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I've read through your other posts and all I can say is damn you have it stacked against you. But there is for example exercise bikes where you sit differently etc, maybe these can put you in a position where your nervendings don't act up.
With both the nervendings and heartproblems your in one hell of an uphill though.
The heart problems will disappear once you drop the weight and get rid of all that saturated fat that keeps you heavy. That and all that sugar in the sweet tea!
Splenda is junk, all chemicals. Get whole unprocessed foods and make everything yourself. Dump the processed junk that is also full of chemicals. That stuff keeps people fat.
And, all that meat is pumped full of growth hormones and it gets passed onto the people that eat it. Plus it's in the dairy.
Brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes are not the enemy. The McDougall diet plan is a starch based vegan food plan that will have you dropping the weight like crazy, even before you begin working out. Add exercise to it, and you will steadly lose weight.
Get a recumbent bike and lean back and pedal that thing while watching TV.
Take walks. A 5 minute walk to start, even if it's just around your home. I know a lady that lost over 200 lbs doing that. She would start with 5 minutes a day and worked up to more over time. She started out weighing over 400 lbs and walked with a cane.
You can do anything you set your mind to. If you really want to change, you will do whatever it takes. Say no the lapband surgery. That is very lucrative financially for your doctor, but the side effects suck. Plus you lose weight rapidly, so there is the skin operation later that is not only very expensive, but hurts like crazy. Those surgeries are not a cure all. The majority of people that have the surgeries gain it all back later because they never change what they are eating and fall into old habits.
Good luck.
Listen the more I read - can they set you up with a combined physical therapist, doctor plan? I honestly think if your diet limits you to really quality foods (and, yes, sweet tea not on the list) it may start making a difference but you may want to be open to evaluating and cutting calories.
www.caloriecount.com and many others offer easy calorie counters that also evaluate the nutritional status of your food. That really may be good for you to log everything you eat and get a baseline. SOmetimes it is absolutely surprising when you see it in print.
If you have A-fib, you know about the very real possibility of strokes
Most of our recommendations are for someone that has not had their health deteriorate to this point. And that book does have some stories of folks who started out not being able to make it to the mailbox; at least consider checking it out. It is targeted at older folks.
But time and time again excercise and a healthy diet have proven to work their magic even for someone with serious health problems.
Excercise is healing but it has to be the point of doing enough damage to force rebuilding and healing the same chemicals released to do that also help clean out the cardiovascualar system etc. Even though I am stalled and working on moving forward, my weight loss has left me without having to take any prescription drugs and I was taking two BP medicines and one reflux medicine. And I am in my middle 50s.
Have you seen a dietician? It sounds like right now you can't do much in the way of exercise but you can still drastically reduce your weight with diet alone. Again, get the junk out of the diet.
I was a diabetic with my last pregnancy and was seeing a dietician during that time. She helped put a plan in place for after I had the baby. I stuck to that and started going to WW for the support and that helped. I lost quite a bit of weight (about 45lbs) without very much exercise by following the dietary guidelines for diabetics. The last 35 was harder to get off which is when I dedicated myself to an exercise plan.
I love baby carrots but not everyone does. Be creative with your veggies. The other day I made roasted cauliflower which was really yummy. You can cut up almost any veggie, mince a garlic clove or two, add a little salt and pepper and little olive oil and roast in the oven at 400 till they are just starting to get tender. When you get hungry, warm them up and munch away. There's another recipe I posted in a different thread for black bean and corn salad...really yummy, lots of veggies, very little fat. Veggies don't have to be boring unless you prefer them that way.
Edited to add... find yourself a good endocrinologist and have them check for Hashimoto's. Your thyroid function, while possibly normal now, doesn't just spurt back and forth between working and not working. Sounds like something is going on there and that is characteristic of Hashimoto's. IF your doc was only looking at TSH that won't tell them squat about your thyroid function.
Jesse I just stopped back in to wish you luck - it is great that you are trying to make some changes.
I think the suggestion that you see a dietician should be seriously considered. They can counsel you and your wife and put together a nutrition plan that will work for both of you. And I suspect that your wife needs to hear from an expert just as much as you. You will drop off a lot of weight once you get your food intake under control.
