[Perna]

Okay, my very high blood pressure is uncontrolled and I go to the "new" doctor's next week. I'm 100-120 pounds overweight. I'm only 52+ percent more likely than a healthy average person to have a stroke in the next 10 years. I took the American Heart Association blood pressure quiz that figures out your risks and then asks you questions about what you're willing to do about it and then refigures your risks. Looks like I have to lose at least 20 pounds. So, I printed up a promise to lose 20 pounds by my birthday in late October, signed it and put it with another paper on exercise to give to the new doctor.

So, now I need a "plan" I can keep to and work at, etc. It appears very doable, only about 5 pounds a month. Hopefully it will rearrange a few of my other chronic things like my asthma. But I hate being regimented, "having" to do things, especially if I think they're under someone else's control/"for" someone else. I hate being threatened. I'm a little excited at the moment, full of the usual resolve, etc. but. . . I've been working in this mode for over a year (started/had a very good plan last February, 2006). My health people have urged meds, etc. and I've said, "no, I'm going to lose weight" -- with the exception of the weight, to a certain extent some of my problems are the result of poor health care in the past/doctors that messed up so I'm not real keen on doctors and meds. How can I make this time different and have it in place and "working" by next week when I got to this doctor?

[Monty_girl]

Perna, You sound like you are in the same shape right now that I'm in. I went to the doctor last week with high blood presure. My new doctor put me on a BP medication and told me I need to lose some weight. I'm 60 lbs over weight right now. My grandfather had his first stroke in his late 30's. I'll be 35 this Oct. If you want to we can team up and lose 20 lbs for our birthday's in Oct. My birthday is the 23rd. My doctor gave me a meal plan, if you like the plan we could do it together. Let me know.
Monty

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/publ...week_dash.html

[Perna]

That would be cool, Monty girl, teaming up. I've bought the DASH diet/book(s) (and downloaded it) lots of times but just can't get myself to follow a made-out diet, I get too tangled up in what they want versus what I normally eat, etc. I eat "well" (lots of fruit and veggies, whole grains, etc.) just too much and when I don't eat well, it's candy and potato salad, chips, ice cream and pizza, "normal" sorts of things but not things I want to eat so "naturally" LOL anymore. But sure, I'll follow along with the general idea of the plan, see how well I can curb my extra curricular eating :-)