I figured I wanted to donate blood last week. When taking my blood pressure they told me it was pretty high at 145 (the maximum allowed to donate). The lady ask me what I do for a living, so I told her that I'm a programming student. She didn't recommend me to see a doctor or anything, she actually recommended that i DON'T take any medication and instead try to lower it naturally. I'm feeling a bit perplexed, so I thought I'd ask you guys for some advice.
I'm not really sure what information you need from me to be able to provide relevant advice, so here's what I think might be interesting:
I'm 23 years old, weigh 105kg, 183cm tall with a BMI of 31.4 (surprisingly well distributed, people usually think I weight ~80kg). I study 8-12 hours a day, sitting. I usually study on sundays as well, and have very little free time. I don't have the time or energy to cook meals when I get home, I usually just browse the internet for an hour or so before falling asleep. I, as everyone else, simply go out to some local fast food place on a daily basis. I will however have 2 months of free time this summer.
From what I understand, being overweight is a significant contributor to high blood pressure. Should tackling my weight be my primary concern, and how should I go about doing it with so little free time and without feeling drained of energy (which will affect my work).
Thanks in advance.
>>37085214
Yes, losing about 30 kg should be your priority. This is easy to do just sitting on your ass. Eat fewer calories. 1500/day is a good number for someone your height and activity level and weight loss requirements. Eat all the leafy green vegetables you want (spinach, kale, etc) when you're hungry. You can put vinegar on them but nothing else.
weight loss should be priority 1. Also try to eat more potassium. You can buy table salt that is 50/50 potassium and sodium salts
>>37085214
how to be very good at programming and then die anyways
>>37085255
>>37085273
>>37085214
i disagree. OP should simply start lifting weights, his body weight will react appropriately and blood pressure should improve on its own.
>>37085309
>lifting weights magically causes you to lose weight
Read the sticky
>>37085255
>Eat all the leafy green vegetables you want (spinach, kale, etc) when you're hungry. You can put vinegar on them but nothing else.
yeah, no. fuck you. this is idiotic advice. it's not even advice. i hope you're trolling. fuck off.
>>37085312
you read the sticky faggot. i know what i'm talking about.
>>37085319
love how you back up your claims that bulky low calorie food is bad to eat to fill you up on a cut.
>Read the sticky
>Find a fat loss diet that works for you (first point should be a straight caloric deficit with regular home-cooked food)
>Begin a weight training routine (any one as described in the sticky will be fine)
>Take 2g of fish oil and 2g of garlic daily
>Lose at least 10kg of fat
>Report back
>>37085333
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)01577-8
>>37085255
>>37085273
What the fuck is with the lefties and alternative medicine fags on /fit/?
OP, you likely were slightly anxious. 145 isn't cause for serious concern, and your blood pressure jumps around depending on your mood and what hormones are swirling around. If it bothers you, try testing your blood pressure every day. Either buy a sphygmomanometer or get tested at a pharmacist/chemist, they'll usually do it for free.
They can advise you to go to a GP or not.
>>37085441
>obese person losing weight to treat blood pressure
>alternative medicine
pick one, kiddo
>>37085214
You're not that much overweight. You are likely overworked and stressed out. You should focus on eating healthy and getting at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. I recommend starting with just cardio and adding in some weights if you feel like it. Dont worry too much about your weight it will come down naturally when you get everything else worked out. After 6-12 months of that you can check your weight and bp again and take it from there.
>>37085489
I jumped the gun a little, I just think people should back down about the blood pressure thing.
145 isn't outside a freakish range. He'd never donated blood before. He likely had the flutters.
The nurse was unwilling to give a medical opinion because she had no way of knowing if it was because of an underlying issue or whether he was just anxious.
Regardless of that, OP is a lardass, and you aren't wrong about him needing to lose weight.
>>37085255
>losing about 30 kg should be your priority.
Yea, I think 75 is a good goal, I'll aim for the same time next summer. To start it off, I'll slap a sticky over my monitor saying "eat some fucking veggies".
>>37085583
>You are likely overworked and stressed out.
I feel A LOT less stressed out since starting meditating 4 months ago. But I guess there's a lot of underlying signs I'm not paying attention to. Anyhow, I have saved up some money, and will do jack shit the entire summer, been looking forward to some free time!
>You should focus on eating healthy and getting at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.
>..Dont worry too much about your weight it will come down naturally when you get everything else worked out.
Thanks for the advice. I'll try to not make any drastic changes, otherwise I'll eventually give up and fall back. I'll start small by buying some fruit to keep by my desk, and taking a 10 minute walk every 2 hours.
>>37085624
Yea, that might actually be the case. I'll ask them to retake it when I come back in 5 weeks. Thanks.
>Regardless of that, OP is a lardass, and you aren't wrong about him needing to lose weight.
:^)
Read the sticky and lose weight.
1) Being sedentary is a major contributor to hypertension. Once I started being active, my blood pressure plummeted. It was on average 160/110 without BP meds. If I don't work out for a week, it creeps back up to that. Becoming active was the best thing I could ever do since now I'm no longer on BP meds.
2) Lower your sodium intake. Many people with hypertension adopt the DASH diet, and have found success in it.
3) Get some more potassium into your diet.
4) Lift.
5) Do some cardio.
