One of the favorite things I have heard from a patient is: you’re a doctor, you don’t have to worry about blood pressure. Implying, of course, that doctor’s don’t struggle with their health.
I most certainly do struggle with fitness and health, like many other Americans with sedentary jobs and a proclivity to eat treats. One of my goals is to make sure that I get my 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of high intensity exercise, which probably won’t happen). I will see for how long I am willing to document my progress Saturday to Friday.
This week I was still working in the hospital, and had moved from tired to dragging. My only goal was to make it through the day. My Fitbit captured some steps as I went to the far station for a mid-day coffee fix, but I did very little else.
- Saturday: Quick day at the hospital. Walked with a friend, 32 minutes total.
- Sunday: All day at the hospital. Went for coffee, walked 10 minutes there and back
- Monday: Did yoga in the morning for 12 minutes.
- Tuesday: My Fitbit tells me I walked 12 minutes, I can’t remember what I was doing (probably getting coffee).
- Wednesday: Considered doing yoga before work, decided to stay in bed and review charts before going in. Zero time in exercise.
- Thursday: Crazy day (I actually called it a sh*t-show). There was no exercising except for my emotions.
- Friday: Escaped to get coffee, walked 12 minutes.
Total: 64 minutes walking + 12 minutes yoga= 76 minutes exercising. I barely hit 50% of my goal, but it is clear that towards the end of a hospital rotation, it is all about survival for me. Verdict on exercise: Fail. Verdict on survival: Success. For all those who decry paying for coffee, I would point out that having to walk elsewhere to get it got me about half of my walking for the week.