Just because I am a doctor, and encourage patients every day to exercise, doesn’t mean that I don’t have my own issues with getting sufficient exercise. Long hours, tiring days, family obligations, illness: they are all stumbling blocks, no matter what your occupation.
I have been recording my exercise weekly, mostly to keep myself accountable for reaching my goal (sometimes this works, sometimes I miss). If anyone reads this, I hope they will take this as encouragement to keep going, acknowledgement that it isn’t always easy.
As a reminder, my 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 had wanted to work on strength training, but that fell by the wayside after several attempts to do this on my own. In September, I made arrangements to work with a trainer, as my last ditch attempt to incorporate this into my fitness regimen. That was working great, until I developed a medical issue and was asked to abstain from lifting weights until things settle down.
- Saturday: Took a walk before breakfast, 27 minutes. I spent the rest of the day lounging.
- Sunday: A co-worker was kind enough to come over and let me practice presenting a talk. Afterwards, we walked to the shopping district, and I then I walked home. 63 minutes.
- Monday: Talk given (whew!). I walked part-way home, 20 minutes.
- Tuesday: No walking today.
- Wednesday: Medical procedure today involving sedation, and felt off-balance the rest of the day. Definitely no walking.
- Thursday: Walked part-way home today, 26 minutes.
- Friday: Walked to the same pick-up point, 26 minutes.
Total: 162 minutes walking. Verdict: just made my goal. I think I would have done better without the medical detour. I can’t wait until I am free to do whatever exercise I feel I am up to.