Healthy lifestyle changes

Had a visit with my primary care physician earlier in the week with the usual long wait. Isolated in an exam room, you have plenty of time to read all the posters on the wall, and my PCP makes sure that there is much to read.

One poster explained the effects of high blood pressure on the body. Yikes! Down in the corner at the bottom, the poster listed several healthy lifestyle changes that a person could make to help lower blood pressure or keep it under control. These included:

• reducing body fat
• restricting dietary salt
• increasing fiber and decreasing fat in your diet
• not smoking
• avoiding excess alcohol
• exercising regularly
• developing relaxation techniques

My Prince and I have accomplished two of these. Neither of us drink alcohol very often. We like a beer now and then, but for the past several years, we've picked up a six pack of something Shiner (and light) around Memorial Day. We would then each have a cold one to celebrate that holiday, and then have another one for Independence Day and Labor Day. I was the only smoker in the house until I quit a year ago. I think we are good for these two.

We are actively working on another two--those dealing with salt, fiber, and fat. Restricting salt is harder for me than for My Prince, but I've started using less salt in cooking. Rice, for example, gets tossed in the steamer with no salt at all. I still add salt at the table, but I'm trying to do less of that as well. Fiber is a major focus in my explorations of food now. As for fat, my doctor's advice was to try for more vegetable fats and less animal fats. We are working on adjusting our diet to accommodate that principle.

That leaves losing weight, exercising, and developing relaxation techniques. If blogging about food can be considered relaxing, we might say I'm working on that one. I have, however, always been successful in finding ways to relax--reading, playing games, visiting with friends, even sleeping. My Prince has yet to learn what the word "relaxation" means, so we still have challenges here. Weight and exercise are major concerns, but we have not yet buckled down to making the right changes.

The thing about lifestyle changes is that it took years to develop the lifestyle that one now lives. Something as ingrained as foodways is also difficult to change without concerted and continued effort. I do not, however, see how we are going get by without making all of these changes--sooner rather than later.