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 in February I added a second goal of 60 minutes of strength training a week, which remains a challenge.
The last 2 weeks, I did walk part way home most days of the week, but didn’t quite meet my 150 minute challenge. As for the strength training, that didn’t happen at all. I was very excited to start exercising again this week. As I was off the ACP (Amercian College of Physicians) meeting, I was pretty sure I’d be walking plenty: in the convention center, for sure, if not also around the City of Brotherly Love.
- Saturday: I was tired, but I had already committed to a yoga class. 75 minutes long, which I think really counts as strength training.
- Sunday: I was still pretty tired. I got a lift to the library to donate some books (part of my decluttering challenge), then walked a bit before returning home by foot power. This was a 40 minute walk
- Monday: Did not walk home today, I wanted to leave work ASAP. But, my spouse and I took a very pleasant after dinner walk, 43 minutes long.
- Tuesday: Walked part way home today, 23 minutes. Embarrassed myself by trying to get into someone else’s car; to be fair, we drive a not-very-common car, and the same make and color car pulled up at my usual pick up spot.
- Wednesday: This was a travel day (off to the ACP meeting!), but I picked up 37 minutes walking around Philadelphia. Mostly traversing Chinatown, looking for a restaurant
- Thursday: The first full day of the meeting. Reviewing my Fitbit, I see lots of short walks at regular intervals; clearly, these represent wandering around between talks, trying to find the next one. There was also a good walk to and from a restaurant. 75 minutes of walking
- Friday: The second full day of the meeting. I knew my way around the convention center a bit better, and did a little less walking. Also, since my Fitbit didn’t pick up any walking before 4 pm–which I find implausible–it is possible that my minutes were undercounted today. I certainly walked a bit to get dinner. 64 minutes walking, per the Fitbit.
Total: 282 minutes walking, and 75 minutes of yoga, which I am counting as strength training (though I think I really would like to work with weights this spring). Clearly a win, as far as meeting my goals.