TromboneAl
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2006
- Messages
- 12,880
Hi Guys,
I'm going to make a few posts asking for advice, so I thought I'd first "give back" with some updates that some might find useful.
Blood Pressure
To follow up on this thread, my blood pressure has been nice and low, averaging about 127/78. I determined that my old procedure of measuring just after waking up in the morning, and only sitting for 1.5 minutes introduced too much variability. For standard measurements, I now take it around an hour after eating breakfast, and while I've been sitting at the computer.
I no longer drastically reduce my sodium intake, as recent studies don't support that as reducing all-cause mortality (as someone mentioned in the above thread). But I still season things with "No Salt," which allows me to say things like "I didn't get No Salt at the store today."
Here's a scatterplot. Don't read much into the lower BP in the afternoon. That's likely caused by the fact that I've often taken a long bike ride during the day.
I highly recommend this BP monitor. It's rated as accurate as arm cuff monitors, and it's extremely convenient.
I'm also intrigued by the idea that sunshine causes lower BP in the summer, and not because of Vitamin D, but because of this:
Richard Weller: Could the sun be good for your heart? - YouTube
Finances
When I retired at 53, I was wondering whether I'd have to do a 72t to make it to 59.5, but now at 60, we still have enough in after tax accounts for several more years, thanks to the market ([-]whee![/-]).
Since our money only has to last until I take SS at the max age, we have too much money, and are doing pretty well at spending it (that is, less frugal now). It seems that starting in January, Obamacare will save us $900 per month, so we really need to spend more.
Posting Images
Look into imgur.com (pronounced imager.com). Combined with this app, you can simply right click on an image file, choose Send to/Imgur, and you will get a link to the image for posting.
Car
Our Echo still feels like new at 217,000 miles, but I'm kind of hoping something will go wrong with it so we can buy a Leaf or Tesla.
Biking and Exercise
I've been biking a lot more (Lena, too).
I met DD Jenny for a century in the wine country:
My current view is that the best benefit of exercise comes from some days of long slow exercise (like riding for five hours at an exertion level similar to brisk walking), and other days with high intensity intervals. I think there may be something to the "chronic cardio" thing.
Low Carb
We still eat very low carb (3+ years now). I can go on a 65 mile bike ride and eat only a few grams of carb. It gives us a "get out of jail" card for dentistry -- no problems and checkups only once per year.
Hope those things are useful!
Al
I'm going to make a few posts asking for advice, so I thought I'd first "give back" with some updates that some might find useful.
Blood Pressure
To follow up on this thread, my blood pressure has been nice and low, averaging about 127/78. I determined that my old procedure of measuring just after waking up in the morning, and only sitting for 1.5 minutes introduced too much variability. For standard measurements, I now take it around an hour after eating breakfast, and while I've been sitting at the computer.
I no longer drastically reduce my sodium intake, as recent studies don't support that as reducing all-cause mortality (as someone mentioned in the above thread). But I still season things with "No Salt," which allows me to say things like "I didn't get No Salt at the store today."
Here's a scatterplot. Don't read much into the lower BP in the afternoon. That's likely caused by the fact that I've often taken a long bike ride during the day.
I highly recommend this BP monitor. It's rated as accurate as arm cuff monitors, and it's extremely convenient.
I'm also intrigued by the idea that sunshine causes lower BP in the summer, and not because of Vitamin D, but because of this:
Richard Weller: Could the sun be good for your heart? - YouTube
Finances
When I retired at 53, I was wondering whether I'd have to do a 72t to make it to 59.5, but now at 60, we still have enough in after tax accounts for several more years, thanks to the market ([-]whee![/-]).
Since our money only has to last until I take SS at the max age, we have too much money, and are doing pretty well at spending it (that is, less frugal now). It seems that starting in January, Obamacare will save us $900 per month, so we really need to spend more.
Posting Images
Look into imgur.com (pronounced imager.com). Combined with this app, you can simply right click on an image file, choose Send to/Imgur, and you will get a link to the image for posting.
Car
Our Echo still feels like new at 217,000 miles, but I'm kind of hoping something will go wrong with it so we can buy a Leaf or Tesla.
Biking and Exercise
I've been biking a lot more (Lena, too).
I met DD Jenny for a century in the wine country:
My current view is that the best benefit of exercise comes from some days of long slow exercise (like riding for five hours at an exertion level similar to brisk walking), and other days with high intensity intervals. I think there may be something to the "chronic cardio" thing.
Low Carb
We still eat very low carb (3+ years now). I can go on a 65 mile bike ride and eat only a few grams of carb. It gives us a "get out of jail" card for dentistry -- no problems and checkups only once per year.
Hope those things are useful!
Al
