We all get good advice from our physicians, but do the physicians themselves follow their own advice?
Turns out, pretty much, yes they do.
In an article in the WSJ, Melinda Beck writes about the healthy habits of doctors and what you can learn from them.
Canadian doctors exercise, on average, 4.7 hours a week, according to a survey of 3,213; more than half of 2,115 Harvard Medical School physicians said they exercise at least three times a week, for 30 to 60 minutes, and 50% said their workouts lasted 30 to 60 minutes.
The Physicians’ Health Study (PHS), which has followed the health practices of some 25,000 male doctors since 1982, found that those who exercised daily were only half as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who didn’t.
We all know this is certainly true:
Doctors who have lost weight say it’s made a big difference in their ability to counsel patients to do the same. “Ihad a number of patients who told me, ‘If you’ve done it, now I really have to do it,’ ” says Michael Fleming, past president of the American Association of Family Physicians who lost 60 pounds, largely by walking 10,000 steps a day and eating smaller portions.
This may be the most important one: How do they find time to exercise?
Many physicians say they “embed” it into their lives, making it a non-negotiable part of their daily routine, often early in the morning before demands pile on.
Making exercise a “non-negotiable part” of your daily routine is a key to reaching your fitness goals. One of the tools we use with clients beginning a program is a “Readiness for Change Survey.” One of the questions is:
Are you willing to wake up in the morning a bit earlier and stay up at night a bit later to accomplish your goals?
Because that’s what it comes down to: are you ready to commit the time to reach your goal? Something must change; you cannot stay the same yet expect your weight to change. Just like the doctors discussed above — who also have long hours, stress, blackberry’s and children too, you can be successful in your fitness goals too.
Give us a call and let us help you get started.
