Behaviour modification required?

Last year I bought a cheap blood pressure machine from the pharmacy. I think I was a bit worried about the number of headaches my wife was having at the time, and as we don't often get our blood pressure checked, it seemed a sensible thing to do.

It indicated no big problem for either of us.

But due to a couple of mornings of dizziness on getting out of bed this week, I checked my own blood pressure again, and if this little machine is correct, it's up considerably since last year. But the readings it's giving for my wife are much worse, even first thing in the morning.

She's off to the doctor today to see if their machine agrees.

I should probably see my doctor too. There are several issues I can see that may need correcting in my current lifestyle:

1. Tony Abbott should stop improving his polling.

2. What? I can't spend a decade not bothering to get any particular exercise at all? I shake my fist at you fate. (Perhaps I shouldn't, that just made me dizzy.)

3. It's the evil influence of cheese. But is life with low fat cheese really worth living?

4. Salt. If, like me, your diet has a substantial Asian influence, salt is something that often comes in heavy doses. My impression is that nearly all men in Japan men go on blood pressure tablets from about the age of 42. (Their obligatory after work drinking sessions don't help too.)

5. Why am I cursed with a wife who is a talented baker, but with children who don't care for her cheesecakes, key lime pies (curse you, overly productive lime tree in the back yard), pecan pies, rhubarb cinnamon cakes, chocolate horns, etc? Hence, it becomes my duty to finish these desserts over 4 or 5 nights. (Neither my wife nor I actually consider ourselves to be fans of sugar or lots of cream; in fact if following an Australian recipe she often reduces the sugar by about one third and they still come out fine.) Seriously, I have asked my wife to stop making so many desserts, but she enjoys baking and resists my calls. It's a nightmare.

6. Blogging / the Internet. You mean I might be healthier by getting up and doing something, anything, physical, and going to bed a bit earlier. As well as avoiding irritants like the aggro commenters at Catallaxy? Well I'll be...

7. Lose weight. I'm pretty sure my calorie intake hasn't substantially increased over the last decade, but the kilograms surreptitiously increase anyway. We're not talking huge amounts, but photos catching me with a relaxed stomach now do embarrass me, and I know losing 5 - 6 kilos would put me in the normal BMI weight range. Maybe I should take up watching late night commercial TV for the latest exercise machine that I can pay off over four easy installments. Technology in them has improved over the last 10 years, hasn't it? In fact, the last time I lost weight was from a lingering stomach virus that reduced appetite for a good two or three weeks. Why can't that be an annual event?

8. Vitamin D. Yes, yes I am sure this is it. I get very little sun now. Happily, I see from an article in the New York Times that this is thought to be related to high blood pressure. I should be off to the pharmacy to see if vitamin D supplements will allow me to continue my sedate, sunless, salt, cheese and cheesecake eating lifestyle to continue.

Any other suggestions are welcome. Of course, we can also always hope the blood pressure machine is malfunctioning. That would be the best outcome of all.