Two years ago I had a fall and I broke my right arm. My arm needed to be operated upon and I had to take it easy for nearly 2 months. I was constantly worried about my hand, and had developed high Blood pressure. The doctor put me on medication and advised me to go for walks. I was finding it difficult to do anything, as I needed help with my bandaged hand . As a result, I never did any exercise which made me gain lots of weight and all that I was doing during that period was eat food brought from outside, as I was unable to cook, and take rest !
After my hand healed , I realised that I had put on 6-7 kilo grams of unwanted weight , just in that 2 month period, my Blood pressure had not only shot up but had also become stagnant , staying on the higher side in spite of my taking medications . My sister who is a gynecologist had a serious talk with me regarding my weight gain and blood pressure and she advised me to take care before things got out of hand.
I started by taking walks in the mornings and evenings which did help me, but my sister advised me to change my eating habits and go in for a diet that is balanced and low on calories..This was a little difficult for me, as I have to do all the housework including cooking for my family who love good food. But slowly I changed certain basic food items in our diet. Earlier we never had proper breakfast - I began by cooking a good filling breakfast which I have always felt was most essential . Now my entire family eats a proper nutritious breakfast in the morning after which they go about their jobs. The second thing was to increase the intake of water, my daughter and I make it a point to carry water with us wherever we go. I drink water once every hour when I am at home. We have cut down on meat , Butter, Ghee and now have more fish and sea food and at least 2 vegetables for Lunch and dinner. I have also started to take less rice and more vegetables and fruits in my diet. We also take more Yogurt and pulses which has helped us all a lot. We have also cut down on eating out or ordering food from restaurants. We eat out only on special occasions .
I cook chicken or meat once or twice a week and the family too has loved this change in diet of having more fish and sea food. I buy lots of green leafy vegetables, carrots, radish and other green vegetables and we eat a lot of salads made with a variety of vegetables . Now after nearly a year after we changed our diet, and with regular walks and exercise I have managed to loose 6 kilogrammes of my body weight and my Blood pressure is almost normal. I feel that it is very essential to take a balanced diet and lots of water which works wonders with our system.
A good balanced diet combined with regular walks, plenty of water , liquids and some exercise is all that is required to keep our body trim and healthy.
