A couple of years back DH and I both had high cholesterol. My doctor put me on a diet and exercise with otc vitamins and such to lower it. DH's doctor put him on exercise and a statin. He was on it for a year, retested, and taken off the statin as his cholesterol went down to normal. Mine went down to normal as well, but without the statin. Although DH didn't have any side effects, I still like my doctor's approach better than his.
That said, I should be exercising more....
My BP had always been in the low range 110/70, but lately it's been 120/80 which really surprised me. I should check it again soon, but don't have a cuff at home--must visit the booth at the grocery store.
I was a bit fast earlier on. The BlackBerry can do that to me. I was reporting the feeling on the street rather than the numbers science. Here's some research and associated media coverage which was published on the UK National Health Service website in May 2010.
My doctor can be an underprescriber. And generally UK GPs are trying to keep the medication bill down.
Wow, I had no idea that 120-80 had been updated to pre-hypertension for BP. I missed that completely. I used to be classed with 'hyper-cholesterolemia' which is a fancy way to say almost to the high cholesterol point. Diet and exercise have brought it well back into the ideal range.
Birch - I've been reading those articles about statins for a while, interesting stuff. DH has borderline high cholesterol and we are working hard to bring it down without meds.
I can't type to save my life today.
Jessica - Sounds like you guys already eat a pretty low sodium diet. I agree that it seems like reducing some stress would help DH as much as trying to cut more salt.
Saef - I've been cleaning out some of my papers lately, too. Makes me crazy to see them sometimes. Work is done, home is next.
Iris - no, you don't have to use the coupon. Though I can't say anything as I have coupons for Arby's, Steak & Shake and McDonalds on my counter. Along with coupons for soy milk, turkey pepperoni, toilet paper and some other healthy things, so not all bad. Will I ever use the fast food coupons? Probably not. I will use the others, and will use the one for a free entree at my favorite Chinese place, but that is about it.
Dagamar - I'm not googling macaron. I can't add one more thing to my list right now.
Michele - how is DD feeling today? Better I hope?
I am having a fantastic week. My food has been good, my exercise has been fantastic, something fabulous happened at work that I'll post about later, we will get back enough from our state tax return that we will only owe $300 over it to pay federal taxes, and I cut my cable bill by $60 per month. So different from where I was in December, I can't even express how great I feel right now.
DSS is still getting in trouble at school, that is the only downer still. We have him this weekend, so we are going to come down on him pretty hard if he continues to misbehave these last two days this week, and will keep on it. He is so smart, according to his performance and his teacher's reports he is the smartest in his class, possibly in all the kindergarten classes at his school. He doesn't want to do his work - says it is boring, etc. It all boils down to 'I don't want to do it so I'm not doing it', an attitude which I think comes from a little bit of only child and a little bit of fairly self centered behavior from family he spends a lot of time with. We don't know how to break it in the time he is with us.
Shannon, smart kids often tend to act up in class because they are bored with the work. Maybe you could work something out with his teacher, like if he has completed the work that everyone else is still in the middle of, he can read a book? Or give him extra practice work to do? My sister and I had this issue when we were kids too. My sister's teacher let her just sit in the back of class and read when she was done with what the other kids were doing, until she got switched to a gifted program. With me they had some experience from dealing with my sister already so I got sent to a higher grade level classroom for some things (like reading) before I got transferred to the gifted program. It's a little harder with kindergarten probably.
Shannon,
Glad you have great news... that is always nice!
Dd is still feeling yucky. Thanks for asking. I'm going to bring her to the doc this afternoon in case it is strep. Unfortunately dh will be coming back from a trip and I'm supposed to get him so he will likely have to wait a long time unless he wants to get a cab which would be $$!
Jessica - I was just like you and your sister, DH & XW both were as well. We did the work then we read or did other things. DSS's teacher has made the offer to let him do other things when he finishes the work - can read, get more computer time, etc. The problem we have now is that he won't do the work at all. It isn't that he finishes it and then gets in trouble, he doesn't finish. Sometimes he refuses to even start. Other kids are already finished and getting computer time and he still refuses to finish his, so he sees them getting rewarded and doesn't trouble himself to do it unless he wants to do it. The promise of something extra afterward isn't swaying him at this point. He is also a little disrespectful to his teachers when they ask him to do the work.
Michele - DSS just got over strep, he was down with it the week before Christmas. No fun.
So my big news is that I got a pay raise. First one since I've been with this company. I've been here 3.5 years, the first year I wasn't eligible because I had only been here 6 months at review time, but last year I just didn't get one. So woo hoo! Raise! I was beginning to think my company didn't actually like me.
So my big news is that I got a pay raise. First one since I've been with this company. I've been here 3.5 years, the first year I wasn't eligible because I had only been here 6 months at review time, but last year I just didn't get one. So woo hoo! Raise! I was beginning to think my company didn't actually like me.
Corporate drones everywhere on this thread, all rise & celebrate the good fortune of Shannon!
They like you, they really like you!
I'll bet you didn't get a raise before strictly for budgetary reasons. As an example, two years ago, my employer had a companywide salary freeze when it started feeling the effects of the Great Recession.
This year ... well, we're waiting for the official earnings statement, so no disclosures here. But things are likely to be very different.
And could all the extra attention that his non-compliance gets DSS be encouraging him to do it? For some kids any attention, even negative, is better than none.
I had another of those small "oh yeah, that makes sense" moments re my food intake in winter. I find I'm ravenous almost every Thursday. I can literally eat sugar from the bowl.
I'm pretty sure it's because I'm so caffeinated (to get through the week) by then that I'm craving anything I think will give me extra energy.
