It's about my blood pressure

[Moonpie]

After a weekend whooping it up at a wedding with lots of wine and sweets, at a Monday AM doctor's appt I had my second high blood pressure reading in two weeks (144/84) and clocked in at my lifetime highest weight (166 lbs.) I am a 5'5" 48 y.o. woman; the profile photo is my puppy. 

 

My doctor gave me a choice: She would double the low-dose BP medication I've been taking since 2013, or I could commit to shaping up and come back in a month for another reading. Just 5 months ago my BP was 110/74 and I weighed 153. It was a gluttonous winter. Clearly I can fix this. 

 

I bought the book, stocked up at Trader Joe's, and started a Whole30 on Tuesday. When I realized that my followup appointment is actually 45 days away, I decided to make it a Whole45. How hard could it be? Ha. 

 

Now that I've seen the W30 Timeline and know that this is just going to get way harder, I want to use this space to track my food and how I feel to keep myself motivated. I've also been suffering bad knee pain, recurring sinus headaches, and super heavy periods, so I'm hoping a change in diet will affect those things too. 

 

I've already forgotten what I ate on Tuesday, but I know I slept terribly that night, was up three times to pee (not normal for me!), and woke up with a hangover-like headache.

 

Weds, May 4 

B: leftover roasted pork and potatoes with cubed apple and cinnamon, coffee with a spoonful of canned coconut milk

L: salad of Kale, two eggs scrambled in ghee, pecans, bell pepper, olive oil, 1 medjool date

D: grilled flank steak (which I had to rinse off after my husband generously marinated it in Newman's Own Italian dressing), TJ's riced cauliflower, roasted sweet potatoes, raw almonds

other: green tea, rooibios tea, seltzer, kombucha, and lemon-water (nothing after 8pm).

exercise: 2-mile hike

bed: 9:30 pm, but woke up every couple hours (probably cuz I had green tea at 3pm), up to pee 2x (why all the peeing?! am I already flushing out bloat?), awake at 5:00 am, no headache

 

Thurs, May 5

B: 1 hard-boiled egg, small piece leftover flank steak, grapes, sweet potatoes, black coffee (the coconut milk yesterday was not a worthy substitute for half-n-half; might as well just go black)

[Moonpie]

Thurs, May 5

B: 1 hard-boiled egg, small piece leftover flank steak, grapes, sweet potatoes, black coffee (the coconut milk yesterday was not a worthy substitute for half-n-half; might as well just go black)

S: breakfast was so early I couldn't make it to lunch without eating a lemon LaraBar and a dill pickle at the grocery store!

L: kale salad with olive oil & apple cider vinegar, yellow bell pepper, coconut flakes, 1/2 avocado, roasted pork, macademia nuts

D: (plan) grilled salmon, summer squash sauteed in ghee, baby spinach salad with tomatoes, avocado, carrots

 

[ShannonM816]

Hi, Moonpie -- don't forget to add fat to your meals. In general, the fat you cook in doesn't count, as much of it stays in the pan. So, at breakfast, add some mayo or avocado or olives or something. The fat is what will help keep you satisfied 4-5 hours between meals.

 

If you like black coffee, that's great, do that -- but if you decide to give the coconut milk another try, to me, it takes more than a spoonful of it to make a difference. I usually buy little 8 oz packages of coconut milk and one package is enough for 2-3 cups of coffee, so I'm probably using 2-3 oz of coconut milk at a time. 

[Moonpie]

Thanks, Shannon. Just tried the extra coconut milk in my coffee -- are you talking about 2 oz of the canned coconut milk? I agree it tastes better, but then I'm turning my 2 cups of morning coffee into a 220 calorie/200 fat calorie drink on top of a bigger than normal breakfast. I know we're not counting calories here, but that seems like it would really add up! Maybe I am using  different kind of coconut milk than you? But I understood the book to say "don't use the kind that comes in a milk carton."

 

Another question for you: Is there a way for me to edit my past log entries? My dinner menu yesterday turned out to be different than what I wrote down, and I can't figure out how to update it! Thanks for your help!   

[Moonpie]

Day 4: Friday, May 6

 

Terrible night of sleep again. Never had this problem before of waking up suddenly, jittery, an hour or two after going to bed and having to get up 3x to pee during the night. I had no caffeine after noon yesterday, and no liquids at all after 8pm. Wondering if I should cut out caffeine altogether because I'm not eating whatever used to absorb it, and I'm not drinking a regular evening glass of wine. Then again, it's now raining for third day in a row, so I am not getting as many long walks in as usual and that could contribute to restlessness. 

 

When I woke up at midnight, I had a really really bad headache behind my left eye. Similar to the nasal headache pain I've been getting, but throbbing. Gone in morning. Also, knee pain is still here.

