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 was doing well enough that I added a second goal of 60 minutes of strength training a week; but then I backslid like crazy. I did turn things around, but the strength training remains a challenge.
- Saturday: The weather wasn’t so great, but it was good enough. I took a little walk of 26 minutes.
- Sunday: Went to a yoga class, my first in quite some time. 75 challenging minutes.
- Monday: SO sore from yesterday’s class. But, I still walked part-way home, and then ran errands. I suspect I wasn’t walking as quickly as usual. The Fitbit logged 63 minutes of walking.
- Tuesday: Still very sore from Sunday. I could have walked part-way home, but wimped out and got a ride. Probably could have lifted weights, but instead spent the evening on the sofa watching a movie. Sometimes you just don’t feel like it. (Also, I see I already did over 150 minutes of exercise in the past 3 days, and, frankly, felt I deserved a break).
- Wednesday: Walked to work and part way home. 66 minutes of walking. At this point, if I count my yoga as strength training (which is pretty appropriate), I think I have met my goals for the week. Now the struggle will be to see if I can do a little more–in the name of fitness and wellness–or if I will rest on my laurels.
- Thursday: Slept poorly and was tired all day. I could have walked partly home, but instead got a ride. Thought about working with weights after dinner, but didn’t. Zero minutes exercising.
- Friday: Went out in the evening, and got 25 minutes of walking between parking and venue (and back).
Total: 180 minutes walking, 75 minutes of yoga, which I am counting as strength training. I will call this a win! With an asterix. (I am a little annoyed with myself that I didn’t pull out the weights this week.)