So today I drank water, lots and lots of water, instead of giving in to the sugar cravings.
Dagmar, just how caffeinated are you? I've wondered myself about my coffee intake. I think, to keep my mouth busy & my energy level high, that I drink a bit too much coffee & chew a bit too much gum. So I'm wondering what high coffee consumption is.
Dagmar, I do the same thing. If I'm skimping on sleep during the work week, it's Thursday that it hits me. Sometimes I do ok with overcoming the urge to snack, recognizing it as "tired hunger" not true hunger, other times I don't. I really try to make a better effort the next week to get more sleep, sometimes easier said than done. Though for me it's not caffeine related. I drink my 12-16 oz mug of coffee in the morning, and that is often it for my caffeine for the day. It's just tired related.
Shannon, congrats on the raise! That's wonderful! I finally got a raise a few months ago for the first time in 4 years. Even though I absolutely know it was budget related, it's still really nice to finally get one!
Emma has been so much better the last two days! And, she's responding to the name Emma, and responding to me and commands, er sometimes. She's made best friends w the dog who lives down the street and they love to play together. As I've taken her for long walks and wogs every afternoon she's gotten less jumpy and more responsive to me. This weekend BF and I plan to run her, wog her, exercise her as much as we can, and maybe we will introduce "stay". She sits, but doesn't stay. My theatre group has a performance this weekend, so I'll serve concessions Fri night & Sunday afternoon, and have another meeting Sat. afternoon. Other than that, hopefully I will get to the gym to lift 1-2x, and it's all about the pupper, cleaning the house, and doing some healthy meal prep. What are everybody's plans for the weekend?
Good morning all! Another good day yesterday for food and exercise, not sure if I'm going to take my planned exercise off day today or if I'm going to try for a short run over lunch. The weekend could be hectic depending on how DH behaves at school today.
Dagmar - I believe that DSS has acted out for attention in th past, absolutely. He used to get in trouble at daycare and we would have to go pick him up early. Once he told me when I went to get him that he hated it there and he got to go home and play now, so I made him sit in his room with no toys all afternoon and evening. Did the same thing for his mom and dad on different occasions. This doesn't earn him the right to go home like that used to, so I don't know if he is enjoying the attention or not. I do think that he believes that the actions he takes at school result in more fun that the resulting non-fun of punishment at home. Like Wednesday night - we got home, went straight to homework, bath and bedtime. He got in trouble at school, but didn't feel punished when he got home so the playing around at school was worth it. We have let him know if he continued to misbehave the rest of this week that he got no video games, Netflix or extra play time this weekend - I'm hoping he sees that as worse than doing his work at school today.
Megan - glad Emma is doing so well! Sounds like you have a good weekend coming up!
Saef - I figure it was budget, absolutely. Well, that and family company without as much structure for reviews and stuff. That is something I've been working on since I've been here.
Hoping for a peaceful weekend... Hope everyone else has a good one!
I saw this this morning and thought you might be interested:
Myth #5: "Salt causes high blood pressure and should be avoided."
The origin: In the 1940s, a Duke University researcher named Walter Kempner, M.D., became famous for using salt restriction to treat people with high blood pressure. Later, studies confirmed that reducing salt could help reduce hypertension.
What science really shows: Large-scale scientific reviews have determined there's no reason for people with normal blood pressure to restrict their sodium intake. Now, if you already have high blood pressure, you may be "salt sensitive." As a result, reducing the amount of salt you eat could be helpful.
However, it's been known for the past 20 years that people with high blood pressure who don't want to lower their salt intake can simply consume more potassium-containing foods. Why? Because it's really the balance of the two minerals that matters. In fact, Dutch researchers determined that a low potassium intake has the same impact on your blood pressure as high salt consumption does. And it turns out, the average guy consumes 3,100 milligrams (mg) of potassium a day—1,600 mg less than recommended.
The bottom line: Strive for a potassium-rich diet, which you can achieve by eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and legumes. For instance, spinach, broccoli, bananas, white potatoes, and most types of beans each contain more than 400 mg potassium per serving.
Shannon,
I hope your dh behaves well at school today -- LOL!
Dd does indeed have strep and hopefully is on the road to recovery now with antibiotics.
Dh came home too. Not sure what our plans are for the weekend. We usually have sushi Friday night so I suspect that is tonight. We booked a hotel for a few nights in Vegas. That was the trip I was debating going to Arizona but dh was lukewarm about Arizona and we only have three nights so we're going to go to Vegas. We went once 8 years ago for our 15th anniversary and I know it's changed (so have I-- I was heavy then!). I'm going to be looking for fun and active things to do while we're there.
Thanks Allison, DH is trying to simultaneously decrease his sodium and increase his potassium. We'll see what happens. He calculated out an estimate of the one restaurant meal we had last week and realized that it's not as bad as he thought it was.
Megan, I'm glad Emma is doing well!
Shannon, congrats on the raise! The lack of raise previously could be due to the economy definitely. My company did a one-year pay freeze as well.
It's FIL's birthday tonight so we're going to the in-laws' house for dinner. We'll be bringing Carter along and I'll watch his interactions with their dog with my newfound dog body language knowledge.
In other news I have an appointment with a specialist Monday to look at my tailbone problem. Hopefully he will have some good ideas and hopefully they will allow me to continue to ride my bike. The feet are improving but still not 100%, so still no running for me. If I don't get healed soon I'm going to have to wait another year to train for the olympic distance triathlon. It's at the beginning of August and given how slowly I increase distance I need to start training now if I want to do it.
Good day everyone!
on the raise.
I finally got a raise a few months ago for the first time in 4 years. Even though I absolutely know it was budget related, it's still really nice to finally get one!