 

Good news: best friend who has been doing W30 for two weeks re-tried on a wedding dress that she loved but thought didn't look right, and it now fits her perfectly!   

 

M1. 2 c coffee w/ 2 oz canned coconut milk, kale massaged with coconut oil in salad with 1/2 avocado, 2 hardboiled eggs, 20 grapes, 1T sunflower seeds (realized after eating that seeds were roasted in sunflower oil, which I think is not recommended, but I don't believe is totally banned!) Feeling a little nauseous.

[NoMoreCrunchyCravings]

I too have high blood pressure and have been on medications since my early 20s (strong family history of high BP also), and its also a big reason for me to make a life change. Good on you for really working the program! I can't wait to continue reading your posts!

[ShannonM816]

Thanks, Shannon. Just tried the extra coconut milk in my coffee -- are you talking about 2 oz of the canned coconut milk? I agree it tastes better, but then I'm turning my 2 cups of morning coffee into a 220 calorie/200 fat calorie drink on top of a bigger than normal breakfast. I know we're not counting calories here, but that seems like it would really add up! Maybe I am using  different kind of coconut milk than you? But I understood the book to say "don't use the kind that comes in a milk carton."

 

Another question for you: Is there a way for me to edit my past log entries? My dinner menu yesterday turned out to be different than what I wrote down, and I can't figure out how to update it! Thanks for your help!   

 

If you check out the meal template, where it lists out the portions for different fats, under coconut milk, it says a serving is 1/4 to 1/2 of a 14 oz can (3.5-7 oz), so I just call it part of my fat serving at breakfast (not the whole fat serving, just part -- still have some other fat). We really, really don't want you to worry about calories.

 

Unfortunately, no, there is no way to edit past log entries. I can change that one for you if you let me know what you want it to be, but mostly, I think people just put changes at the top of the next entry they make so that it's reflected in their log.

 

For your sleep -- some people find that if they have a serving of starchy vegetable at their last meal of the day, it helps with their sleep, so you might play with that and see if it makes a difference. There are also a few articles addressing how to get better sleep -- read through them and see if anything sounds like it might be helpful: here's one, and here's part one and part two of a series. Also, just realize that you're early in your Whole30 and sometimes just the stress of a change (even if it's a good change) can be enough to disrupt sleep for a little while. It will more than likely even out on its own, especially if you incorporate some of the suggestions in those articles.

[Moonpie]

Day 2, Weds, May 4 

M1: leftover roasted pork and potatoes with cubed apple and cinnamon, coffee with a spoonful of canned coconut milk

M2: salad of kale, two eggs scrambled in ghee, pecans, bell pepper, olive oil, 1 medjool date

M3: grilled flank steak, riced cauliflower in ghee, sweet potatoes roasted in coconut oil, raw almonds

other: green tea, rooibios tea, seltzer, kombucha, and lemon-water (nothing after 8pm).

exercise: 2-mile hike

sleep: woke up every couple hours, up to pee 2x, awake at 5:00 am, no headache

 

Day 3, Thurs, May 5

M1: (5am) 1 hard-boiled egg, small piece leftover flank steak, grapes, leftover sweet potatoes, black coffee

S: (10am) lemon LaraBar and dill pickle 

M2: (1pm) kale salad with olive oil & apple cider vinegar, yellow bell pepper, coconut flakes, 1/2 avocado, roasted pork, macademia nuts

M3: grilled salmon w/olive oil, summer squash sauteed in ghee, sweet potatoes roasted in coconut oil, guacomole, olives

Other: kombucha, lacroix seltzer

sleep: napped during day 1 hr., at night woke up every couple hours, up to pee 3x, bad headache at midnight

 

Day 4: Friday, May 6

M1. 2 c coffee w/ 2 oz canned coconut milk, kale massaged with coconut oil in salad with 1/2 avocado, 2 hardboiled eggs, 20 grapes, 1T sunflower seeds

M2: leftover M1 salad, leftover M3 salmon, spinach, coconut oil, macademia nuts, cashew butter  

M3: ground pork burger w/tomato & avocado, cardamom/cacao roasted carrots with coconut oil/coconut milk/ghee, spinach/clementine/pecan salad

[Moonpie]

Happy to report that I am on Day 10 of my first Whole program and feeling great!

 

I am finding it pretty easy to follow the menu template now, and have made some great dinners that even my carb, dairy, and sugar addicted husband enjoys (haven't persuaded him to adjust his other meals of the day yet).

 

I am getting lots of fats from my homemade mayo (lite olive oil is key!) & ghee, avocados, and Trader Joe's canned coconut cream, which is so yummy in coffee (microwave it for a few secs first) that I might never go back to milk. I stopped worrying that I am eating too much fat because my clothes and rings are loose and I think I look better. I am easily resisting getting on the scale, though, because I don't want to do anything to demotivate myself!

