Thanks guys, I'm officially motivated to change this myself. Thanks for your help.
You are wise to lower your high blood pressure by natural means. It is highly recommended that be the first therapy (diet and exercise), and avoid medication. It seems so many patients are given medication by their doctor without first giving fair consideration to a natural method.
The fact you had normal blood pressure indicates you don't have esential high blood pressure (ideopathic...cause unknown), as it appears your high BP is secondary to weight gain. At your age you don't want to put chemical agents into your system that can have medical concerns going forward at some later time..
Thanks for sharing, take care,
Ken
1. Ask your physician for a 24 hour blood pressure monitoring. Single BP measurements are worthless and may vary a lot, from how stressed you are, what you recently ate, etc.
2. You need to lose some weight, or the blood pressure will continue to increase. 150/80 is a slightly elevated blood pressure, and the high systolic-diastolic difference could be a sign that you are stressed when measuring your blood pressure, and that your real blood pressure isn't elevated.
3. You need to exercise. Aerobic exercise is the best way to decrease your blood pressure. Weightlifting may actually increase it.
4. Avoid salt and saturated fat.
I'm somewhat hypotensive (my morning BP is approx. 95/50) but I can easily increase my BP above 150/80 almost at will. Almost all of us can. Try to relax and remove stress from your life. And don't be afraid.