High cholesterol levels and high blood pressure (HBP) are precursors to coronary artery disease and heart attacks. There are things you can do if you struggle with maintaining recommended ranges for both cholesterol and high blood pressure. Weight loss initiatives that include better nutritional habits and daily exercise routines make significant and positive improvements in these levels. Committing to a better diet and regular exercise will help lower both your cholesterol and blood pressure.
Step 1
Set realistic goals and objectives. Focus on making a commitment to a sustainable lifestyle change, as opposed to a superficial aesthetic improvement. Weight loss and changes in how your body looks may take some time. However, improvements in health begin immediately when you start eating right and exercising consistently.
Step 2
Reduce how many fatty foods you eat, such as red meat. Opt for leaner proteins and avoid those high in saturated fats, as this will reduce your cholesterol. Fat provides 9 calories per gram. Limit fat intake to less than 30 percent of your daily calories. Increase your intake of complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Cut down on simple sugars, like those found in sweets, candies and sodas. Monitor your sodium intake, which will help with lowering your blood pressure. Read labels and nderstand that most products list calories, fats, sodium and carbs per serving. Make sure you stick to a single serving of foods that are high in calories and fats.
Step 3
Engage in moderate, aerobic exercise four to seven days a week. Cardiovascular exercise increases the amount and presence of high-density lipoproteins. This is considered the "good" cholesterol and it circulates the body removing the "bad" cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, returning it to the liver to be metabolized or eliminated from the body. Maintain a steady state rate of intensity that is moderate to high to use fat as the body's energy source. Sustaining high intensities for extended periods of time encourages the body to use carbs as its energy source. Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise strengthens the heart and improves your blood flow. A stronger heart uses less effort to pump the same volume of blood, reducing the blood pressure.
Tips and Warnings
- Avoid skipping meals to lose weight. The less the body is fed or fueled, the more it uses other substances for energy. Retaining fat is the body's defense mechanism against starvation. Eat several small meals throughout the day. This keeps the metabolism "revved up" and promotes fat burning. Add resistance training to your exercise routine. Weight training builds muscle. The more lean muscle the body has, the more efficiently it burns fat.
- Resistance training will speed up fat loss, but may slow overall weight loss. Muscle weighs more than fat, and as you gain muscle, there will be a noticeable change in body composition with only slight weight loss. This is still preferable to carrying excess body fat.
References
- "Sports and Fitness Nutrition;" Robert Wildman and Barry Miller; 2004
- "Regulation of Lipid Mobilization in Exercise;" Canadian Journal of Sport Science; J. Bulow; 1987
