Thanks for the insite, Geo. I have cautioned Mom not to expect miracles too early in the diet and she's agreed, but I think a part of her is still hoping for some improvement. Human nature, isn't it?

She doesn't usually suffer from "white coat syndrome" (that's my step Dad's problem--his BP is normal, until he's in front of any new doctor).

I've suggested a cuff monitor to her before, particularly because several weeks go by between doctors appointments. So far, she's said no to the idea. Sometimes I think she suffers from "head in the sand" syndrome. Or maybe she just doesn't want me to know how bad it is. Up till now at least, she claims not to even know her actual BP numbers. When I ask her, she just tells me the doctor says it's "too high" or "very high" and she didn't think to ask what the actual numbers were.

Whatever the numbers were when she went to the doctor a month or so ago, they were bad enough to convince her to make a real effort to lose weight and, thankfully, my success with lowcarb gave her a little more confidence that it was possible this time.

Thanks again for your suggestions. It does help a lot.

judy