Ugh, just got back to the doctor and my BP is high, REALLY high: 156/110. Gotta go back in 2 weeks to get it retaken. Tom's BP was high too, maybe just Louisiana cooking catching up to us? Anyway, must avoid fried foods and watch sodium intake for the next couple weeks- any other tips?

Avoid stress. But then, as my father used to say, "the absence of stress is death"

Yeah, I don't see that happening. I wonder if it could be from the stress of the event planning, but who knows... and now I am SUPER stressed about the BP itself! Ugh.

Yoga and meditation?

I'm not being facetious, btw. Any kind of relaxation techniques can contribute to getttng BP down.

yeah, definitely gotta get back to the yoga. I went to a class for the first time in like a year a few weeks ago, but need to keep it up.

Lower salt and fat intake, Nora, and increase exercise. Any of that will help if you do it consistently, but some of each will probably help most. H has dealt with actual-killing-levels of HBP since his late 20s, and the first two were the hardest to acclimate to but easiest to maintain long-term. A committed exercise program is an ongoing struggle, but the results show up on the tests. Good luck with it.

My mom is on a small dose of blood pressure meds now...she gets perfect readings. Also, Lay's Reduced Salt potato chips are really good...I might even prefer them. Reduced-salt Fritos: meh. They're a'ight...once you get past the shock of the first few. The sum total of my knowledge about blood pressure, ladies and gentlemen. But I thought you might like to know anyway.

I had a biometric screening last week and came up with my usual blood pressure so low they can hardly fathom how I'm standing upright. It took her like 30 seconds of squeezing and kneading my finger just to enough blood to even test. I have to remember to take a bunch of aspirin before I give blood if I don't want to be there for an hour.

Not sure what that's about (hint: not exercise), but I guess I'm unlikely to bleed to death?

Also, Mom says try Mrs. Dash...she likes lemon pepper, I did too once, but I'm so sick of lemon pepper now, omg. But there are many varieties.

Garlic and lemon are your friend. Hot sauce has a lot of sodium, I think, but I vaguely recall that cayenne and other hot peppers help with BP.

Or at least they offer a ton of flavor without the fat and sodium.

ION, Dan's Father's Day present finally got here -- an Axe Cop webcomic t-shirt, and he was GIDDY. And surpised. I win Geek Wife award for today -- WOO!