Four months post-heart attack

I went to see the cardiologist last week to hear the results of my recent ECG. My ejection fraction (a measure of the amount of blood that leaves the heart each time it pumps) has improved from 51%, up from 43% in June -- that moves me from "moderate" to "mild" impairment. Above 55% is "normal". Good news that things have improved.

I also got the results yesterday of a blood workup, which yielded additional encouragement. My total cholesterol is down from 125 in June to 111 now -- certainly this is it at least partially attributable to the statin medication that I'm on, but also in part to my change in menu. My LDL (the bad) cholesterol is 58, and my HDL (the good) is up from 27 to 34. (They want HDL to be above 40.)

I've been bicycling to or from work (between 16 and 18 miles) at least four times a week. And as of this morning, I've lost a total of 48 pounds. That's about 2.5 pounds a week on average. The rate of loss has definitely increased as my activity level has increased. I use a program on my iPhone called "Lose It" to track what I eat, keeping my calories, fat, carb and protein intake under 2000 calories a day. (It's free and I definitely recommend it, even to those who may be trying to just maintain their weight.) It lets you also account for calories expended from exercise, but I don't enter that information, figuring that if I keep to a diet that will allow me to, at the worst, maintain my weight, then exercise will by my key to losing.

With my improved ejection fraction, the cardiologist cleared me to go from a maximum of 120 to 140 beats-a-minute. (I track where I'm at when I exercise with an inexpensive Polar heart rate monitor.) Last night bicycling home was my first time with relaxed limitation. It must be due to some of the medication I'm on, but I really had a hard time getting above 130 beats. I spent almost the entire commute home in the 120's, with an occassional bump into the low-130's. I finally hit the 140 limit bicycling up the Brickyard road hill near my home. (Unfortunately, my commuting bicycle's "granny gear" is inaccessible due to a failing chain ring shifter.) So I walked for about 50 yards until my heart rate slowed back into the 120's, then remounted and finished up the ride. I'm sure my wife, Katie, is grateful that she no longer has to pick me up at the bottom of the hill. I definitely got a better workout coming home -- my legs were tired that evening. Bicycling in this morning was VERY cold -- and with my lower blood pressure, my fingers and toes seem to always be cold. Plus I was tired from the previous evening's ride. I've ordered some neoprene over-boots for my cycling shoes. And I'm looking for some better gloves, heated if possible so I don't freeze coming in.