Introduce Yourself Here

Hello. My name is Annette and I live in Texas with my husband and kids. Blood pressure is through the roof 149/102 and that is WITH medication. I am overweight too so I need to lose 50 pounds and get on the DASH diet. It runs in my family but I am hoping that with diet and exercise I can get off my medication. Hoping everyone is safe and healthy

Recently found out I have high blood pressure and doc put me on a low dose med but not so sure it is working like it should still having some high numbers at times. So going to start watching what I eat and exercising more. Have heard about the DASH diet and figure it is the best option for me at this time.

Hi There! Welcome to the team! We are so glad you are here!

I have had high blood pressure for years. Unfortunately it runs in the family. I have been on 4 meds a day, but recently HCTZ has been making me exceptionally dry mouth and messing with my electrolytes so they took me off, but blood pressure is 130/68 and they insist with Type 2 diabetes and labs in high normal range for kidneys that blood pressure needs to be lower. I am hoping I can lower it some with the DASH Diet. So I saw this team and decided I need to get healthier and lose weight and learn to reduce my sodium intake so I would look for support and good nutrition ideas on this team. Please feel free to stop by my spark page and get to know me. Looking forward to getting to know you as well.

Edited by: CD23833959 at: 6/15/2019 (15:33)

So glad you joined us! We can do it together! Feel free to add me as a friend.

Hi to all
The Dash diet has always been the one I choose, even though I know I have'nt fully followed it, but it gives me the best of what I can handle.
Trying to lose the last 3-4 pounds is very difficult.
Hope to meet new friends here.

Welcome Pamela! So glad you joined the team!

Edited by: VEGGIEPAT at: 5/27/2019 (20:23)

Just joined today and have had hypertension for a few years now controlled with a low dose med. I'd like to do better with daily sodium intake levels. I am in the pre-diabetic range as well and keeping an eye on both (sodium, blood glucose) is a win-win.

Hubby just spent eight days in the hospital with gastro issues. He has high blood pressure and is borderline diabetic. The doctor suggested the Dash plan so tomorrow we will both be starting.

Welcome Lavender, I hope the dietitian can help you. I have kidney disease and the dietitian helped me a lot. Eat whole foods! So much less sodium. Stay away from processed foods! All the luck in the world to you.

I am 64 yrs old and have Heart Failure. I was in the hospital in August 2018 because I ate too much sodium and ended up on a ventilator. I really have to get my sodium done so I don't end up in the hospital again. The doctors are afraid that I won't survive another episode. I went to a Dietitian today and she is going to help me plan meals so they are within the proper range. I think following the dash diet while help.

Welcome Lisa, good luck!

Hi there! My name is Lisa. Last Monday (10th) my eyesight started feeling off and by Wednesday I was seeing double. Here it is a week later and not much has changed with the exception of a little knowledge and a plan. When I went into the eye doctor my BP was really high and after he diagnosed me, he told me to go see my primary doctor as well as seek out a neurologist to find out if something was going on in my brain. Thankfully all is officially well in my brain, but I do have a weakened lateral muscle in my right eye that is a direct result of my high BP. I started meds on Monday (17th) and am getting labs this morning to determine any nutrient deficiencies. I have been instructed to lose weight and to watch my sodium intake, so here I am looking for support and accountability on my journey. I've been a SparkPeople member for several years, but never have been able to be consistent in checking in or participating. This is real, though, and I can see (although not very well LOL) the negative affects my poor health is having on my body, so hopefully this time will be different. Thanks for listening and thank you to those of you who have already sent me SP goodies.

Edited by: LISASM at: 9/19/2018 (08:31)

Welcome to all the new members

Welcome!

Just joined Team - newly diagnosed with HBP and started medication yesterday.

Welcome to the team and to Dash!

Hello! I'm new to this team also and working the dash diet along with my husband.

Welcome

Welcome to all the new team members! All my best to you all always. Janette

Welcome Soft_Val67!

Hi, I am new to this team.

Welcome Caspermulan1

Hi! New to the team! Just finished a couple of challenges and was looking for a fifth team so I wouldn't waste my Spark point Spins. Plus, keeping up with 5 teams is a good number for me.
So I am here because my Dr suggested the DASH diet since as my weight went up so did my Blood Pressure. I have been Sparking a little over two months and have slowly been losing weight. YEAH! And I am trying to learn more about DASH. So when I saw this team I thought it was a good idea! So Hello! everyone!

You are so welcome Linda!

Thank you!

