Taking my blood pressure when I travel is easy

This blog post is sponsored by OMRON and all opinions are the writer’s.

I recently spent ten days in Colorado Springs, visiting my eldest, Chloe, who is 20. She is studying for her EMT national exam and settling in nicely.

We did a lot of hiking and other fun activities, including going to the movies. It really is great to spend time with our children, especially as they enter adulthood. These pictures are from our time at Garden of the Gods, a beautiful location close to where my daughter lives.

Living at sea level in Florida, I had to get used to the altitude in Colorado, and also deal with a little bit of jet-lag, although the time difference is only 2 hours. And to top it off the extreme dryness of the climate is nothing like our humid Florida weather, much easier for me to deal with.

Despite going on a ton of adventures every day, and being away from home, I stuck to my yoga routine and also to taking my blood pressure in the evening, when it was time to wind down.

This is a part of the OMRON 90-day challenge to measure my blood pressure on a regular basis that I embarked on earlier this year.

I shared how stress is one of the things that can raise my blood pressure and how gardening, amongst other relaxing activities, helps me with that.

The truth is that any habit takes consistency over time to develop. I’m no stranger to striving to develop a healthier lifestyle and I know that it’s not always easy to adopt one more good habit!

How the OMRON HeartGuide fits into my lifestyle and routine

Some of the great features of the OMRON HeartGuide I’m wearing in the pictures, are that it tracks fitness goals, shows messages that come into my phone, and is also a blood pressure monitor.

This means that I can literally take my blood pressure anytime, anywhere. 
While that is true, and because my blood pressure tends to be within normal limits, I usually do it in the morning and in the evening. Last year I had decided to set alarms throughout the day for that, but in my case it’s not really necessary.

My dad, who is hypertensive, does need to set alarms to take his blood pressure, and so does my younger sister, Laura.

Because blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day, and mine is not out of control for now, during the trip to Colorado I decided to stick to my morning and evening routine and it worked just fine.

Why we should take our blood pressure regularly

I shared in my previous post how my dad found out by chance that he has high blood pressure, when he tried to donate blood. If he’d monitored it, he would have known earlier. Following are some facts to back up the importance of taking our blood pressure regularly.

• According to the American Heart Association (AHA), 116 million American adults are in the hypertensive range – that’s more than half of U.S. adults. Of these, 37 million have uncontrolled Stage 2 hypertension, and nearly 13 million are not even aware that they are hypertensive. 

• Hypertension is a major contributing risk factor for heart failure, myocardial infarction, stroke, and chronic kidney disease.
  
• There are two ways most people learn they are hypertensive: their condition is revealed by monitoring their blood pressure, or they suffer a cardiac event like a heart attack or stroke. Monitoring your blood pressure regularly empowers you to know your status, manage your condition if you are hypertensive, and lower your risk.

About OMRON HeartGuide

My family and I have been using OMRON blood pressure cuffs for years now. 

HeartGuide is the first wearable blood pressure monitor. If you don’t tell anyone what you’re wearing, they will see a wristwatch.

HeartGuide is a breakthrough device that uses oscillometric technology – an inflatable cuff similar to what is used in the doctor’s office – to provide FDA-cleared medical accuracy via wrist measurement. HeartGuide was reviewed by the FDA and arrived in the market as a medical device with medical-grade accuracy. 

For more information, check out HeartGuide product page