Hello everyone.
Newbie, here.
Been diagnosed with High Blood pressure and was told I can find information at the BHF, which has led me here.
So looking to see how I can reduce my BP and weight.
Doctor wants me to drop to 80kg, from 94kg I recon that's a tall order but I'll try.
Regards
Gary
Hi Hikeifulike and welcome to the forum.I was diagnosed with high bp three years ago and like you needed to lose weight but I did it and I'm sure you will too!
Thank you
Hello and welcome. When I was first diagnosed with high blood pressure (over 20 years ago) I was prescribed with the usual pills. A few years later I decided to lose weight and joined Weightwatchers. I lost two stone and came off the pills. I’ve always been a gym attender but changed my exercises to more cardio based classes. I loved the classes (HIIT, salsa in addition to tai chi). These classes saved my life. Some people prefer Slimmers World I wouldn’t like to think I was advertising. I am much older now and trying to lose weight again but I have a good healthy and balanced diet.
Thank you for the advise
Like many others I have natural high blood pressure which was discovered at a 'well man' check well over 20 years ago. And since then I have been taking medication, in my case Irbesartan which seems to do the job. I recall having a few side effects including feeling slightly dizzy for a couple of weeks or so when I started taking the medication but that then wore off. As far as BP is concerned I suggest you buy a reliable BP monitor to take daily readings for the time being at least to keep an eye on things but don't get obsessive about it.
And If you have been told to lose weight buy some reliable bathroom scales and take daily readings, which sounds excessive but will be part of your plan. That's what I am doing at present since I am also trying to lose weight. Set yourself small targets as part of a larger one. Mine was 7kg from 82kg. In six weeks I have lost about 5kg and am setting myself 1 kg target loss every 7 to 10 days. My plan has been to take a brisk walk each day, for at least 25 minutes, and cut down or eliminate cakes and biscuits, not that I ate many of those in the first place, cut out cheese which I love, and halve my alcohol consumption. My diet does not include a lot of fatty foods or sweet stuff anyway so that was not a problem. Otherwise I am eating the about same. My belief is that, for me, its mainly exercise that enables me to lose weight, certainly in summer when I am more active I weigh less than in winter.
So set yourself a sensible, manageable plan for weight loss involving exercise and diet, one that you can comfortably achieve, and hope to continue without too much effort. But importantly adopt a 'can do' attitude and the rest will fall into place. Finally when you have lost your first 5kg go pick up a 5 litre bottle of water and wonder how you managed to drag that additional weight around all the time, even more so if its 2 bottles!
Wow, that's inspiring.Where would one find decent eating plans?
Try this for starters
bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...
Otherwise a few nondescript tips from me
1. Don't snack.
2. Avoid sugar wherever possible including biscuits, cakes, puddings, in tea and coffee and hot chocolate, cola and the like, fruit yoghurts, sugar on cereal, etc etc etc.
3. Avoid fat laden salty take-aways if you can.
4. Plenty of fruit and veg.
5. Smaller portions.
6. Alcohol in moderation (lots of calories).
7. Cook from scratch if you can rather than buying ready made supermarket meals. That way you know what goes into them. Your food might taste better too and you might even save some ££.
8. Drink water if you are thirsty.
Thanks so much, this isn't going to be easy, I have a serious sweet tooth. But I'll certainly try my best.
If you have 'a serious sweet tooth' that may be a significant contributor to your weight problems, yet may also provide a major boost to your weight reduction plan. If you immediately cut out the unnecessary sugary snacks and soft drinks, progressively reduce the quantity of sugar in tea and coffee and on cereal etc down to nothing over a several weeks, and use a cake, biscuit, or pudding as an infrequent reward for your weight loss, you will slowly wean yourself off sugar. My understanding is that sugar is believed to be addictive, so by reducing the amount you consume over a period of time (rather than the equivalent of 'cold turkey') you and your body will be less stressed. But don't forget your daily exercise which should become a key part of your weight reduction plan, for not only will it help you lose weight but it is also good for your heart.
Dear Hikeifulike
A big warm welcome to you, I hope that you find this forum to be as helpful as I do.
You don't say what your weight is at the moment or your height. There is some amazing information on here on losing that weight and hopefully a balance in your blood pressure will follow.
It looks like that your Dr is looking to the weight loss first before issuing medication, this seem odd to me but I am not medically trained.
Im sure that they are keeping an eye on you, have they told you about any other tests? Or about taking your own blood pressure at home?
Please let us know how you are getting on as we are here to help you the best we can.
Take care
Apologies. I'm 1.75m, and currently weigh 94 kg. I was 106 kg after the first lock down.I used to drink loads of energy drinks and pop to stay awake in my old job, but my new job, which I'm actually leaving soon, does not involve driving so I stopped drinking energy drinks, I think that's what maintained my weight. I was given tablets by the doctor and I have a small BP machine, and "Florence" tells me when to take reading.
Wow, sounds like a new lifestyle change is in order.
Thank you for the advice.
I'll certainly try.
Size of print
Newly diagnosd EF of 40 following unexpected heart attack. All advice greatly received. Thx
Waste of time with GP
pericarditis 
Microvascular angina 
