I Broke Down and Bought a Blood Pressure Monitor
Something I have been wanting to do is to regularly monitor my blood pressure. When I had my miscarriage and reality sunk in as to how poor of health I was in, this blog was born and getting healthy was the goal. My blood pressure was high, so that was something I really wanted to get lowered. I do have a history of heart disease in my family, so I have to be careful there.
I never did find the blood pressure monitor that I used to have, so I bought a new one a few days ago. Since I’ve been quite sick lately, I’ve been wanting to monitor my health a little bit since I have yet to go to the doctors. For $14.99 I picked up just a plain ole blood pressure kit.
Back in August, I was pretty pumped because when I checked my blood pressure it was 119/74. That is considerably lower than the 150/90s that it was running. With checking it today, it was 110/65. That previous test was not a fluke.
Overall, the weight loss is very slow going, but my blood pressure is telling me that I am doing much better with my eating. I’m eating healthier and some of it is rubbing off on my family. That’s always a good thing.
Did I have to buy the monitor? No. I could use the free monitor at the local department store when I go there. But our finances are going to be pretty tight for a while so I want to avoid that store like the plague. Too many good specials over there!
As an added benefit of having our own monitor, I can monitor my husband’s blood pressure as well 
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Comments
Good on ya Girl! I am so proud of you. All your hard work is showing.
Keep going strong and feel better soon.
Keep focused, I know you can reach your goal. Your health is way more important than your debt, as I’m sure you are aware. There’s always more money but there’s only one you! 
Home blood pressure monitors are great. My mom has a history of high BP, and a family history of heart disease. I got her one of these years ago. Unfortunately, she’s not as diligent in monitoring her BP as I’d like her to be. I like her to take her BP 3x per day. She thought it too much. At one of her Doctor appts I brought this up, the doc said 2x per day is ok, and one should be in the morning - apparently your BP is lower in the morning. I would recommend taking it to a Doctor appt - check your BP there w/yours & theirs’ and compare the results.
I also created a simple spreadsheet that lists date/time, Systolic/Diastolic & pulse rate. I then created a graph from it, or tried to, as mom isn’t on top of taking her BP the graphs never came out very useful. I found the spreadsheet for Diabetics to monitor blood sugar on the MS Excel templates website & adapted it for monitoring BP. I also found some similar software online, although, I never did download to use them and have no idea how good they are. You may find them useful: HealthMonitor from http://www.vidyasoft.com/index.html#hm or http://www.my-blood-pressure.com/index.html
*I have no affiliation with these…
Congrats on the weight loss! I’m not sure how long it’s taken you to lose the weight you have, but it’s still fantastic! I have heart disease that runs in my family as well. I don’t think I really need to lose weight, but I’m out of shape… sooo exercise would do me good.
I would not worry so much, Israel; knowledge is power. If you are afraid of what it might be, then checking it will accomplish one of two things:
You will realize that you do not have high blood pressure, and will no longer be afraid…
Or, you will realize that you do have high blood pressure, and that you can find a way to remedy the problem and reduce the risk of problems down the road.
It’s a win-win situation.
Nice work! That’s a pretty significant drop in blood pressure!
I wonder what mine; I haven’t checked it since my last physical just over a year ago. (My doctor just changed offices and I haven’t gotten around to getting a new doctor yet - I really need to do that…)