Linda, welcome to the team! All my best to you always. Janette

New to the team, but not new to DASH diet. I am getting back on it and want to join with like-minded people. I have been on Spark since 2008. I am 66 with a husband and two kitties. We live in Central Texas. I sell on Etsy since retirement. Dh is still working, as he is a few years younger than I am.

welcome back, all my best to you always.

Simply_JAE
I know you can do this!!

I am back..I have swelling.numbers are too high.. I feel sluggish...I am here to do better

Welcome Sharyn! all my best to you always. Janette

Welcome Sharyn. Dash plan is great for the heart.

My name is Sharyn..My new doctor wants me on Dash plan,my cholesterol is higher than should be,trig. is higher too...I just recently bought gold book by Marie Heller? and I know what to do, it is just doing it!! at least I am not diabetic,guess that is good news anyway....also def need to lose weight,go figure....feel free to friend me...I just started back on spark after a few years being absent...new account....(.I should be lower than goal weight,just looks better than what I truly should weigh for now!!)

Edited by: SHARYNANN2 at: 8/3/2017 (12:22)

Welcome to the team! I am sure your numbers will get better as you change your diet and get regular exercise in. My parents where the same way. Then my brother got diagnosed with diabetes and he didn't want to be put on medicines for it, the high blood pressure and cholesterol too, but they put him on them anyways instead of giving him a chance to change his numbers. And the medicines had side effects he didn't like such as muscle weakness and such. So he worked hard at changing his diet, and exercising to lower his dosage, and then to get off of them.

I ended up with gallstones and that was effecting my liver and kidneys. I got put on high blood pressure medicines. My blood sugar and cholesterol where a little high but not bad. So they didn't put me on anything for them. They put me on the DASH Diet and I upped my exercise and changed all my blood test scores for the better. I had my blood pressure medicine cut in half twice. I lost 30 lbs too.

I had some other health issues, went back to work and slacked off on doing what was best for me and put some weight back on. So before I go back to my doctors, I need to get back to watching more what I am eating and how much. I get a lot of walking in with work, but should step up with other types of exercise too.

All my best to you always. Janette

I have been trying to follow a diet for reducing my blood pressure as well as my cholesterol for the past year. Both my cholesterol and blood pressure were elevated last year when I went to the doctors office and since then I have been following the guidelines for reducing my cholesterol as well as following information I have found on the DASH way of eating.

I will find out sometime this coming week what my cholesterol levels are now. Last year my HDL was extremely good, but the LDL was climbing and my overall cholesterol was just over 200.

My blood pressure this past week was 140/78 and the doctor is not too concerned since it has come down. But I would like to get it down even further if I can. In the past year I have dropped 15 pounds - I was only 125 pounds last year at this time and I am 63.75 inches tall so I was not overweight and when I started to change things, my goal was to get the cholesterol and blood pressure down, not loose weight (I know that sounds strange to most folks)

Anyway, my mother has been taking medication for high blood pressure for years, and both parents take medication for high cholesterol. I prefer to see if I can control them with diet and exercise rather than prescription medications.

You are so welcome! Have a great weekend. And take care. Janette

Thanks!

Welcome Linda! All my best to you always. Janette

Hello, I have been trying to go it alone on the DASH diet. I have PA (too much aldosterone from adrenal glands causes hypertension) and need to eat low sodium high potassium.
I am 66 and have been on Spark since 2008. Weight has gone up and down as well as blood pressure.
I have a great husband and two cats!
Looking forward to getting to know you.

Marielle, Welcome to the team. Janette

I am 73 years old and have CKD 3 plus high blood pressure. DASH diet was recommended and I have been following it as well as I can for several years. My GFR level dropped from 45 down to 38 this past month so I will be seeing a nephrologist next week to see what is going on. I just found a calorie adjustment for the DASH diet for 1200 calories so will try to stay in those guidelines. It is very hard for me to lose weight but have lost 9 lbs in the past two months by staying at or around 1200 calories. Happy to be here.

Welcome to the team!

Good Morning. I am a stay at home mom who loves music and art. I play in some local orchestras for fun in my spare time. I have gained about 50 pounds in over 20 years and have 3 kids. It went on slowly and I just let it happen.
A few years ago I discovered the Dash diet. It helped me and my son lose 20 pounds. We got off of it and now he is gained 40 more. I am trying to help him (he is 17) but sometimes when I feel that I am solving the problem, I am also the one causing it. I am learning once again about the differences between weight loss myths and real weight loss solutions.
I hope to get some good advice and recipes from you all here and make some new friends.

