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 have been trying to incorporate strength training, with many set backs. At the start of 2020, I started working (again) with a trainer, which has so far been the best way for me to do the work. My ultimate goal is to spend 60 minutes a week on this, though starting at 30 minutes a week is perfectly fine.
- Saturday: Still not feeling great (I definitely caught something last week). This was a rest day with no exercise.
- Sunday: Feeling about 90% better. I felt up to a walk in the afternoon, which was wonderful. I walked for 43 minutes. I probably could have gone further, but didn’t want to overdo it.
- Monday: Walked part-way home from work, then worked out with the trainer!! 34 minutes walking and 25 minutes weight training.
- Tuesday: Did a bit of walking around the hospital. 11 minutes.
- Wednesday: Walked home from work; got a lift to the shopping area for an appointment, and then walked home again. 67 minutes total.
- Thursday: Escorted a patient to the ER. The day ended late enough that this was my only exercise. I got 10 minutes of walking in, though.
- Friday: Another long day, getting out too late to exercise.
Total: 165 minutes walking plus 25 minutes weight training. Verdict: Definitely a win. I can see (again) how much better my exercise is when I get to leave work at a reasonable hour.