A little more than a week ago, I was at home and started having chest pains. The pains would no go away, so I went to the emergency room and they found a blood clot in my heart. The operation to add the stent went quickly and it seemed like I was only in the operating room for less than 30 minutes. After resting in the hospital for three days, I was allowed to leave and return home which was a week ago from today. Each day I’m feeling stronger, and I’ll be back at my full time job very soon.
I’m taking a break from game development for now. I think sitting around on my butt in front of the computer three days every week on my off days could have played a role in my heart attack. I also need to get outside and exercise more. I’m also improving my diet by eating less fast food and more fruits and vegetables, since I need to cut my cholesterol in about half. My cardiologist said that I was the youngest person he had ever treated that does not smoke, drink alcohol, or do drugs. He could not determine any one factor which caused it, but it was more like a one in a million chance thing that happened. However, doing the right things like eating well and exercising will help lower the chances of it happening again.
Check out Forks over Knives (it’s on Netflix and I’m sure elsewhere). This was the documentary that pushed me over into the “mostly vegan” diet you hear me talk about on the show. I try to go 5-8 meals between any animal protein (which comes with cholesterol, bad fats, and a whole host of other baddies). After a month of this I had much more energy even though I’ve yet to do any exercise.
Yes ideally one would give up animal protein completely, but this leads to giving up. Every time you “cheat” you feel guilty, and want what you can’t have more. Soon you give up because you can’t stick to it. This way you allow yourself some of what you want and remove the guilty feeling.
Really glad you came out okay and if you want to chat more tofu is on me! =)
Thanks Mike, I’ll check out the video. The nutritionist that I talked to in the hospital said the same thing about all animal products being high in fats and cholesterol. When I ate meat at home, I always got the leanest beef (93%) and I almost never ate pork so I thought I was safe. However, I did eat fast food on a daily basis and most of it was really greasy (like Bojangles fried chicken). Right now I’m still eating turkey and grilled chicken for protein in my diet, and I’m trying to add more fruits and vegetables in my diet.