Yes you can start lowering your high blood pressure today-and it’s not as hard as you think! Here are 4 quick and easy tips to lower blood pressure so you can feel better ASAP.
Before we get started, please know I understand how overwhelming it can be to change your self-care or lifestyle. It requires the motivation to learn and act on the new information, and it’s hard to remember everything.
This is especially true if you’re serving or taking care of others while working on lowering your blood pressure. I know this from working with patients in the hospital as well as having to make lifestyle changes for myself.
But don’t worry because I’ve listed starter tips, and they’re not as hard as you think!
Exhausted and Overwhelmed?
This Self-care Starter Guide will show you 3 simple steps to take RIGHT NOW to better care for yourself. Be sure to grab yours! Get your FREE copy of the Self-care Starter Guide HERE!
1. Most Important of the Quick & Easy Tips to Lower Blood Pressure
If you’re serious about working on reducing your blood pressure the most important tip is to record your blood pressure.
You MUST monitor your blood pressure at home – especially if you want to prevent the necessity of taking or reducing the medications you are currently prescribed.
You should record your blood pressure at least daily.
Many times the activity required of going to the doctor’s office or just being at the clinic can increase your blood pressure and home readings are more accurate.
If you need a product recommendation:
I like this Blood Pressure Monitor below. It’s accurate, reliable, highly rated, and stores historical measurements for two people.
- ACCURATE: Our Blood Pressure Monitor includes a patented resting indicator that displays when your arm is in the correct position for a reading – the averaging function combines morning and evening results to help accurately monitor your blood pressure
But, if it’s out of stock, I also like this Blood Pressure Monitor for reliability and accuracy.
- INSTANT MONITORING – Clinical Automatic Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor by Generation Guard, designed to make home blood pressure cuff monitoring simple, quick and easy. Monitors systolic, diastolic blood pressure readings and heart rate.
Just a quick note, you should not compare your blood pressure readings from one monitor to another. Each monitor will vary from another.
You need to look at the trend over time on one monitor. This is why your blood pressure monitor is essential – especially if you want to reduce medications.
You can make a note next to your recordings when you start making lifestyle changes to keep track of what tasks are most effective.
Conversely, you can also note stressful events or situations that may affect your blood pressure and increase your reading. In my experience working with patients, stress can have quite an impact on blood pressure so stress management is imperative.
2. Eat a Proper Serving Size
It’s a great early step – eating a proper serving size can save you between 300-500 calories a day.
Proper servings can also lower your sodium intake (while you learn how to eat different foods at a comfortable pace) because you may be cutting your sodium intake by up to ⅓ – ½, depending upon how large your original portions were before.
But, more importantly, it starts to form foundational habits.
At first it can help you become more mindful of what foods you’re choosing and thus knowing how much food you’re eating.
Mindfulness is the foundation for taking better care of yourself.
Second, you start to see what a portion of food is supposed to look like.
In the future, you will not have to look at labels to know serving sizes.
There are a couple of inexpensive kitchen tools that help with measuring your food portions. You may already have some of these in your home. Need more info on the kitchen tools and serving sizes?
3. Read Food Labels
You can make better food choices when you know how much sodium is in your food which is a common enemy of people working to lower blood pressure.
The best way to approach learning how to read food labels is to look at them while grocery shopping or during meal preparation. Or read them as you need them.
There is no need to try to memorize everything or try to learn everything all at once.
It’s less overwhelming, and you can relate to it because you use the information immediately.
Start reading the label before you eat, and you will soon become familiar with foods with higher and lower amounts of sodium. Then, as you find foods high in sodium, look for substitutions.
Sometimes this is as easy as switching to a different brand or a salt-free version.
4. Meditate Every Day
Lowering your blood pressure can require lifestyle changes.
But this one is easy – start meditating.
Even 3-5 minutes a day is helpful. Research has shown (over and over) that meditation can reduce anxiety and stress thus lowering your blood pressure.
New to meditation?
A common definition is to think deeply or focus one’s mind for some time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.
Most people focus on their breath during inhalation and exhalation.
If you are a person of faith, engaging in prayer is a form of meditation.
If your faith is important to you, I encourage you to utilize the truth of God shared in the Bible.
You can use scripture to find the courage to start taking better care of yourself and the motivation to continue good self-care. Likely, you are not just trying to take better care of yourself. You may take care of others too.
Whether you care for your children, support your spouse, care for aging parents, serve in a ministry, or maybe even all of the above, it takes motivation to prioritize self-care when caring for others. So consider taking care of yourself to worship and honor the Lord.
5. Bonus Tip: Follow the 3-F Eating Plan.
Most people can make a big improvement in their blood pressure by following a 3-F eating plan.
It’s very simple. Work on reducing:
- Fake food
- Fast food
- Fatty food
Many people eat a diet of predominantly fast and fried food, fake pre-packaged convenient food, and high-fat store-bought baked goods.
All of these foods have very high amounts of sodium in them.
Work towards reducing these items in your diet, and for a bonus ‘F’ in the ‘3-F’ eating plan, use your faith to drive your choices and create motivation, and you’ll be on the right track!
High blood pressure damages your body and can lead to heart disease or cardiac events (for example, a heart attack or stroke).
Lifestyle changes can be scary to think about, but it doesn’t have to be scary or overwhelming. You can start with just one (or a few) steps and make a difference in your blood pressure, health, and future wellness.
Remember the 4 quick and easy tips to lower blood pressure:
- Record your blood pressure readings
- Eat a proper serving size
- Read food labels
- Meditate to reduce stress
- Bonus tip – Follow the 3-F Eating Plan
Finally, in closing, take the time to identify your personal needs so you can give yourself the proper care and use these quick & easy tips to lower your blood pressure. You can do this!
Don’t forget your FREE Self-Care Starter Guide! Get it HERE.
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Be sure to grab your FREE Self-care Starter Guide! Lisa Kimrey is a 33-year veteran registered nurse (RN), speaker, and author of the Bible study, The Self-care Impact: Motivation and Inspiration for Wellness. At Mylifenurse, Lisa combines her nursing expertise with Scripture-based encouragement to show readers who serve and care for others how to begin and maintain their self-care journey – without feeling guilty or overwhelmed – to feel happy, healthy, and rejuvenated.