Paleo Diet - Day 161

Good news on the weight loss this morning! Instead of creeping up another pound, as I expected I might after a week of being sick with the flu and, thus, not exercising, paradoxically, I find myself at 169 lbs - 5 lbs less than I was last Saturday! This knocks my BMI (Body Mass Index) down to the lowest it's been: 22.9, which is still right in the middle of "normal" weight. In my recollection, this is the lightest I've been since around 1985, when I was 33. I guess maybe the flu actually helped me lose a few pounds, then, despite the inactivity. Not the way I would have preferred to lose weight, though.

Where my blood sugar is concerned, it's a typical 110 this morning, after a late night steak, followed by some Brazil nuts later. Nothing unexpected, and still in the normal range. It'll fall again, back into the 80's or 90's within a few hours, as usual.

It's my blood pressure that has me a little concerned today, as it's shot way up on the diastolic side. At 125/100, my systolic has actually fallen by 4 points since last Saturday's reading, but the diastolic is the highest it's been since December 18th, 2007, when I began monitoring my blood pressure. Then, it was 135/99. As for possible causes, consider I've just awakened from about 8.5 hours of sleep, which is unusual for me, even on a Saturday morning when I don't set my alarm. I'm thinking it must be my sleep apnea, which is still there, of course. Though I don't recall waking prematurely at any time during the night, that, of course, doesn't mean I didn't have some apnic events, which usually have the effect of raising my blood pressure.

Then there is the fact that upon getting up, I noticed my left hand had some reddish indentations in it (gone, now that I've been up a while), indicating I'd slept on it for a while, so that would have cut off circulation in my left arm, somewhat. Other than this, I have no way of determining how my diastolic pressure got so jacked up.

But, the important thing to remember is that this is only a spot reading. My blood pressure will go down again during the day, most likely. Especially, if I just woke from an apnic event. That's the thing I touched on last week, about blood pressure "standards." This is really a hit-and-miss measure that doesn't give you a clear overall picture of what's happening in your body unless you're monitoring your blood pressure hourly - which would be ridiculous overkill, as everyone's blood pressure - including those who are in peak health - fluctuates throughout the day and with their activity level. So, just how relevant is this, really?

Last week, I was questioning - based upon something I'd read - the relevance of any of this concern over "high blood pressure." Could it be it's been made another health bogeyman, right along with saturated fats, which also doesn't cause heart disease? I'll have to look into this a little deeper.

ADDENDUM: I forgot to comment that, now that I'm at 169 lbs, I have exceeded my weight loss goal by one pound! So, at this point, I will be maintaining my weight, from here on out, in the range of 169 to 171 lbs, or so. Of course, it's going to fluctuate, so, I'm allowing for that by stating a range instead of a specific weight, which would be impossible to maintain as a constant. Anyway, I've arrived! I've done it, folks! Same with my diabetes; it's gone! Now, if I can just get my blood pressure down to normal without medication, I'll have achieved all of my stated health goals.