causes of high blood pressure are something that I can handle with some changes in my lifestyle. Also, luckily, these are all issues that are somewhat related. Why am I overweight? Because I eat too much fast food. Why do I have too much salt in my diet? Because I eat too much fast food. So my first step to a healthier lifestyle:

1. Avoid Fast Food Like the Devil

So let's see some amazing numbers. One of my favorite meals is from Chick-fil-A. The fried-chicken sandwich just is so amazing that it probably takes me no more than 1 minute to eat it. I always get the meal; so we can add on a small Coke and a small order of fries to my menu. Of course, I always need my ketchup packets. Let's do an analysis of the nutrition of this meal:

• Calories: 910 (45.5% of daily intake) 
• Fat: 32 grams (49.2% of daily intake) 
• Saturated Fat: 6 grams (30.2% of daily intake) 
• Cholesterol: 60 milligrams (20% of daily intake) 
• Sodium: 2150 milligrams (89.5% of daily intake) 
• Carbohydrates: 128 grams (42.6% of daily intake) 
• Fiber: 4 grams (16% of daily intake) 
• Sugar: 53 grams (147% of daily intake) 
• Protein: 33 grams (66% of daily intake) 

* Based upon a 2000 Calorie Intake

This is terrible. In the worst possible way. Worse than terrible. This is a gut busting, blood pressure raising meal and I don't think that I can ever eat this again. 2150 milligrams of sodium is ridiculous. If I think back to the frequency that I ordered this meal and the other similar bad foods that I've eaten in a week, there isn't a question as to why I have high blood pressure. The thing is all fast food is like that. The better menu option would be the Chargrilled Chicken Cool Wrap but that still packs on 412 calories and 1070 milligrams of sodium!

There are diets out there that deal with high blood pressure. My nurse gave a form about the DASH diet which an approach that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods; includes meat, fish, poultry, nuts and beans; and is limited in sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, red meat, and added fats. Conceptually, I completely agree with that diet and it is a lesson that we must all come to learn and utilize daily:

2. Eat better quality foods

So that is what I'm doing. I'm not going to try a diet but I am going to change my thinking about food. For the interim, I'm reducing my total amount of sodium intake to about 1500 milligrams a day. In America, where we've perfected the art of preserving foods with sodium and have a salt shaker on every table, this is hard. However, I've been doing it all week and will hopefully see some physical results soon.

This is my results for the week (since Monday):

	09/10/12	09/11/12	09/12/12	09/13/12
Cals	1353	893	1503	1332
Fat	37 g	24 g	38 g	38 g
Cholesterol	95 mg	133 mg	35 mg	35 mg
Sodium	1157 mg	1044 mg	1382 mg	1381 mg
Carbs	198 g	101 g	254 g	208 g
Fiber	28 g	16 g	34 g	25 g
Protein	68 g	71 g	48 g	47 g
Sugars	72 g	21 g	105 g	78 g

In addition, I'm trying to keep my calories below 1475 in an effort to try to lose 2 pounds per week. I'm doing this by eating lots of fruits, nuts, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats and poultry. I'm avoiding processed foods because they typically are high in sodium content. I still need to incorporate more fish in my diet but we just don't prepare that at home very often.

3. Exercise

In order to lose weight and strengthen my heart and cardiovascular system, I'm going to be exercising at least 30 minutes every day. We've been walking but I want to slowly transition that into a run. We ran the other day and it just informed me how out-of-shape I am right now. But, if I keep working at it then it will get better. I've done it many times before and I know how to get into shape. I just need to motivation to do it.

In addition, I really can attribute my stress to my weight and lack of activity. As I continue to do this then I will lose weight, become more active, and reduce the stress that is in my life.

The Results (so far)

I'm currently taking some medication for my blood pressure and, for the most part, the numbers have decreased to normal-yet-somewhat-elevated levels. My hope is that in the next couple of weeks that my systolic number will be regularly at-or-below 120 and diastolic 80. I also hope that my resting heart rate will settle in the 70 - 80 range. I have made progress in a week but I've got some work to do. Thanks for supporting me in this endeavor.