Edited by: AMUSICALLIFE at: 4/26/2017 (07:02)

www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hea
lth-topics
/topics/dash This one is good. Just google DASH DIET and you will see other free info.

Welcome to the team! I just got a little hand out on Dash from my doctor a few years ago. She didn't have me do any phases, but I had already cut stuff like that out for about a yr. And I had already dropped 30 lbs on my own. And she wanted me to add more grains, dairy, fruits and such back into my diet so that it would be more balanced.

I found some free info on the DASH diet online too after that.

Hi, I just started Dash too, because of High Blood Pressure and should have started long ago ... but i just got lazier and lazier and fatter and fatter....... now blood pressure and pre diabetic.

I got the book on Amazon for 5.00 plus postage. it was affordable. It has a gold cover and the tltle is the Dash diet for Weight Loss.

basically the first two weeks is lean meat and fish and vegetables but not potatoes. No bread or rice or pasta. of course goes without saying no sweets or sugary drinks.

because of my blood pressure i gave up coffee. I gave up coca cola too.

good luck to you. this diet and walking every day my blood pressure has gotten much lower . so thankful. now im trying to work on the pre diabeties.

Welcome to all the new members! Janette

Glad you joined our team.

Please post on our wall and visit our team forums. We want to hear from you.

I am new to this group but not to Spark. Looking forward to some wonderful tips for lowering my blood pressure and losing some pounds.

Hi

I am new to the group but not to Sparkpeople.

I moved to a new city and went to a new cardiologist today and he said I should start the DASH diet as my blood pressure is high and losing weight will help. I've gained about 15 pounds in the last 6 months due to not exercising and will take his advice seriously.

Where do I start? Do I need to buy th DASH books?

Thanks

Hi kind of new to the group. Not quite sure how to use it.

..... Hi to the group!

Edited by: NEENEE2MATOS0UP at: 4/20/2017 (07:27)

KOHLRABIGIRL, welcome and congrats

KOHLRABGIRL-

Hello all! Started daily exercise and healthy eating in January. I am feeling healthier, but I know summer is just around the corner and that I need to get my sodium intake under control. I want to avoid another summer of swollen feet if I can! My nutrition tracker has made it clear that I need to find ways to reduce the amount of sodium I consume. I have stopped adding salt at the table. I am happy with losing the weight slowly, so my focus is to keep up what I'm doing but to zone in on changing my buying/cooking/baking habits in relation to salt to see if I can make a noticeable difference.

Prehypertension can be prevented if I take these steps:

NA — If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.

— Be moderately physically active on most days of the week.

— Maintain a healthy weight.

— Follow a healthy eating plan, which includes foods lower in sodium.


Edited by: KOHLRABIGIRL at: 4/10/2017 (14:06)

You are so welcome! All my best to you always. Janette

Great suggestions. Thanks.

I had plantar fasciitis, and doing those tips really helped me. Now I just have to watch that in the summer my feet might swell up, and then I loosen my tennis shoes as wide as I can and don't worry about lacing them up to help with that. Go with sandals and flats that are wide and lose also helps.

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I have been wearing an insert for my sneakers for a year. I have worn wide shoes for over a decade. I even tried going up a shoe size a year ago, before I went to the doctor, but got a blister. Not doing that again, lol. Thanks for the helpful tips.

IRISHGIRL74, Have they told you to switch to shoes with really good arch support and lots of cushioning padding? Also you might need to go to "Wide" shoes too instead of regular. It really helped me. Also avoid going barefoot on hard surfaces like cement, tile floors, wood floors.

You might want to see if that helps you at all.

Welcome to the team! Janette

Thank you.

Welcome to the team.

Hi everyone. I've been on sparkpeople for a long time. But, I haven't been "good" with my eating and working out. Now that I'm getting back on plan with diet and working out. I have been told recently by my primary care doctor my blood pressure is high. I've been dealing with my feet hurting for a very long time. I was going to a podiatrist. Part of the issue has been the bone structure in my feet, but of course my weight doesn't help. I was going to rehab, and it helped some, but not enough. It didn't deal with the bp, I guess. A few weeks ago I went to primary care doc because I was in so much pain again, I couldn't stand it. I had already had my annual physical schedule for Monday, so she told me to get the blood work done. My feet feel better, but not 100%.

My doc told me about the dash diet. I figured I would incorporate it and use my sp trackers for food, water and workouts.

So, long story short, that's me.

ABBYR415- welcome to our team!

ABBYR415, Welcome to the team. All my best to you always.

Hi, everyone! I've been on Spark for a couple of weeks, and just joined the group. My weight is going down, but not my BP, so I think I need a bit of a push for that. Hope to get to know you all.

