More On The Blood Pressure

115/65 this morning. What a difference! Just changing the time when I take my blood pressure meds made a huge difference in my morning reading. This is the lowest reading I've ever gotten after just rolling out of bed. That is usually when I am at my highest. I sure hope it lasts. I feel better. No feeling of pressure in my head or headaches. I feel much calmer too. When I started taking the Lisinopril my readings were good and then all of a sudden they started going up, up, up so I hope that doesn't happen again. I like this feeling of calm.

I'm not thrilled about the a few of the side effects of this drug. Actually, there is only one that I don't like. It's the swelling or rapid weight gain. Just what I need! Swelling or rapid weight gain. Kill me now. I will try and counteract these effects with healthy food choices and exercise(a la Fucking Agreement). I know Richard would tell me to ignore these things and keep working hard so that's what I'm going to do.

I'm off from work today (Yay!) and I am going to Joy's early yoga class so I need to eat a little something now so that I won't crash after class and eat everything in sight when I get out. I do need to stop and get some groceries when class is done and I've noticed that when I don't eat breakfast I have absolutely no will power to say no to things in the market so I'm off to grab a small bowl of oatmeal. That should hold me until I make it home with fresh fruits and veggies for lunch.

I also need to get in a cardio workout today so I'm thinking that a little Disco Sweat or Party Off The Pounds (Hi Laura) is in my future. I'm outta here....

High Blood Pressure

It's still dark as I post this blog entry. It won't be light for another half an hour or so yet and I don't go to the track in the dark. Too scary. Once it gets light out there will be people out there to keep me company.

High blood pressure this morning. 145/90. This is the highest it has been since I started taking my blood pressure meds. I don't know why but my pressure is always highest in the morning. I wake up and roll out of bed with the highest blood pressure of the day. You would think that sleeping wouldn't be stressful enough to raise my pressure but it does. I've been on Lisinopryl for about a month now and when I started taking it it worked really well and my pressure was low even in the morning. Little by little it has been rising but only in the morning. I've noticed that my pressure is high after a night of vivid dreams which I had last night. I dreamed about my dad who has been gone almost 25 years and I never dream about him. I'm not sure what that is all about.

I'm going to call my doctor today and ask him if maybe I should be taking the meds at night instead of first thing in the morning. Maybe that will work better. I'm sure my extra weight is not helping my blood pressure. That's always in the back of my mind too but I can't seem to do anything about it yet. As I posted in on our Fucking Agreement blog my food starts out great with healthy choices in the morning and degenerates into junk food and crap as the day goes on. I also need to exercise one or two more times a week. It's what I need to do for my health so why do I have so much trouble doing it?

Kerry's UT infection is back again and that worries the crap out of me. Bob(our doctor) told her to call him as soon as she feel any kind of symptoms and it started again yesterday. It seems that she is allergic to many of the meds that are prescribed for this so that's a problem along with the fact that she seems to be prone to these infections.I will be speaking to Bob about this too as she is in Gainesville and has classes all day.

Pat and Rigby are fine and that's really good. At least one half of the family has no issues.

The Last Hurrah

OK. Here we go again. Today is the last day that I get to spend with the kid before she goes skippingly back to UF. This time she is thrilled to be going back because her boyfriend Zac will be there waiting for her. I, on the other hand, will be standing in the driveway crying when she leaves. It's always hard for me when she goes back after a long visit like this winter break has been. She's my bud. My other half. I miss the crap out of her when she is gone.

Kerry sitting on the gator on the UF campus

Today I will wake her up and we will go back to the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton. We will shop the sale racks at Bloomindale's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Apple, Coach, Henri Bendel, Dana Buchman and Sephora among other stores. I'm actually hoping that these stores are totally shopped out because Kerry doesn't need any more clothes but I just can't say no once we are in the dressing room. It's kind of like I am with food. I just can't say no to either one. Kerry or Food. Hmmm.....

We will walk for hours and when we get hungry we will go to Salad Creations and get what we refer to as "a big salad". I usually get a "chopped veggie" salad with no croûtons and just a little cheese. My dressing of choice will be, gasp, full fat ranch dressing. Yep, full fat. A friend of mine taught me that a little full fat is better than lots of crappy tasting fat free. I plan on keeping The F*ing Agreement in mind while in the mall. No Ben and Jerry's. No gourmet pastries.

