Morning Update
I slept GREAT last night! I can't say for sure if it's a quick response to medications and reduction in salt and caffeine in my diet, so I'm trying hard to not get ahead of myself. I slept like a rock from 11:00pm to 8:00am and woke up feeling refreshed and rested.
My morning BP reading today was 163/90, quite the difference from 192/111. Hoping this trend continues.
In other news, when I stepped on the scale for the first time in a long time Tuesday at Doc G's office, I weighed in at 250.6 pounds, with clothes and shoes and empty pockets. When I stepped on the scale Thursday at Doc R's office, I weighed in at 245.4 pounds with clothes and shoes on, and my phone, wallet, and keys in my pockets.
This morning I stepped on our RENPHO digital scale at home, with clothes and shoes, and weighed in at 244.4 pounds.
The last time I stepped on the scale at home, which would have been many months ago, possibly more than a year ago, I weighed in at 286.8 pounds.
This is another trend I hope to see continue. We all want to see that number get down to around 200 pounds or a BMI of 25 or less. Extra weight and fat on your body increases your blood pressure and your risk for heart disease and heart failure. I am very encouraged by my weight loss so far. By Christmas 2026, I might look (and hopefully feel) a lot better.
Today we're going to go to work on our fridge and pantry. The goal: lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, some fish, and some spices we can use to make our own seasonings. I just bought 2 grilling cookbooks from Bobby Flay a week ago, and now I'm looking at his healthy eating cookbooks and recipes, as well as some recipes specifically for the DASH diet. One thing I'm excited about in all of this: more fish and learning to grill awesome fish! Chicken is not my favorite. Beef is at the top of my list, behind only Pork and Fish. Pork in all its incarnations is my favorite. I cook all kinds of pork: pulled pork, pork belly burnt ends, pork steaks, pork cutlets, pork chops, and BACON! The reason I cook so much pork is because we don't eat much fish at home — I usually only get it when we go out. And when we do get it at home, it's frozen processed fish. I am looking forward to learning to season and grill fish and eat a lot more of it. Fresh fish is harder to find in the grocery stores, but we'll find it.
Evening Update
We had a pretty amazing trip to the grocery store. It took a lot longer, as we checked every label before adding anything to our cart. It's hard finding zero-salt foods and seasonings. We did a good job though: fresh fruits and vegetables, a few different bottles of Mrs. Dash salt-free seasonings, and Vitamin Water (with 0 sodium, 0 sugar) to replace my Advocare Spark and Pepsi.
For the last few months, I have been getting winded (short of breath) after very little activity. Just a casual walk 20-30 feet outside the back door has caused me to lose my breath, even when not carrying anything. My walks from the garage to the house with groceries have been much slower, and even so, halfway back to the house I'm short of breath, and by the time I get inside I'm breathing heavily and have to take a short break before going back for another load.
Today, walking to the car to head out for shopping, I didn't notice any shortness of breath. When we got to the store, we kept a good quick pace from the car to the front door. Still didn't notice any shortness of breath. We kept a good pace through the store, and I picked up several items to look at and/or put in the cart, again without noticing any shortness of breath.
I don't want to get ahead of myself, and I'm certainly not ready to run any marathons. I'm still taking it easy, but I'm hopeful. I haven't felt as good as I felt today on any other day in 2026 so far.
My evening BP reading was 153/87. Omron still says this is "Stage 2 Hypertension," but 4 days ago my readings were indicating "Hypertension Crisis." Doc R says this is why I feel better, and we still have a long road ahead of us. If this trend continues, I am very optimistic about how I'll be feeling in 6 months.
Now that we've made our first run at revamping the fridge and pantry for a heart-healthy diet, I will start sharing our meals and recipes and let you know what's working for me and what's not.
That's all I got. Today was a good day.
Much 💙 from the shop!
This blog and every article in it documents one person's journey — Sparky's journey. Every person's health situation is unique, and what applies here may not apply to you. Sparky is not a physician or medical professional. The information shared in these posts reflects his own experiences and what he believes he understood from conversations with his care team — and he doesn't always get it right. Nothing written here should be taken as medical advice. If you have concerns or questions about your own health, please contact your physician. And if you don't have one — get one.
