rh0926
New member
A little about me....
41 year old male
219 pounds
5' 10"
Looking to lose at least 30-40 pounds
About 4 years ago, I suffered a heart attack. I had surgery to place a stent in my heart and as part of my recovery, I underwent a cardiac rehab program at the hospital for 3 months. When I started the 12-week rehab program, I was asked what my goals were. At that point, I was 215 pounds and wanted to lose some weight and waist size (was 34-36""). They explained that it was normal for people to drop 5-10 pounds while in the program. Prior to this program, I had not exercised in 10-15 years.
The rehab program consisted of 35-40 minutes of supervised cardio and 20-30 minutes of weight training three times a week. I improved on both cardio and weights throughout the program. At the end of the 12 weeks, I had lost 0 pounds! My size was the same. The hospital nurses did not have a good explanation.
Before my heart attack, I was probably downing 8-10 cans of Pepsi a day (approximately 1500 calories). From the day of my attack, I stopped drinking cola and drank ONLY water. No juices. My diet also improved as I stopped eating vending machine food for lunch at work and at home, in the evenings, I ate what my wife cooked and tried not to eat out that much. My wife was on Weight Watchers at that point so I was eating healthier.
After the hospital's cardiac rehab, I joined a gym. I went 4-5 days a week for 12 more weeks. My workouts consisted of 40-50 minutes of cardio on the elliptical machine (moderate to intensive workout to keep my heart rate high) and a occasional weight machine or two. The weight machines were more crowded at the gym and I got tired of waiting for them. I was still only drinking water.
Again, NO weight loss. No extra energy boost as people say you get with exercise.
Would anybody have an idea on what I'm missing?
I don't understand how I can cut out approximately 8500-9000 calories from my weekly diet, eat healthier, and do all that exercise without any results. I got discouraged and quit the gym and have gone back to my bad eating and cola drinking habits. (surprising that I only weigh 4 pounds more in the last 4 years!).
Overall, I don't feel that I eat that much. Usually only lunch and dinner each day with an occasional snack (small bag of chips) if I'm feeling hungry at work.
Many times at restaurants, I only eat half my lunch/dinner and keep the leftovers for the next day. Granted, I don't always take the best menu choice...
I'm somewhat active during the day at work. I'm an IT guy and I'm usually all over our building resolving problems. I take the stairs every chance I get (1 or two flights, 10-15 times a day).
I'd like to start working out again, but I'm hoping to find what I missed the first time so this time I don't get discouraged.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Rob
41 year old male
219 pounds
5' 10"
Looking to lose at least 30-40 pounds
About 4 years ago, I suffered a heart attack. I had surgery to place a stent in my heart and as part of my recovery, I underwent a cardiac rehab program at the hospital for 3 months. When I started the 12-week rehab program, I was asked what my goals were. At that point, I was 215 pounds and wanted to lose some weight and waist size (was 34-36""). They explained that it was normal for people to drop 5-10 pounds while in the program. Prior to this program, I had not exercised in 10-15 years.
The rehab program consisted of 35-40 minutes of supervised cardio and 20-30 minutes of weight training three times a week. I improved on both cardio and weights throughout the program. At the end of the 12 weeks, I had lost 0 pounds! My size was the same. The hospital nurses did not have a good explanation.
Before my heart attack, I was probably downing 8-10 cans of Pepsi a day (approximately 1500 calories). From the day of my attack, I stopped drinking cola and drank ONLY water. No juices. My diet also improved as I stopped eating vending machine food for lunch at work and at home, in the evenings, I ate what my wife cooked and tried not to eat out that much. My wife was on Weight Watchers at that point so I was eating healthier.
After the hospital's cardiac rehab, I joined a gym. I went 4-5 days a week for 12 more weeks. My workouts consisted of 40-50 minutes of cardio on the elliptical machine (moderate to intensive workout to keep my heart rate high) and a occasional weight machine or two. The weight machines were more crowded at the gym and I got tired of waiting for them. I was still only drinking water.
Again, NO weight loss. No extra energy boost as people say you get with exercise.
Would anybody have an idea on what I'm missing?
I don't understand how I can cut out approximately 8500-9000 calories from my weekly diet, eat healthier, and do all that exercise without any results. I got discouraged and quit the gym and have gone back to my bad eating and cola drinking habits. (surprising that I only weigh 4 pounds more in the last 4 years!).
Overall, I don't feel that I eat that much. Usually only lunch and dinner each day with an occasional snack (small bag of chips) if I'm feeling hungry at work.
Many times at restaurants, I only eat half my lunch/dinner and keep the leftovers for the next day. Granted, I don't always take the best menu choice...
I'm somewhat active during the day at work. I'm an IT guy and I'm usually all over our building resolving problems. I take the stairs every chance I get (1 or two flights, 10-15 times a day).
I'd like to start working out again, but I'm hoping to find what I missed the first time so this time I don't get discouraged.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Rob
