Yep, it was my birthday last Friday, and my two of my kids invited me to lunch at Chili’s; then another daughter had invited me to dinner that night. My first reaction to the second meal was “No, I don ‘t think I can.” When she wanted to know why, I told the truth – I was scared of all the sodium I would have at a restaurant and what my body’s reaction to it was going to be. But being the kind of person who isn’t afraid to say what she thinks (not sure where she got that!), her reply was “Figure it out, Mom!! Isn’t your blood pressure under control?” Yes it is, so that’s what I did – I figured it out!
It really wasn’t
hard at all; I just had to make sure I stuck to the plan that I talk about in
my e-book, Lower Blood Pressure Fast! Control the Silent Killer with Natural High Blood Pressure Remedies. My favorite food
when eating out is a mushroom burger, so I asked for the substitute of a black
bean burger, and some corn replaced the side of French fries. That has become
my favorite meal at Chili’s – it’s really
good!
It was actually
kind of funny, because I had a coupon for an appetizer of chips and salsa which
I accidentally left at home, & my son spent about 10 minutes looking for it
on my email on his phone. So we all indulged a bit in those, and since it was
my birthday, I got a free molten chocolate cake with ice cream that we all
shared. Yum! To wash it all down, I had water with lemon. The lemon has some
potassium, although since it’s dropped into the water by the waitress, it might
not have helped as much as I would have liked.
Although I was
full when I got home, I pulled out my Lock ‘n Lock container of celery sticks
(all ready to go, nothing to prepare) and downed a couple stalks of celery.
That gave me the confidence to be able to go out again that night, when we went
to Olive Garden. That was just as delicious – lasagna primavera, salad,
breadsticks & cake (yet again – what can I say – it was my daughter’s
birthday the next day!)
What I would have
done differently was to actually take the time to look at the nutrition content
on the menu before I left, so I would have known better what was healthiest to
eat. I guessed on the lasagna primavera because it had bell peppers, zucchini
& squash in it. As it turned out, it had less sodium than some of the other
dishes, but was still high at 1790 mg of sodium – WELL over my 1500 limit for
the day.
Then, since it was
my daughter’s birthday the very next day, I invited her to go to the movies
with one of her brothers and me, where we all had popcorn (no extra salt or
butter added thank you!). Pretty good movie too, with Denzel Washington. The
best was the company – and isn’t that what this life is all about?
All turned out
well – whether it was the celery eaten before and after going out, or the
water, or the salad – I don’t know. What I do know is that when I got a very slight headache that night after
the movie, celery & a banana topped the evening off, and the headache went
away.
This morning
(Tuesday) when I took my blood pressure on my own bp monitor, it was 128/76. It
may have been higher on Monday, but I felt confident enough that all was well,
so I didn’t take it then.
That being said,
this may be like one of those commercials where you see a “do not do this at
home” scenario. I know a lot of you may be on high blood pressure medicine, or
haven’t been watching your sodium on a daily basis like I have for the past 3
years.
Three years ago, my treat at a movie theater was chocolate covered raisins. I figured the raisins probably still had some potassium!
The reason I wrote about this is to show that by being aware of what you are doing, you can have a normal life. Just be careful, and if under a doctor's care--obey his instructions. : )
P.S. One of the BEST foods for controlling high blood pressure is BEETS. You may or may not like beets tho, and they sure can be a pain to fix, right? I’ve found the easiest way to eat beets is this way.
Three years ago, my treat at a movie theater was chocolate covered raisins. I figured the raisins probably still had some potassium!
The reason I wrote about this is to show that by being aware of what you are doing, you can have a normal life. Just be careful, and if under a doctor's care--obey his instructions. : )
P.S. One of the BEST foods for controlling high blood pressure is BEETS. You may or may not like beets tho, and they sure can be a pain to fix, right? I’ve found the easiest way to eat beets is this way.