 

My husband asked what was wrong with my wrist because he thought my bone was sticking out. Ha! I'm just not swollen and puffy like usual! I got out a pair of skinny jeans I haven't worn in 7 years to hang on my closet door as a visualization, but dared to try them on first and was shocked that I actually got them zipped and buttoned. Still too tight to wear, but I can see that 20 more days of this (or 35, if I can really do a W45) will make it possible.

 

Energy levels are great, and while they really weren't low to begin with, yesterday I was motivated to hike a tougher and twice-as-long (5 miles) trail as usual with my dog and found myself running up the hills with him. Sleeping totally fine now, but still annoyed that I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. I always thought my need to do that was related to drinking alcohol, but apparently not!

 

The only "food" I really miss is an evening cocktail or glass of wine, but going without for 10 days has made me suspect that it's possibly the histamines in wine that caused my sinus headaches, because I have not had one in a week. I did buy "lavender love" kombucha, thinking I could have a glass of that instead of wine while cooking dinner, but then realized that's got histamines too and ... truth be told, if a long-term goal is to cut out the daily glass of wine, then swapping in kombucha, which I know has 0.5% alcohol content, is "swyco" for me. 

 

10 days in, can't imagine falling off the wagon now and excited to see what the next 20-35 days bring! Thanks Whole30! 

[Moonpie]

Oh, frustration! Turns out that 12 days without sugar, alcohol, dairy, grains, etc, etc, has NO effect on my blood pressure. I haven't gotten on the scale, but can tell I've lost weight. I've been going for hour or two-hour long hikes with hills every day for two weeks, and I feel good. I thought at least there would be some slight change, but it was actually worse today (136/95) than when I started the Whole 30. 

 

What else can I possibly give up? Salt completely? Caffeine? Or is it all the fats I've added to my diet that are keeping it from dropping?! Well, I will stick with it, but this just made it a little harder to stay away from the wine!  

[youngann]

Yet, after 14 days, my blood pressure has plummeted to an daily average of 105/65. My rings and clothes are as tight as ever so I don't think I've lost any weight at all. Funny how it affects us all so differently.

[ShannonM816]

It may just take time. It took you more than 12 days to get to the point where your blood pressure was high, it's going to take more than 12 days to get it back to normal too.

 

Are you checking it every day? If so, could you not check it for a while, just so you don't see a number and worry about it? Stressing over it isn't going to help it go down. 

 

You're eating well, you're exercising -- are you sleeping better? Doing what you can to avoid stress? Just focus on doing what you can do and give it time.

[Moonpie]

Aha! I think I figured it out. Kind of a no brainer, duh.

 

First thank you for the replies -- that helps! Yesterday was the first day since I started W30 that I had checked my blood pressure -- I was in line at the pharmacy standing next to one of those little BP terminals, and I was SO sure it was going to be normal that I thought checking it would be a little "win." Yes, I am sleeping great and my life is so stress free that the only thing stressing me out is my blood pressure reading! I was so upset by the reading that I couldn't remember my pincode to pay with my debit card.  

 

But here's what I forgot: One week before my May 2 W30 start date (when my primary care doctor told me I needed to do something about my blood pressure), my OB/gyn had suggested I go on a low dose birth control pill because my periods have been horrible. I hadn't been on the pill in more than 7 years. But I agreed I was desperate to not have superheavy two-week-long periods for the rest of my perimenopausal phase.

 

This morning, I woke up thinking, "could the pill be keeping my blood pressure high?" and I got out the information packet that I hadn't read before I started taking it. For God's sake, why my OB would have prescribed it in the first place when it says all over the package that it can basically kill women with high blood pressure is beyond me.

 

What also probably won't surprise anyone is that neither my OB nor my primary care doc asked me a single question about my diet or nutrition when I presented with heavy periods and high blood pressure. No one asked about caffeine or sugar or alcohol intake. Nothing. When I told my primary care that I know my high bp is all diet related she said, "no, you just need to go to the gym." I told her I walk an hour or more on hills in the woods with the dog every day, and she said "if you can talk or sing while you're walking, then you're not working hard enough."  (I'm determined to show her at my appt on June 17 that I have dropped weight and my BP without changing anything but my diet!)  

 

So, I'm thinking that the change in diet alone could be enough to make my periods easier, and going off the pill will probably quickly let my b.p. drop back down. Tomorrow is the last pill in this first pack, so I will call the OB then and tell him I'm quitting. And I'll check my BP again in another 12 days and see where I am. .... 

[Moonpie]

I just read the A-Z testimonial under M for "Menorragia" - exactly!