Each week I have been logging my exercise. Mostly this is an exercise for myself; it has, on occasion, prompted me to get up and move (“for the blog”).
It is also meant for encouragement, in case a busy reader wants to know how other people get their recommended exercise; I don’t think it’s easy to get enough exercise these days, and I think it does people a disservice to imply that it is. Our lives are busy, and yet, you have to take care of your health.
It’s not any easier if you are the doctor.
My first goal 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.
- Saturday: I was exhausted today. I went out, but did not exercise.
- Sunday: I was still exhausted, but was starting to feel better by noon. By which time I had to hit the road to go to an out-of-town meeting. No exercise.
- Monday: Great meeting, a road trip home. Finally felt up to a walk, and went 42 minutes before dinner. I was worn out after that walk.
- Tuesday: A very long work day. I had started thinking about a walk–I figured if I walked 40 minutes each day for the rest of the week, I would hit my goal. But by the time I got home, it was late and I had decided: no exercise.
- Wednesday: I had so much left over work to do, I couldn’t find time to exercise today either. Maybe I can eke out a walk tomorrow?
- Thursday: No walking today. I still feel very tired and the work day stretched pretty long.
- Friday: Still a very busy day–I might have been frustrated and tired. However, we had plans to go out, and there was a walk between the parking garage and the event, which was made longer by our detour to explore a local festival. 47 minutes walking. Clearly I need more sightseeing in my life.
Rendering judgement.
Total: 89 minutes walking, and no time spent on strength training. Verdict: failure.
New Plan: Continue to shoot for 150 minutes of exercise weekly (I will hopefully get back in the groove). Considering how stiff I feel after all my traveling, I am going to challenge myself to do yoga daily–just a few minutes’ worth– for the next month. If I do this 5 days out of the week, I will count this as a win, though 30 days in a row would be awesome.