Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Remember a week or so ago ...

when I mentioned my blood pressure was a little higher than normal, and maybe I should start taking Lasix again? Well, I did, and my goodness what a difference it's made.

My blood pressure is once again in the 120/80 range, which I expected. What I didn't expect was to have so much more energy and to feel so fit.

Down the driveway and make a left.
When I walk on my road, the first third of a mile is flat. After that it's either uphill or downhill until you get back to that last flat stretch of road again. I'd gotten to the point where I actually had to stop and rest on the uphill parts. It was a big reason why walking was moved to the back burner during the last month or so of election season.

Because, really, who wants to exert oneself when it's so hard to exert oneself? Exerting should be easy, right?

When I was doing Up&Running, I only ran the downhill parts. I kept thinking I'd drive down by one of the rivers here and work out on a long flat road, but life got in the way and that never happened.

And, of course, once exercise goes, then you I give gave myself permission to stop writing down what I was eating and y'all know where that leads. Pretty soon I was eating whatever I wanted. No one's looking, after all.

Except me.

Funny thing is, I don't seem to either gain or lose weight, whether I'm exercising and eating right or being slothful and eating crapful. I'm sure it would catch up with me eventually, and I don't want that. What I do want is to be able to walk up that hill without having to stop and rest. I like being outdoors, I like moving my body, I like feeling functional. I like feeling good instead of feeling old.

The Lasix helps. I might as well keep taking it, and I might as well keep walking.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Feeling so much better has to be motivational.

My dad used to be a big harness-racing fan, and a lot of the horses were on Lasix. I doubt they all had high blood pressure, but maybe it gave them more energy, like it seems to for you.

denise said...

Cool - so glad you're feeling better. Just hate that lethargic feeling - and I have it more than I would like.

My Mom takes Lasix. If she doesn't, her ankles tend to swell...more. They actually stay a bit swollen even with the Lasix, but it does help. Of course, she's got so many other issues, that it's hard to tell whether it gives her an energy boost, but like many drugs, I'm sure the effects can be different for different people.

Diandra said...

More important than losing or gaining weight is actually being healthy. The new colleague eats only a few calories per day, and these are almost exclusively sweets and carbs. Don't necessary to mention that at the age of thirty she hasn't got a single tooth left in her mouth.

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