Great, all my best to you always. Janette

Thank you, J. Getting close to the end of my first week of tracking food.

Welcome Ginna

Good choice, Bevie. I'm new to this team, but my experience with DASH has been all positive.

I've been working hard to make positive changes in my life and I feel following the tenants of DASH will only enhance the changes I have begun. One of my goals is to be taken off high blood pressure medication and I realize to achieve that goal I am going to need help and support from others.

Thanks for the welcome! Love DASH after living with it for a good part of the last few years.

GINNAR
Welcome to our team.
So glad you joined us.

Making a new start here. Although I had very good results last year, the fall came and with it pounds creeped up. Now I am trying DASH Action plan. As a senior (72), I don't want to redo Phase 1. Cutting out food groups at the start is a bit much for me. I'm active with daily exercise, walking or gym -Silver Sneakers, and cutting out grains and fruit took too much energy. Now I'm trying to stay between 1200 and 1600 calories while tracking.
This team seems to be active and support is what it is about.

LUVS2BIKE101, Welcome!

I am glad you joined us!

Hi, I'm new to this team and new to DASH. After strong advice from my son who is a neurosurgeon, I am going to do my best in following the DASH plan. I've read some information about it and realized that I already follow most of what is recommended. I am looking for your support to try to help me keep my blood pressure within a normal range without medication.
Thank you for allowing me to join this team and for your support!

Glad to have you on the team. I have had issues with my kidneys and liver in past due to diet and gallstones. Changing diet, and exercising more, and losing some weight really helped the issue.

All my best to you to turn things around for you too.

Thank you for the welcome!

Welcome

I am glad you joined us!

Hi, I am new to this team. I read about the DASH diet and am trying to get more insights into what it is. I have some kidney disfunction so it's important to pay attention to my blood presssure.

Welcome to the new members

My name is Cathy , I am 51 years old and I have type 2 diabetes. My blood sugars have not been cooperating lately and I know dash works but I need help and support.

I have hyperaldosteronism with benign tumors on my adrenal glands. I was recommended to follow this diet. High aldosterone levels cause high blood pressure. I have other health issues, as well.

Right now I eat out too much and my life is simply out of balance. Trying to find balance and routine. Not the greatest time to start. I ordered the book and cookbook and it should be here soon.

I am 66 (just turned on Nov 9), dear husband and two cats. I have a home business and no children. Never had the privilege of having kids. Lots of nieces and nephews! Dh is a few years younger and in law enforcement. He hopes to retire soon.

Edited by: ICANINSIGHT at: 11/12/2016 (10:32)

I am still waiting for the ultrasound to find out about the lump in my lung. A C.P.K. muscle blood test 3 weeks ago had a result of 570,Dr. said athletes are 500,normal is 200 and thought mine was high from exercise. I checked the internet yesterday and found out normal is 22-200. Ideal is 145 for women and 171 for men and 200 means more strength in the muscles. A low count means muscles are weak.Above 200 means damage to muscles from extreme exercise or exercises including my chronic kidney disease. My kidneys function at 50%.It means my blood is not replacing my muscles every 2-3 days like it is suppose too. This is what raises it by building up and causing damage. It says on the internet to see A Dr. immediately to fix it.The higher the number the more damage. So mine is damaged the same as a extreme athlete and is what causes constant pain in my legs. I will go back to the Dr..
See more information below on last post.

I just joined this team today. I am over 60 and I am married to a very good man for many years now. I live in Ohio. I have two dogs. I am on Spark to loose weight and also improve my health issues, as much as I can. I have made a plan and some goals, that I am trying to stick to everyday. I am making this a life long commitment and working at my own pace. I exercise but not to much as I have very bad arthritis and other issues, I am also dealing with. I have been on here a little over 1 week and lost 3 lbs. already, and was grateful for that. I just hope I don't blow it, as I do not have good willpower. I am hanging in there and doing the best I can. I love listening to music and watching old movies and reading magazines etc.

I have chronic kidney disease, 50% kidney function and thought this might help. I have a blood clot in one lung and a lump in the other, so my blood pressure is only 75/55, sometimes lower and my hormones stopped producing red blood cells because of kidney disease , I have 59% red blood cells left. I was given a hormone shot for this. I was given Iron pills with hemoglobin for anemia and I am on blood thinners for my blood clot..I will find out in a month with a ultrasound what the lump is, it causes pain constantly,but,no pain from the clot.

Edited by: CD16571910 at: 10/30/2016 (14:07)