‘I WAS ONLY 40. IT DIDN’T CROSS MY MIND THAT I WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK’
Manish Chand, 42, is associate professor of surgery at University College London and consultant gastrointestinal surgeon at University College Hospital. He splits his time between Westminster and his family home in Chilworth, Surrey, where his wife, Natalie, and their two children live.
“Two years ago, I collapsed in the bathroom while I was shaving. But it didn’t cross my mind that I was having a heart attack. I was only 40 with normal blood pressure and cholesterol. I’d woken up with a pain in my left arm but just assumed I’d slept awkwardly. When the chest pains started and I couldn’t breathe properly, it still didn’t compute, so I got dressed for work.
“A few hours later, having almost collapsed again on the Tube, I was on an operating table having three cardiac stents put in. After that, I was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes – another shock.
“I’d played competitive rugby and tennis in school, but when I became a doctor, the workload left little time for exercise. I started eating what I could, when I could, like a whole pizza late at night because it was easy. I wasn’t sleeping properly and had a terrible sweet habit.
My workout week
Running, weights, pilates and tennis
“Since then, I’ve lost two stone by changing my diet and exercising and reversed my type 2 diabetes without medication. I also have more energy for surgery, for which I need to be fit.
Typically, I’m operating for five to six hours with no breaks; that makes it more important to be hydrated and fit.
“Now, I typically wake up at 5.30am and am in the gym for 6am, five days a week. I alternate – one day doing weight training to build lean muscles and another running for about 45 minutes. I also do a weekly pilates class. I play weekly tennis and can do a 90-minute drill without getting breathless, now that my arteries have been de-clogged.
How I eat
Early dinners and no stodgy carbs
“My diet is quite low-carb – I don’t eat any white bread (even though I love a baguette). You don’t have to have coeliac disease to notice that if you eat fewer wheat-based products and stodgy carbohydrates you’ll feel more energetic.
“Anecdotally, we often see patients with certain foods that give them diarrhoea or make them feel lethargic and that’s usually wheaty or stodgy carbs. I also hate eating late and try to have dinner when I get home around 6pm. Leaving three hours before bed is better for your gut health.
What I eat in a day
Breakfast: Low sugar, low carb cereal, plain yogurt and a piece of fruit, freshly squeezed orange juice. Lunch: Sushi or a sandwich on brown bread. Dinner: Grilled chicken or fish with steamed or grilled vegetables and salad. Before bed: Clementine or apple, green tea.