( CNN ) -- Though Bill Clinton has received lots of attention for getting healthy since his 2004 heart surgery -- losing weight , exercising more , improving his diet -- associates of the former president Thursday stressed that Clinton continues to live at a breakneck pace and raised questions about the extent of his lifestyle changes . `` While he eats a lot better than he used to , '' one friend tells CNN , `` he certainly indulges every once in a while consistent with past behavior -- [ for example ] fries with his fish . '' `` He still works long days and stays up very , very late , '' the friend said . `` He has gone from a frenetic pace to what most people would consider a frenetic pace . He 's approaching Social Security , and he 's living a life not that different from his 30s . '' After undergoing quadruple bypass operation on four blocked arteries in 2004 , word spread that Clinton had reformed the lifestyle that was immortalized in `` Saturday Night Live '' skits about the then-president jogging to McDonald 's . When Clinton left the White House , his cholesterol level was 233 , well above the recommended upper threshold of 200 . And his so-called bad cholesterol jumped 40 points during his final year in office , to around 177 -- about 50 points above normal . After his surgery , Clinton stepped up his advocacy for fighting obesity . In 2005 , he announced he was partnering with the American Heart Association to fight rising childhood obesity rates . The following year , he appeared before the National Governors Association to urge state executives to fight rising obesity rates , mentioning his McDonald 's habit and wishing out loud for the fast-food chain 's french fries to be cooked in olive oil . Even while crusading against obesity and appearing trimmer than in his White House days , however , Clinton has shied away from discussing lifestyle reforms since his surgery . `` I ate a lot of stuff that was high in fat . ... I ate a lot of it , '' the former president told CNN 's chief medical correspondent , Dr. Sanjay Gupta , as he described his life before surgery in a 2005 interview . `` And you know , I just did n't think about it . And I did n't have regular exercise . '' But Clinton has avoided giving details about his post-surgery diet and exercise routine . Friends say Clinton introduced healthier foods to his diet but has n't written off fries and steaks entirely . And they stressed that his schedule is as nonstop as ever , with the president frequently skipping sleep until his next plane trip . `` [ The ] whole time I have known him -- goes back 20 years -- he 's led a hectic life , '' said former Clinton adviser and CNN analyst David Gergen . `` [ There ] ought to be two Bill Clintons in order to keep up the pace he does . I think it has been especially relentless in the last few months . '' Clinton 's role as the United Nations special envoy for Haiti has taken him twice to the earthquake-ravaged nation and he is leading efforts to raise money for the hard-hit area . Douglas Band , a counselor to the former president , said Thursday -- citing the former president 's doctors -- that the symptoms that provoked Clinton 's hospitalization were n't related to work , diet or cholesterol . While keeping mostly mum on lifestyle changes , Clinton has opened up about his lifelong struggle with weight since undergoing surgery . In announcing the American Heart Association partnership in 2005 , for instance , Clinton disclosed that he weighed 210 pounds by the time he was 15 . `` I was probably in the last generation of Americans where people widely thought a fat baby was a healthy baby , '' Clinton told CNN 's Gupta . `` I always battled my weight , all of the way through school . '' In a series of 2007 ads for Hillary Clinton 's presidential campaign , Clinton poked fun at his weight struggles . One spot showed the former president daydreaming about a cheese burger while running on a treadmill . `` Exercising is hard , '' a voice in the ad said , comparing it to the ease of attending an Iowa caucus . CNN 's Dan Gilgoff and Jessica Yellin contributed to this report .
`` He still works long days and stays up very , very late , '' the friend said . `` While he eats a lot better than he used to , '' he still indulges , one friend tells CNN . `` Ought to be two Bill Clintons in order to keep up the pace he does , '' says David Gergen .