Health in General

I ignored my health for many years while caring for my children.  It was wrong of me, yet I was blinded by my own youth and vitality.  Now I'm getting older and slowing down a bit, and realizing I did myself wrong.  I can't go back and redo those years, but I can change my habits now. 

My doctor appointment yesterday was both awful and great.  My blood sugars are fantastic; between my new diet and the medication I hate, Metformin, I've got it under control.  Dr. V was quite proud of me.  She also noted the weight loss, and was impressed.  But my blood pressure...whoa, mama, it is not good at all.  It was 158/119 and she said she was "that close" to admitting me to the hospital.  I begged her not to, Mr. R isn't home and I have no one to care for the children.  I was sitting at my desk, racking my brain trying to figure out why it's that high.  Work has been extremely stressful lately.  I have cried at my desk within the past week.  I have teenagers.  A husband who is loved, but absent.  College.  But I think the worst culprit of all has been my salt intake.  Caloriecount.com has been such a great tool for me to figure out the salt content in foods.  And believe me, I am shocked when I enter a food into the system and it has so much salt in it.  Why so much?  It's really just not necessary.  I think I will very quickly be heading into the "bake everything from scratch" mode soon.  It is so discouraging to be working this hard on the meal plan and being sabotaged by food that is supposedly good for me!  I hit nearly 4000 mg of sodium yesterday in my plan, and it's not supposed to be above 2500; and only 1500 for someone with hypertension like me!  No wonder my bp is through the roof.  I guess it's time to stop eating canned soups and pre-made bread.  I think I'm going to be spending my weekends kneading dough and making waffles.  Definitely, time to get that KitchenAid mixer because I'm going to be a busy mama. 

I want the red one, please.  I'll be asking Mr. R to hook me up this Christmas, instead of replacing the diamond in my engagement ring.  I'm practical like that.
Time for you guys to send me the links to your favorite homey, healthy recipes.  Here are the rules: no white flour.  Less than one cup of sugar for a batch; do not send me anything with Splenda, I am not touching that garbage.  Needs to have a combination of protein (nuts or seeds is fine with me, I'm not allergic to any of those) and high quality carbs.  I'm ok with anything that has a topping, because I'll just leave it off; like a streusel.  Using fresh fruits and veggies is a bonus.  Go!