The reason for my Atrial Fibrulation is because I have an enlarged heart. Ex Marine here, and I have what they call, "Runners Heart" as we ran three miles a day and we lost a battallian Commander because he just got done off of a run, then sat at his desk and keeled over! He woud run an extra 26 miles over what we ran, and it got to him, unfortunately. The electricity is shooting everywhere in my heart, except where its supposed to go, thus, I can be sitting down and my heart is racing from 60 beats to 220 beats a minute!! (And my Wife always asks me, why are YOU tired? You havent done ANYTHING but sit in that chair!! ROTFLOL... She cant grasp what my heart is putting me through).
Yea, I do have an uphill battle, and I plan to stick with the weigh lifting, until I either 'get' where I want to be, or it kills me!! There is no in between for me, its do or die, and I told my Wife, if I die, then I died, doing something I love, and thats trying to lose the weight, by exercising it off.
I dont have high blood pressure, in fact, I have to take blood pressure pills in order to keep my blood pressure UP!! Many times, its dropped low enough to register on my pacemaker (it charts itself and can show what its been doing for months at a time), and a few times I sat down, and simply quit breathing! First time, it was when I was eating strawberry short cake, and my Wife had to 'Rescue' me, by getting the food out of my mouth and reviving me.... A few other times, she has rescued me again and again, so, now they upped my medication to keep my pressure up
It maybe an up hill fight, but, Im used to fighting battles I cant win...gives me something to hope for
OH, and I have been on Sparkspeople.com, doing the daily diet thing, and only lost 10 pounds in 3 months, maybe I can give that a try again, who knows
Good News, Wife has decided to take me to Exercise Session before the snow flies
At least I will get my 'three times' in this week. Hope I dont have to cut it short again, like the last time the snow decided to come in, just made it home before it got bad...so, here is to a good work out!
Daughter and her 'bud' are staying home... (She needs to lose some, but, I keep telling my wife, you have to be motivated to do that, and unfortunately, she isnt at this time...maybe before her Senior Prom, she maybe, dont know??
OH, I dont operate a vehicle while doing vicodin... I have my Wife drive me, and also I need her to wipe the machines off, cause I put so much effort into my exercise,that I actually have to drag myself off each machine, to the next one! I actually 'fell' when doing that once, and it must have registered on the Rictor Scale, cause everyone came a running...totally embarrassed myself on that one, sheesh
i agree that a good water areobics class might be a good choice for you...i know it SOUNDS sissy, but the water helps your joints while adding resistance, ive been to some classes that will actually relay kick your butt...see what your local pool/Y offers in termsof classes, even just swimming itself is realy REALY good excersize!
a good recumberant bike might also help you (the recumberent sits you back slightly with full back support) one with adjustable resistance, you dont have to peddle like a bat out of hell, just a steady pace.
im post gastric bypass and my doc wants me doing 5 miles a day, i find now i can easily do 6 miles in about 1/2 hour on a resistance of 8, i feel like ive worked out but im not huffing and puffing...
i do agree with the others that have said dietician/nutritionalist if you can, given your heart issues you might need different nutritional needs (i know with some health issues you cant do a higher protein diet, ect)
i know with heart issues salt intake MUST be watched too!
and if you dont like a veggie...you dont have to eat it...ive found personally if i dont like it i wont stick to it so find options you DO like...a small apple with a table spoon of natural peanut butter to dip into has become one of my faves, a few slices of avacado (its packed with good fat) with a tiny sprinkle of garlic powder is another of my faves, low fat string cheese ect...
a small serving of almonds is another good healthy snack...liek anything else, all in moderation but the key is definatly finding things you LIKE so youll continue to stick to the whole process...
and with the excersize, i know you said you like to focus on weights, but with your heart i think you need to make sure to pay equal attention to areobic excersize, (again the bikes are perfect for this)
They do offer bikes at the YMCA, and I have used them a few times but, for some reason, I dom get that 'burn' that I get with weights, and 'feel' like I am putting the muscles to use. My Doctors, both family and heart Dctors afree with me that weights are good for my routine.
I just got back and am again, falling asleep at the keyboard as I type this out, as my phsicao routine completely wears my heart out...And when that goes, I cant stay awake, excet log enough to eat a sandwhich, drink a cup of coffee, and chat with my sis in law about work on Instant Messanger, while my head drifts down to the keyboard and I catch myself getting my winks in, before I finally call it quits and hit the easy chair for long nap Totally exhausted when I get home, and thats about all I can muster up at this time...
))) Whats That??(((
Easy chair is calling to me...ssssllleeeeeep...sleeeeeep...sleeep, sll......
I wish you well...
Jesse
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