I was diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension) about three years ago. After a series of tests, my doctor told me that there was no medical reason for me to have high blood pressure; it had to be hereditary. Since there is no medical reason why you have high blood pressure, then it could be changed. I decided to lower it and stop the medications. I took 2 cartia pills a day, free time.

After taking the medication, to lower my high blood pressure, I could notice a difference in how I felt. It seemed to calm me down and I had fewer headaches. Although the medication was helping me, I didn’t want to depend on it. I was afraid my 2 pills would go up to 3, then 4, and so on. I took this as a wake-up call to make a change and lower the 2 pills to 1 then none.

Here’s what I did …

I found a way to lose weight. I don’t like to exercise, but I did too. I did the least amount of exercise that I could. I have a treadmill at my house and I walked while watching the shows that I like. Some of my favorite shows are Bones, Haven, the Middle, and Modern Family. I would record the shows and watch them while walking on the treadmill. I would skip all the commercials by doing a 1 hour show that is roughly 30 minutes long. This is the time it took to walk to have a healthy heart. Those 30 minutes would take me from 1 mile to almost 2 miles, depending on how fast I am walking. Every day is different and I adapted according to how I felt. However, I made sure to always walk, even when I didn’t want to.

I also changed the way I ate. I didn’t want to be on a diet, but I needed a little help with what to eat, so I found a site where I could do this. It was not a place where they sold food, but simply a place where he could learn about the correct foods and how and when to eat them.

First I got rid of anything easy to do. All those boxed meals like tuna helper and so on. They have a very high salt content. Think about it. Companies need to preserve them in some way and I think the way they do that is by adding a ton of salt. Not only did the salt contribute to my high blood pressure, it also prevented me from losing weight. Also cut the canned soup. After eating canned soup, people would ask me if I was feeling okay, but I never understood why. Yes now. They said he looked flushed; that my cheeks were red and so was my nose. I think to this day it was all the salt in the soup.

I started shopping at a fruit and vegetable stand before going to the grocery store. I bought fresh fruits and vegetables. The stall is much cheaper than the grocery store and the products taste better. At the stall I buy small pots full of plums or tomatoes in packages for a low price. Every week the items change in the pots, which helps me change the products that I buy. I spend an average of $ 15 for a week or more. I can tell you with certainty that the same items that I buy at the stall cost twice as much at the grocery store and are tasteless.

I cut the white items to include bread and sugar. Now I buy brown rice pasta and spinach pasta. If I eat bread, I try to have only one piece of bread and make my sandwich thicker in the middle. I buy multigrain breads. I gave up the sugar and used honey instead. I even cook with honey.

All these things that I did are easy to do.

In 1 year I completely stopped medications and lost 19 pounds. I still want to lose more weight, but I seem to have a hard time achieving it. I’ve been loosening up a bit in my treadmill workouts and that could be why. Even when life gets hectic, I try to find time to work on myself and stay healthy.

I never want to rely on medication again. I highly recommend that you get a blood pressure machine and monitor your pressure, check it several times a day at first and only once or twice a week after making sure your blood pressure stays below 120/80.