Following your own advice

Being a diabetes and obesity medicine specialist, lifestyle counseling has to be an important part of the treatment plan.

In 2016 I realized that despite all the counseling I was giving patients on nutrition, physical activity, and in dealing with stress, I was not allowing my own words to settle within my own consciousness, my own resolve.

I was stressed, exhausted, and filled with excuses for putting off self-care and just going through the motions of an unhealthy day-to-day routine. This was unintentional and distracted living.

So in 2016, when a patient - who was also a full-time working mother, was asking me for physical activity advice and then asked me how I got my exercise in, all I could do was stare back at her as an awkward silence settled. She apologized and said she did not mean to put me on the spot. But boy was that callout long overdue.

I would venture to say that many of us ‘know what to do’. But this ‘knowing’ sits on the surface of intention.

Why have we not allowed ourselves to invite in this knowledge and let it disrupt the fibers of excuses and distraction that keep us from applying healthy behaviors?

Health requires intention. Of course it will require us to plan and to put in time and effort.

It. Is. Worth. It.

Distracted eating, distracted conversations, this distracted living adds up and negatively impacts health.

Use the knowledge you have, prioritize yourself, and place intention behind your health behaviors. The energy you bring to yourself creates an aura that others will notice and may even inspire them.

I strive to intentionally live the advice I give to others. As a result, the day to day motions have transformed into purposeful and intentional movements. My health and energy have never been better.

*assuming it’s good advice ;)