February is the month to think of your heart and how you can keep it healthy and since I have high blood pressure and a congenital heart defect, that was surgically corrected I thought I should spend a few minutes on the topic before the month slips through my fingers.
I urge everyone to eat a healthy, low fat, low sodium, low carb diet.
I have made diet changes in the last few years that have made a difference in my life. Besides watching my sodium which is really bad for people with high blood pressure, and everyone else, I have started eating a low carbohydrate diet.
Low carb was introduced into our lives by my husband's doctor because he is pre-diabetic. He restricts his carb intake to 150 or less a day. I do not restrict mine as much, but we have given up bread, and most crackers because of all the carbs.
We use sugar and honey sparingly in recipes and when possible substitute Agave syrup.
We also eat primarily fresh fruits and vegetables and very little meat. I eat less meat than he does and when I do it is usually shrimp or salmon.
We eat cheese, though again, I eat less than him.
We still have the occasional dessert, just not a very big one. We have sub-sized (down-sized) our eating, instead of super-sized it. We will split a dessert, if we choose to have one. I wish more places would do like PF Chang's Sweet Treats or Olive Garden's Dolcini and serve those little one or two bite desserts, because that is all you need to satisfy your sweet tooth.
I love cooking so this makes it fun as I love to try new recipes.
Since September of 2012, I have lost 10 pounds and am still working on loosing more. I feel better, and have more energy. I have also gone done a few pants sizes, and am thinking I may need to do some shopping.
Though I continue to take medication for my high blood pressure and leaky heart valve my last check up, just this week, was very good. My blood pressure was 102/ 63 and my doctor said that she could not hear the murmur in my heart, which means the medication is working.
I plan to continue on this path and see if I can loose another ten or twenty pounds by the end of the year.
Along with diet I workout, though not as much as I should according to my husband. I am looking forward to spring when the roads are clear of snow and ice so I can head out on my bicycle and we can ride our tandem again. Until then I use my Wii Fit, Wii Zumba, Walk with Lesley, lift weights, and I may bring one of the bikes in the house and set it up like an exercise bicycle.
I urge everyone to eat a healthy, low fat, low sodium, low carb diet.
I have made diet changes in the last few years that have made a difference in my life. Besides watching my sodium which is really bad for people with high blood pressure, and everyone else, I have started eating a low carbohydrate diet.
Low carb was introduced into our lives by my husband's doctor because he is pre-diabetic. He restricts his carb intake to 150 or less a day. I do not restrict mine as much, but we have given up bread, and most crackers because of all the carbs.
We use sugar and honey sparingly in recipes and when possible substitute Agave syrup.
We also eat primarily fresh fruits and vegetables and very little meat. I eat less meat than he does and when I do it is usually shrimp or salmon.
We eat cheese, though again, I eat less than him.
We still have the occasional dessert, just not a very big one. We have sub-sized (down-sized) our eating, instead of super-sized it. We will split a dessert, if we choose to have one. I wish more places would do like PF Chang's Sweet Treats or Olive Garden's Dolcini and serve those little one or two bite desserts, because that is all you need to satisfy your sweet tooth.
I love cooking so this makes it fun as I love to try new recipes.
Since September of 2012, I have lost 10 pounds and am still working on loosing more. I feel better, and have more energy. I have also gone done a few pants sizes, and am thinking I may need to do some shopping.
Though I continue to take medication for my high blood pressure and leaky heart valve my last check up, just this week, was very good. My blood pressure was 102/ 63 and my doctor said that she could not hear the murmur in my heart, which means the medication is working.
I plan to continue on this path and see if I can loose another ten or twenty pounds by the end of the year.
Along with diet I workout, though not as much as I should according to my husband. I am looking forward to spring when the roads are clear of snow and ice so I can head out on my bicycle and we can ride our tandem again. Until then I use my Wii Fit, Wii Zumba, Walk with Lesley, lift weights, and I may bring one of the bikes in the house and set it up like an exercise bicycle.
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