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 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.
- Saturday: I was not feeling well today. I stayed on the couch and did not exercise.
- Sunday: It was time to get moving, I went out with a friend. We walked 59 minutes.
- Monday: Today was a training session, 30 minutes strength training. I had considered walking home, but the weather was not conducive.
- Tuesday: A long day at work with social plans in the evening. No exercise.
- Wednesday: A work meeting “after work,” plus I am still sore from Monday. No exercise. It’s not looking good for this week. But, I did walk around the hospital today, for a total of 19 minutes counted.
- Thursday: A long day at work today, no exercise.
- Friday: I did some walking at work, and had planned to walk around in the evening. However, it quickly became apparent after supper that I wasn’t feeling well, and decided it was better to lie down early. I did squeak out 7 minutes of walking at work per my Fitbit.
Total: 85 minutes walking 30 minutes strength training. Verdict: Did not hit 150 minutes of exercise this week. This whole getting sick/trying to avoid getting sick made things complicated.