Wednesday, March 3, 2010

My Lifestyle

Ok let me just put this out there to all my patients or patients-to-be.... You won't win the diet and lifestyle questioning with me. Try it with your medical doctor or your friends or anyone else that tells you to 'eat more veggies' or 'exercise more' for better health.

This week I've had 3 new patients that have turned the tables on me and I had to chuckle inside. Every month there are always a couple that ask the same thing. The conversation goes like this:

me: how many times a week do you do any formal exercise?
patient: not much
me: like once or twice?
patient: well I'm not consistent but... do YOU exercise every week?
me: actually I do; I try for everyday but definitely 5x/week I do something formal.

Or then the conversation turns to food so I inevitably get asked: Do YOU eat this way? Do YOU eat kale? So YOU NEVER have sandwiches for lunch? or YOU NEVER have deli meat?

And so this week, after 7 years I finally said to a patient that these questions will never work with me because I actually practise what I preach and I value each and every thing that I suggest to a patient. It's not just about treating a health concern like high blood pressure or high cholesterol but it's just good preventative medicine to eat well and exercise.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not perfect. And if my husband Chris reads this then I risk him commenting on this blog about the martini I had last weekend or the ice cream scoops that are sneaked in here and there or my mom's perogies that found their way out of the freezer and onto my plate for lunch on Sunday.

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