Well I have stopped smoking 2 weeks now am now on a Mediterranean diet eating my five a day taking all meds and starting exercises next week when my dvd arrives from the cardiac rehab nurses.
Now obviously I’m doing all I can to make sure I’m following the healthy heart diet etc but that got me thinking to the time when I could go shopping freely without having to look at saturated fats sugars etc ... when I could eat what I want when I felt like it... not that I was a gannet as I wasn’t but it was unrestricted.... obviously I find this quite depressing tbh so am asking you all .... can you ever have a treat like a cake or dessert with cream.... can you ever have a nice bar of chocolate glass or two of wine or brandy.... can you ever get up and have a dance with your mates or spring clean house top to bottom.... I just don’t know what our limitations are or what other people do .... it’s a good thing I gave up smoking but god it was hard and even harder with changing my whole lifestyle... i don’t want to feel like I’m living from a regime and don’t know how to make it feel like I’m not or will I just get used to it... anyway let me know your thoughts tks
Written by
Buffy6956
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Well you raise some big and meaty questions there. Ex smoker myself so big high 5 to you for quitting as tobacco is one of the most addictive substances, more so than heroin but don't do a comparison. You will get many differing replies.
I have never liked fast food burgers etc and was never a big red meat eater so maybe I dont miss foods like some do. Smoking is a big no for me now. I exercise regularly and have cut out things like bought cakes and biscuits pies etc as they are loaded with trans fats and sugar.
That doesn't mean I never gave a kit kat or a bahlsen if I want to push the boat out. Because I have cut out many fats and have adopted a predominantly Mediterranean diet if I ever do go off track and binge it's not the same. Last time I was out with family we had fish and chips after walking along sea front. They were lovely but I felt sick for the rest of day!
Alcohol I cut out completely for about 18 months after heart attack as I read that it can cause inflammation in the body but now I have and enjoy a glass of wine now and again. Now this won't work for everyone with some it's all or nothing but for me it works. Chocolate I have to be careful with as bring confined to barracks I have found myself having more and more. For me it's everything in moderation. Keep to exercise regime though no smoking but allow yourself treat enjoy life.
I wasn’t a big red meat eater either but I guess I loved cheesy things and liked to sometimes just get convenience foods but now I have to check everything... I read today that alcohol in moderation is actually good for you as it raises HDL ... I do really miss smoking but won’t ever go back to it which is hard but needed.... I just don’t want to feel like I’m ruled by this heart disease I want to feel I’m in charge of it but it doesn’t feel like that so need to know how to get a happy medium
Also maybe treat yourself with the money you save from quitting smoking something you wouldn't normally buy perhaps. I think you will feel more energetic in time. You will be in control as much as anyone can be.
OMG that's me. CHEESE!!!!!!! I made a cheese souffle yesterday for he first time in 18 months. I also gave up smoking but I found that trying to do everything all at once was just too much and sadly I started again. Now that the diet and exercise parts have become the norm I'm working on the smoking again but finding being stuck in with n o distractions makes it extremely difficult. Well done you. Have an OCCASIONAL treat but make sure they don't creep up on you. I don't drink at all. Don't miss it.
After my heart attack/cardiac arrest in December 2018 I was diagnosed with Heart Failure with an EF of 30%, I started 2019 with stop smoking (still stopped) stopped drinking for 6 months(now have the odd drink or 2) changed diet, lost 40 lbs in weight, started exercising doing cardio rehab, got BMI down to good figure, took all my meds and de-stressed.
At the start it wasn't easy and I did feel like the changes i'd made had just taken over my life completely, I'd go shopping and spend ages looking at the labels making sure I was only buying the healthy stuff and avoided all the goodies - cakes, bics, chocolate etc.
I stuck religiously to this for probably 9 months. By that time I felt really really well and surprisingly fit. I went to see my consultant at the beginning of October to be told that I was being discharged, my EF had improved to 40-45% and was told that there was nothing they needed to do for me - just told to carry on exercising and maintaining a good balanced lifestyle.
My diet is still much as it was at the start of last year, but I do now allow myself treats, a cake, some chocolate. What I won't go back to is eating the ultra processed food, I still study the labels but now know what to avoid so it has stopped becomes a chore, I've just learnt that I shouldn't eat.
When I first got to cardio rehab I was doing 2.8 kph with no incline on the treadmill, by the time I finished rehab that was 6.5kph and a 6% incline. Fitness wise I'm probably better than I was before my heart attack.
At the start of this journey we all feel as you do at the moment, but it does get easier. What made the difference for me was at the start I thought "ok I need to do this, it will help, and I'll probably feel better" - after 6 months I'd changed my viewpoint from thinking it might/would probably make me feel better, to actually feeling so much better and feeling like there was no limit or restriction on me despite having a damaged heart. So I think it was worth it all.
Hope this helps, it's not easy, but you can do it - you've made a great start already
Maybe cleaning the house top to bottom is a bit scary and boring but should be alright if you have Freddy on in background and sing 'I want to break free'
Hi being an ex smoker myself you’ll develop a lifestyle that suits you, up to a couple of weeks I’d go and have a couple of beers a week with a few mates regarding food you can eat what you want within reason nothing wrong with a treat now and again just be realistic you know what’s good for you and what’s not, nothing wrong with a big cream cake now and again but not every other day
hi buffy. of course you can haven occasional treat. we’re only human. my treat is a fruit tart on a saturday. having said that garden centre is closed now so i imagine how good it will taste when we get back to normal. big congrats on stopping smoking. well done❤️
For me the biggest change was giving up smoking. And with that wasn't really a problem because I did the hard bit while in an induced coma in hospital. Let me say here that I do not recommend that method of stopping smoking. It may be easier but, for your loved ones, it is probably rather harrowing.
