I've been doing cardiac rehab 3 times a week at Newton (NJ) Hospital. I started in December, but some of those dates were missed because of holidays, hemorrhoids, and I was banned for a week because I had ringworm of the groin. One time they sent me away because I told them I felt a slight headache on the way there! They're ridiculously strict. So I've only been doing it really regular a couple weeks. In those 2 weeks I gained 3 lbs.
I could think of only 3 reasons for gaining that weight. One's almost too horrible to contemplate: congestive heart failure. Another is that we cooked a turkey at the start of those 2 weeks, shared it with company, and are still finishing it in the form of turkey soup. However, the most likely reason is the lifestyle change since I've been doing rehab: eating breakfast. One of their rules is that you have to eat solid food before each session. I don't usually have much appetite in the morning, and I'm afraid breakfast has been calories I would simply not have eaten otherwise.
This is like when I tried the Atkins diet early this century. I began induction -- an extreme low-carbohydrate regimen -- but found that in less than 3 weeks, I was gaining weight. Plus I was terribly constipated, where my problem is usually diarrhea. So I aborted that diet fast.
