Happy New Year! and....the ugly truth

Tonight is New Year's Eve.  As a couple the most we have ever done is stay up late, at home, and watch some of the local fireworks.  We are not the party type, we don't drink, and staying up late for no better reason that to watch the clock tick just seems like a big waste of good sleep time to me.  I know, I sound like the New Year's grinch but I am not, I just like to sleep.

Tonight we will be doing something different, though.  We will be babysitting three of our four grandchildren.  It should be fun but definitely something that we don't usually do.  Their parents want to stay out past midnight which means a late night for us -- again, something we are not used to.  I am sure I will be passed out on the couch long before the kids are -- that is just how I roll.

We won't be spending the night there but rather we will either come home which is a 45 minute drive in the middle of the night with all the drunken crazies out or we will go down the road and spend the night at my daughter's house.  That is probably what is going to happen.

Yes, we need to move.

So, that is how we are ringing out 2016.  I am ringing in 2017 with a heavy dose of exercise and dieting using My Fitness Pal.  I am still going to be doing my "normal eating" approach but I am going to document what I eat so that I can show the doctor who probably doesn't believe me.  I need to exercise because I just sit here on this computer all day.  All. Day.  My first exercise is walking and I will be doing that here in my house.  My floor plan gives me a really good "track" to walk a circle through the house and it takes me about 100 steps to make one lap.  I have reactivated my Garmin fitness tracker and am wearing it -- too bad that it irritates my skin. 

What is precipitating all this?  I had my 4 month dr. appointment yesterday and as far as the cancer goes, all is well.  Apparently my numbers are good, my exam was good and it was thumbs up all around.  However, my blood pressure was off the charts --183/120/90.  I have always had low blood pressure but the medication I am on is known to raise blood pressure and make weight loss nearly impossible.  So, the bp is on the rise and the weight is as well.  I have to do something.  So, since I have already adopted this "normal eating" style -- three meals a day, a snack in between and nothing after dinner -- all normal portions -- the only thing left is exercise.  So, exercise it will be.  It is time to nip this in the bud.  I don't think getting off the medicine is an option so exercise is the best line of defense.  I do need to work on getting past "white coat syndrome" -- maybe it would help if my dr. didn't wear a white coat!

So, wish me luck in the new year.  I am not waiting until tomorrow to start -- I have already started.  I took my bp this morning and it was still high but not THAT high.  I was still a bit anxiety ridden this morning -- I have been having anxiety problems lately which I noted to the doctor but nobody addressed it.  So, I guess I am just going to have to walk or bicycle through it.  I think I can do something about this other than medication, I just need to make the effort.

So, I think I will go take a walk.