I'm a retired advance practice nurse, & diabetic educator, who is now having to quit being a Hip-o-crit!!!! and take my own advice to eat right and exercise!@ I'm on a calorie restricted (between 1200 and 1500 per day) and lower sodium (following the American Heart Association recommendation of less than 1500 mg per day) and increasing my exercise from six months of sitting on my duff stuffing my face!

I got good genetics for health but have sadly been abusing my body with excess food, excess salt and not enough exercise which has made my blood pressure start to go up, and my blood sugar be over normal and my feet to swell. DUH!

I live in the country of a family farm, raise my own meat, (grass fed beef) and have been an avid gardener until recent years, but am going back to that next spring as well.

I started a group on lower sodium diets here on FS, so come join that if you are interested, it is a good thing for anyone to do not just those of us that have to. I'll be posting the things I learn as I go along and am open to any suggestions so come on and join in and contribute.

I also belong to the "yes, I'm diabetic group," though I am at this time not having to take medication for high blood sugars, but am "diet controlled."

I'm not only having to learn new ways of eating, but also new ways of cooking, shopping, and meal planning. I also feed an adult son who lives and works here on the farm with me so that we can both have what we like and still eat healthy.