Important reasons to manage your weight

  • Being overweight makes you more prone to developing health disorders
  • Weight loss, as moderate as 5-10 pounds, can benefit your health highly. Therefore, even a slight weight loss can be a step towards controlling high blood pressure or hypertension if you are overweight (having a BMI of or above 25).
  • Weight loss lowers the pressure on your heart. Since being overweight imposes an additional strain on the heart, it raises your vulnerability to high blood pressure. It might also injure your blood vessels, thereby contributing to critical health threats. 

Weight management for high blood pressure

When we suggest weight loss for you, we imply 3 easy rules as follows:

  • Eat less
  • Move more
  • Have healthier food choices

Try increasing your physical activities slowly more than 2.5 hours of mild aerobic actions. Also, try reducing your calorie consumption and have a healthy diet. When you achieve your target weight, you can realize which fitness and dietary plans were the most effective in your weight management. 

To maintain a healthy weight:

  • Move frequently
  • Eat healthily 

If you require to lose weight for controlling hypertension, we can guide you in the best ways.  

Best diet plan for weight loss

Have healthy nutrition

Eat a diet abundant in:

  • Non-tropical vegetable oils
  • Legumes and nuts
  • Fish and skinless poultry
  • Low-fat dairy items
  • Whole grains
  • Vegetables
  • Fruits  

Restrict:

  • Sweets 
  • Sugar-sweetened beverages
  • Sodium
  • Trans and saturated fats
  • Red meat (if you eat it, compare labels and opt for the leanest available meat)

Read food labels

Create the habit of reading food labels for selecting foods safely. Avoid foods containing trans or saturated fat that spike up cholesterol. Consuming foods rich in sodium also raises blood pressure. Avoid salty foods.

Adopt the DASH diet

DASH implies Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. This diet aids in hypertension management. it stresses on healthy food sources and suggests to restrict:

  • Sugary beverages added sugars and sweets
  • Sodium (salt)
  • Red meat 

This diet is easy to adopt, diversified, delicious, and evidently effective in weight improvement. 

Best physical activities to control high blood pressure

Exercise regularly

Physical activities can aid in hypertension control, weight management, strengthening the heart, and reducing your stress. Good emotional health, a strong heart, and a healthy weight can all well-maintain your blood pressure levels. 

Take charge of fitness

Exercise cannot happen just like that. However, you can take control of your activity level as the best choice. Even a slightly intense physical movement regularly like brisk walking can be effective.

Inactiveness is detrimental to your health

If you lack physical activity, you are more vulnerable to having issues like stroke or heart attack. Being physically active regularly can assist in decreasing blood pressure, improving weight, and reducing stress. 

To get complete health benefits to your circulation, lungs, and heart, having aerobic activities daily is important with the guidelines below:

  • Try having a minimum of 2.5 hours of mild physical activity ever day weekly like brisk walking.
  • Try breaking up the weekly physical activity target as you wish. An easy way is to have it for half an hour daily for a minimum of 5 days per week. However, shorter sessions are also helpful. 
  • You must spread out physical activities throughout the week. 
  • Carry out stretching and flexibility exercises. 
  • Perform muscle-strengthening movements for at least 2 days weekly.  

Building the energy and time for more activities

You must get moving to achieve optimum physical activity levels. Look out for ways to enjoy the advantages as you slowly raise your activity amount.

Get something you like

Combine the following physical activities regularly with your favorite things like listening to audiobooks or enjoying the outdoor scenery:

  • Stair-climbing, hiking, brisk walking
  • Swimming, rowing, bicycling, running, jogging
  • Fitness classes at your suitable level
  • Fitness games, dance classes, team sports

Do a workout in variations

Having physical activities in variations can keep up your motivation and interest. If you try including flexibility and strength targets (with stretching exercise, yoga, resistance bands, and weights), you can help yourself in lowering the possibilities of injury. Thus, you can maintain a proper level of heart-healthy exercise for a long time. 

Warming up and cooling down

Warm-up preceding exercise and cool down later to support your heart in transitioning slowly from rest to activity and vice versa. This also reduces the risks of soreness and injuries. 

  • Unless you’re old or long inactive, try warming up for at least 10 minutes
  • Avoid stopping exercise too fast. Blood pressure might fall sharply, causing muscle cramping.
  • Add yoga poses for both relaxation and better flexibility.