Prison Quality Fit; an overdue update

Looks like I haven't posted regularly here in a while, which is good in a way, as it means I was out doing stuff. Which was the whole point of having open heart surgery and a  valve replacement in the first place I reckon.....

Anyways, for those of you who have been through this yourselves or have a loved on who is going though it, there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Once you get past the first couple of months, things get better fast. Granted it takes longer to get back to 100% (I'm gunning for about 12 months post-op to be at what I consider 100%, pushing 85% plus most of the time now) and 100% may never be exactly what you were pre-symptoms, or maybe it is over 100% of what you were before. Either way, stick to your goals (mine are scuba diving, and getting back to kendo among others) and work at them, one little bit at a time. IN my case, I've been slowly adding to my fitness "regimen", mostly concentrating on diet recently (more on that later...) while adding in more exercises here and there. 

Back at iaido, which is pretty low impact and low-cardio intensive (sorry guys but we all know it is) Mentally though, it is pretty intense, almost like meditation on motion, and it is essentially a lot of core movements and bodyweight squats and lunges which is great. Swimming is about 30 min a session 3-4 times a week. I got away from purely counting laps, as on days I felt good, I would blow through my allotted laps, while on bad days, I would sometimes cut the lap count short, and felt I had plateaued, so instead I've gone to the time format, where I can adjust the intensity based on how the old body is feeling while building endurance.

No weights at this time, instead I'm doing bodyweight exercises, namely, push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups. Old school? Hells yeah. Plus you can do these exercises almost anywhere, which is great when traveling and if I feel like exercising in the am before work (yeah right.....) Currently I'm on a 7 week plan to 100 push ups, 200 sit-ups, and 20 chin-ups. On track currently at week 3, and I'll update if and when I a) plateau, and have to repeat a week, and/or b) I make the 100/200/20 in a row.

Speaking of weight, have my weight down to 191-192lbs/87kgs, which has been mostly due to diet. Have been using a modified paleo/low carb type diet, which I'll get into the benefits for heart patients such as myself in another post. Going to have some blood work done in a couple of weeks where I'll be getting blood glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol etc done, so I'll post more about my diet once that is done.

A few steps closer to being Prison Quality Fit!