I (28F) have always had a high resting heart rate, even when I've been eating well, working out daily, and at a healthy weight. Doctors would always ask if I was nervous (a joke that got old quick) but never really talked about it beyond that. I'm also an anxious creature with a bad coffee habit so I figured that didn't help things. When I went to my doctor in July for a well-check, my resting heart rate was at about 90. My doctor wasn't concerned and said so long as it stuck below 100, some people just have high resting heart rates and I shouldn't be worried. Since mine had been high my whole life and I didn't pay too much attention to it on my Fitbit, I just kind of took it in stride.
Then I started asking my friends with heart rate trackers what theirs were. The highest anyone told me was around 65 which I thought was crazy; in all my time having a fitness tracker (probably ~ 5 years) I had NEVER had a consistent resting heart rate that low. The lowest I ever reached was 69, and that was when I was able to hit the gym every day and be active at work. I decided to keep an eye on it just in case I noticed any patterns.
And I did. I have a problem with over-eating which was triggered by a recovery from anorexia in college. And again... anxious creature, with a coping mechanism of eating too much food. I noticed that when I over-ate, sometimes I would be sitting on the couch, completely still, and my resting heart rate would be at 104-105. It wasn't much higher than the doctor's "be worried" limit, but it scared me to death. I looked it up and sure enough; your heart has to work harder when you eat, and especially hard if you over-eat.
I'm still not at a healthy weight for my height (5'0, ~ 143lbs.) but I've stopped over-eating for the last week and my average resting heart rate has already gone from 80 to 74. It's an incredibly stressful time at work right now for me and I haven't been able to work out as much as I'd like but I'm coping in other ways and seeing my heart working less hard primarily because of my eating decisions has really improved my mental health.
I thought maybe this could be helpful for others. It's not often that I think about weight loss in terms of why I need to do it to keep my body healthy (which I know should be the main reason, but it never has been for me before), but now it's THE most important thing.
Edit: a word
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/3qIUkMo
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