Diet wise I do everything in moderation, except vegetables. I eat vegetables like they were going out of fashion. Doing that means I eat less meat and I tend to eat just a main course, or a starter and main.
There is some element of training yourself but my outlook was, and still is, that "Hey. At least I am around to do this".
Last thing, if you find exercise motivation hard, and I did, consider what would get you to take some exercise every day. I got a dog. I have to take a walk every day and the walk lasts one to one and a half hours.
Roasted or grilled with fish or chicken. Try steamed. Make ratatouille. Good old hearty soup is womderful with added pulses. Add flavours. Veg curry is a hit here. Hope that helps you.
I'm not great with my diet, but do try to eat a good variety of fruit and veg, meat is mainly chicken and the occasional chocolate treat.
Big well done for stopping smoking, I am on day 155 and have managed to save £1,461 since I stopped. I would recommend downloading the NHS Smoke Free app to your phone, great tracking of your achievement and some very useful tips for those difficult times.
You will still have days or more accurately times, when you really fancy a fag, I had this yesterday a few times, I took myself away from what I was doing and did something else, that was me getting through day 154
Ty yes it’s hard not smoking I still crave one most days but will never start again x
I used to love most dairy products, total cheese monster, cream teas, butter, pastry, cakes and on it goes. Always a big runner and cyclist slim as a rake so never though it was a problem, never smoked though mugs game. Once you realize you could very easily been 6ft under I found inspiration, just think of these things as poison! I can honestly say I found it easy to give up these things I loved, including all meat products, although I do have a very very supportive and quite strict wife. Between us, we took it upon ourselves as a bit of a challenge. Most common chocolate bars are full of s**t anyway, including palm oil which you should be trying to avoid at all costs anyway. Go for some high quality artisan stuff, OK it's more expensive but it is delicious, as a treat. I just got some called Ocelot, its great stuff. Cream, butter and so on - come on you KNOW you can't go there, just forget it, along with the cheese. If you bake yourself use plant sterol based products instead of butter etc, you can still make relatively healthy pastry for your vegetable wellington. Why not just give up meat? There are fantastic vegetable cook books and recipes, along with restaurants if we ever get back to normal. We all need to be cutting down/out meat for environmental reasons anyway. If you can pack the fags in you can pack anything in. I am not sure about drinking, I personally don't think it has a specific impact on heart health any more than general health if you have to much, but I do now stick to the 14 units a week, which to be honest is such a reduction for me I sometimes wonder if it is worth it - I have decided to pack it up as a bit of a personal support for the NHS until we get back to normal, probably a bit daft but it's a good excuse to see just how i feel without any alcohol for an extended period, something I have not done since I was about 15 I am a bit ashamed to say! I think the best bit of quick advice is to stop thinking of these things as treats, because really, they are not are they?? Also you don't have to wait for the DVD coming, just start walking and then brisk walking, exercise is absolutely essential for us it's benefits are tremendous. Good luck!
Tks fab reply.... I saw some recipies in the British heart foundation for fish pie shepherds pie (with quorn mince) and they were done with benecol oil for frying snd benecol spread for mashing etc both of these contain plant stenol... so just a quick question... if I’m already on statins 40mg will it matter if I add even more stenol into the equasion? Got my heart health book and cd through this morning and I found the following interesting
REMEMBER
The problem is in your “arteries” not your heart
Your heart is the strongest muscle in your body
No other muscle has the ability to work non stop 24hours a day
Because it works all the while it’s a very active muscle
It is also capable of doing much more work than most of us ever need
You will have noticed that the whole story so far is about your arteries and not about your heart. All your heart has done so far is to let you know by giving you angina that it’s not getting enough blood. So angina is caused by coronary artery disease NOT because of a problem with the heart
(Please bear in mind this is for people with coronary artery disease who have had stents or bypass)
Yep Mrs Lateguitarist uses benecol for cooking with, not used the benecol oil we use a good quality English cold pressed rapeseed oil (Tesco finest). I wouldn't have thought using these along with the Statin will make a difference I am on 80mg. The book is right, the problem may very well not be with your heart, did you have an ECHO test? Our problems are more like we have a great engine in the car but the petrol pipe has got blocked up and not enough gas is getting through. Believe me with a good diet and plenty of exercise you will feel better than you probably have for ages. I did find my heart had probably got a bit "tired" over the years and it took me a good year to get back my fitness but I can now out sprint many people 40 years my junior on Parkruns (what were they he asks) and sometimes find myself wondering if it was all a bad dream and my ride in the yellow bus to Derby Royal was just in my imagination. The way I look at it is, if there are any more problems in the future I can tell myself that I did all I could. Bye the way I do eat fish, which opens up all sorts of possibilities if you like it. You can also look those little piggies in the eye when you see them as well
I've been using quorn mince for shepherds pie or bolognese and such for 18 months now. My husband who is completely a meat and 2 veg with tons of spuds man hasn't a clue.
Ewwwwwww I'm afraid lentils and peppers are the two things I absolutely can not eat and every recipe these days seems to require peppers. They just talk back t o me and make me sick.
Hiya Buffy Well done on the fag front,not drinking for a bit will help you continue your cold turkey ! as for the heart the med diet is good too,but, always allow for a little slip now and again! A little of what you fancy does you good!! Now for exercise, first be pleased with yourself that you opened your eyes in the morning.Then every thing you do from there on is excercise , just dont over do it!! keep smoke free and carry on ,
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Heart working at 40%
Heart healthy diet?
Low heart rate
Heart Transplant 
29 y/o with heart failure
