Hi John,
How to “lose more weight” is a seemingly simple question but there are a lot of factors that play into this. There are plenty of gadgets and gimmicks which will happily take your money but don’t really work and, in fact, might even sabotage your efforts and leave you more discouraged in the long run. I’d highly recommend speaking to your doctor and seek a referral to both a clinical exercise physiologist and dietitian to help you with custom tailoring your approach to both exercise and eating. They can help you formulate a plan that will be most appropriate for you.
Kind regards,
Bill

Hi Vu,
If you’re medically stable and you have clearance from your doctor to exercise to your tolerance, depending on how you feel, you could either increase your duration beyond 60 minutes or you could try to bump up your intensity a little bit. I’m not telling you to push it to the max, but if you’re now 7 weeks into your recovery and you are feeling well and without any symptoms or discomfort, you should realistically be able to start increasing your intensity a little bit without any serious risk for concern. But again, as I mentioned above, it’s important that you’re in touch with your medical management team (doc, practice nurse etc) to ensure that you’re medically stable and there are no medical reasons (contraindications) for why you shouldn’t be going to higher intensities. If you’re currently at 2.2 mph speed then you could gradually bump it up to 2.4 or 2.5 mph and see how that feels. If you feel well and have no lingering after effects, then you might stick with that for a week or so and then see about bumping it up to 2.7 or 2.8 mph. If that feels ok, then gradually increase it back up to your 3.5mph over time. Remember that recovery is a process. By 6 months post-surgery, assuming your recovery is normal and there are no other issues getting in the way, you should be able to make a full recovery with no issues. Bottom line is to just be sure you’re doing everything little by little and not pushing yourself off the deep end by doing too much too soon. Hope this helps. Kind regards, Bill

Question to you Dr: you think I should increase the intensity and duration? Based on you chart, 60 minutes one time a day…at what speed.
I just don’t want to overdo it…worried any side effects.
Thanks Dr.

Vu

@Alexander Avinante,

I had bypass , I m bodybuilder as well , we’re you able life weight after 12 weeks continue on cycle or no

Hi Ricky,
The final decision would lie with your doctor but, in general, the devil is always in the dose. If you have a drink or two in moderation, more than likely this will not pose a problem. Because I’m not familiar with your medical history, it would be wise to call your doctor and at least speak with the practice nurse to get a final answer. Hope this helps.

Happy to help. You’ll be ok, but just be sure to use all resources available to you.

Thanks, that gives me some goals to keep in mind and some hope in my future.

Hi James,
Even if the cardiac rehab is not available until the month before you go back to work, you will definitely want to keep on track and do your own walking and stair climbing exercise (once you have clearance to do so from your cardiologist).

Once the cardiac rehab becomes available to you, I would still STRONGLY recommend you do it even if only for the final month. The reason is, they can work closely with you to help you develop ongoing strategies for maintaining your fitness and quality of life. To be honest, when it comes to exercise, there isn’t a huge difference between someone who has had open heart surgery and someone who hasn’t. The human body is still the human body. BUT, obviously you will need to make some adjustments to ensure that the exercise is safe and takes into consideration the effects of things like medications you might be prescribed, soreness/stiffness around the sternum, and any other factors which might arise from the surgery. But to be honest, most people tend to do well after their surgery.

As for the weights you lift at work, you will want to explain this to the cardiac rehab team and they can help you with the transition back into your routine. If they have a weight training set up there, then they could help you build up your strength in preparation for return to work.

Bottom line:
1) make sure you have clearance by your cardiologist to get back to exercise (walking and stairs)
2) do cardiac rehab for sure, even if only for a month
3) continue to pay attention for any signs and/or symptoms

Hope this helps. Feel free to stop back with any ongoing questions you might have.

Kind regards,
Bill