We will shop and shop and talk and laugh. Later on in the afternoon we will stop off at the Nordstrom's coffee shop where I will have a small regular coffee with skim milk and Splenda and Kerry will have an iced latte with lots of raw sugar. We will sit there, drink coffee and people watch. We will laugh at some of the rich ladies with their little dogs in strollers and their cosmetic surgery. I'll complain about money and Kerry will tell me how I shouldn't worry because someday she will be a doctor. I'll tell her that I don't want to spend her money and only want to spend my own. We will laugh about that.

Kerry and I having coffee at Nordstrom

We will shop until Pat calls and tells us that he is finished playing golf and is ready to go to Tijuana Flats for dinner. With the F*ing Agreement in mind I will order a small Black Bean Powerlight Burrito which comes in at about 280 calories. Not too bad. The trouble comes with the chips and guacamole on the side. I can give most of the chips to the kid but will I? I'll report in on our new blog called F*ing Agreement or here if I'm not able to get into the blog to post. (Laura and I have been having some technical difficulties).

We will all come home, pile into bed and watch football until Pat and I fall asleep and Kerry goes into her room to call Zac.

Kerry and Zac

It will be a totally glorious time for me spent with my incredible, beautiful, smart, gorgeous daughter who I love so much.

Then I will wake up and it will be tomorrow and Kerry will be leaving. OK, now I absolutely not lose control when she leaves. Remember the agreement...

My Life On A Tuesday

This semester Kerry has been taking music theory 3 which includes an ear training test. She has been having one hellva time with it as all the kids have been. Her professor has been giving these tests over and over because you have to pass one in order to pass the class. She has taken a bunch of them with no luck and I know she was starting to get nervous as the semester is coming to a close. Well, I got the call yesterday. Kerry passed her ear training test!! Yay!! Now it's on to music theory 4 and then she is finished with music theory. Believe me, she will throw a party once she is done with it.

Today is yoga day. I have my private with Juliana which I am always looking foward to. Not only do I feel better physically after a private I feel much better mentally. She has a really good effect on me. She is my spiritual mentor.

Yesterday was a great food day and I'm going to have a good one today too. I'm happy to report that I am still holding at 152.5 which means I'm keeping my promise to my fellow fabbie Laura. I am behaving myself with food during the holiday season.

My heel is still bothering me big time. It gets better for a day but as soon as I stand on it or walk for any period of time I'm in pain again. I think it's time to give in and go see Dr Bob. I was hoping to wait until the first of the year to see him. He is not included on my medical insurance plan which means everytime I see him I have to pay him and it goes towards my out of network deductable and I hate to waste an expensive office visit at the end of December but you gotta do what you gotta do and I gotta do it.

I'm off now to try and work out to one of Richard's videos if my foot will allow me. I also have to work at Curves today which means standing up for hours and hours. Oy vey! Oh well, such is life. See y'all...Did I just say y'all????? LOL LOL

Why do I do these things?

OK. I have decided to get back on track....again. I stepped on the scale this morning and I am one pound away from a weight I haven't seen in a long time. Yes, I knew it as I was doing it. I know that I shouldn't be eating ice cream every night. I know I shouldn't be eating out all the time. I know I shouldn't be eating black and white cookies but I do these things anyway. Why is that, do you suppose? Why is it that even though I know I shouldn't be I am drinking the coffee with the crappy for you and caloric Hazelnut coffee creamer I do it anyway? Why do I do that? Why?

Why is it that I get up in the morning and the first thought I have is "What excuse can I use so I don't have to go to the track and exercise?" Why is that? Once I get there I actually enjoy my powerwalks. I love the music that I listen to (thanks Paul) and I love being outside in nature. I even enjoy being all smelly and sweaty when I am finished. Why would I not want to go? Why would I look for excuses? I even look for excuses to blow off yoga and you all know how much I love yoga. Why would I even think about not going?

Why would I not want to exercise here every day?

I need to exercise every day and eat more healthy food. I need to do these things so that I can bring down my marginally high blood pressure and cholesterol. I need to do these things so that I can fit into my clothes. I need to do these things so that I can be alive to see Kerry graduate medical school and become a doctor. I need to do these things so that I can enjoy my retirement years with Pat. I need to do these things so I can be here for my family and friends when and if they need me. I need to do these things to be happy.

One of my main reasons for stayng on track

So here I go again. Wish me luck.