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, and 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 plan to start 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.
This week, though, was about vacation.
- Saturday: No time to exercise at home, it’s time to pack and then take a long walk from the car to the airport terminal. 17 minutes walking (do I get extra points for managing a suitcase?).
- Sunday: A nice long morning walk (huddled in my jacket, but a walk nonetheless), 64 minutes. I took another walk in the evening, without my Fitbit, which I estimated at 10 minutes each direction, but am not counting for my weekly total.
- Monday: A beautiful morning walk (jacket came off half-way through), beyond our usual stopping point. We had a relaxing late breakfast on the beach, then moseyed home. 116 minutes total walking.
- Tuesday: Our regular walking course, with breakfast out at a sidewalk cafe. 76 minutes.
- Wednesday: Our last morning on vacation, walking our usual course, but now with sore feet. 67 minutes walking. Walking through airports and to the cheap airport parking at home added another 34 minutes, for a total of 101 minutes.
- Thursday: First day back at work, my feet were still sore from all the walking earlier in the week. No exercise today.
- Friday: Still catching up at work, and, frankly, I was resting on my vacation-walking laurels. No exercise today either.
Total: 374 minutes walking, none weight training. Verdict: I am pretty happy with my efforts this week. Next week I go back to my trainer, so strength training will return to the schedule. I suspect I will be walking less, though.