HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT FAST: Man Frustrated with Stubborn Belly Fat Learns It’s a 30-Lb. Tumor.

Kevin Daly was always tall and slim, thanks to a history in athletics and his 6’3″ frame. But he, like many men in their 60’s, just couldn’t lose weight from his stomach.

The estate planner from Hoboken, New Jersey, started to notice that his stomach was bigger than ever after undergoing heart surgery for a calcified valve in Dec. 2015.

“I came home a week after the surgery, and I looked in the mirror for the first time and I was all upset,” Daly, 63, tells PEOPLE. “This thing was growing, but my shoulders and chest had atrophied from the surgery, so it made my stomach protrude more. I brought it to the attention of my doctor, but [any] doctor would say the same thing — you’re in your 60’s, low testosterone, visceral fat. You’re fine; it’s just how it is.”

Daly’s doctor did, however, encourage him to lose weight for his heart health, and over two years, he dropped 34 lbs. But frustratingly, the belly fat remained.

“When I went back to him in October 2017, he said ‘I’m so proud of you, you’ve reinvented yourself, your heart and valves sound like a twenty year old,’ and I said ‘Great, I’m thrilled with all of that, except how did I lose 34 lbs. and not lose an ounce off of my stomach?’ ” Daly recalls.

Wow.