Greetings to all from a new member

YoHobie

Hello all,

I just joined Cronometer and I think it's a great site!

Just sharing to whoever might be suffering from insomnia. LOL

At age 57 even though I see my doctor regularly I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure. Usually my doctor would discuss with me the alternatives but this time he immediately put me on medication. There was NO WAY I was going to jump into the use of drugs in order to solve what should be solvable by a change of life style - proper dieting and exercising. Only a few years ago I was very active but started to turn into a couch potato - not over weight but then not doing the things I should to take BEST care of my health. The high blood pressure, the silent killer, was a wake up call! When I become passionate about a task I can become obsessed to a point of being manic! Everything is put under a microscope - exercise and diet. Every clove of garlic weighed, every 1/8 tsp of salt tracked. Blood pressure measured regularly - sometimes too much that the act of taking a blood pressure test is stressing me out when I get bad numbers - though in general I've been improving. Been tracking my results by Excel spreadsheet and collecting nutritional data data from the internet manually. Doing conversions after conversions up the Ying Yang to a point that perhaps nutritional tracking would be considered an exercise in itself! What drove me nuts about this process is when a certain unit of measure was not available or having to figure out exactly how many SQUARE cubes of avocado fit in a ROUND cup - you get my drift.

To this, Cronometer is EXCELLENT. At the very least it has ability to put in Grams or Ounces and whatever factor you need - works great with my kitchen scale. Easy to see where your proteins, carbs, fats are coming from. Easy to track what I can increase/decrease to meet my potassium goal over sodium to reduce my blood pressure. I don't only use Cronometer to track my progress but also use it to plan meals around my macronutrient requirements.

Anyway that's a little about me. Look forward to interacting with the community here and there to keep this site the BEST.

Thanks Cronometer for a great website and mobile app!

Brian

annie616

welcome Brian. I'm completely new also. good luck!

YoHobie

Welcome to you too, Annie! Best wishes on achieving your goals!

VegForLife

Hi,
Just joined yesterday, and I’m looking forward to sharing topics.
Following Dr. Greger’s WFPB.

Nancy

Hello, I am a newbie too, and would like to welcome you and all the other members of the newbie club!
I am glad that you have written about insomnia and high blood pressure. I suffer from both. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure around 5 years ago, and take medication for it. I am very wary of ingesting too much salt from foods, as I understand it can raise blood pressure and also contribute to fluid retention. I am working on my sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium levels to make sure they are in balance.
I have been doing intermittent fasting (one meal a day) as well as adhering to a ketogenic diet plan. It has been two and a half weeks now, and I have lost some weight, reduced my fluid retention, and my mental clarity has improved.
While all of these things are fantastic, I am still unable to sleep! Does anyone have any guidance and/or advice to offer to help me get some sleep?
Oh, I forgot to say that I am a 54 year old female.

Susan_RD_101

Hello @Nancy ,

Practicing good sleep hygiene can help to improve your sleep habits. Some things to try include:

• Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time
• Avoid screens at least 2 hours before bed
• Ensure that the temperature, sound, and light in your bedroom is conducive for sleep
• Avoid caffeine in the afternoon/evening (or eliminate altogether)
• Avoid alcohol
• Limit water intake before bed
• Get some sunlight during the day
• Exercise in the earlier part of your day
• Meditate before bed (can find many sleep meditations)
• Have a relaxing bedtime routine

Hopefully some of the tips in here will help!

Kind regards,

Nancy

Hi Susan, thank you for those tips. I don't drink tea or coffee at any time, but I do drink herbal teas. I enjoy a warm cup of herbal tea before bed, usually I like chamomile, passionflower or a blend made for sleeping. I will definitely incorporate the avoiding screens 2 hours before bedtime, and going to sleep and waking up at the same time. I am learning about meditation, and will try to find some sleep meditations. Thank you for taking the time to reply to my question.

Susan_RD_101

@Nancy

Check out the app insight timer; excellent meditations for sleep that you can browse through.

Kind regards,

Susan