Thursday, March 22, 2012

Making time to workout

Yea, I know I look like a tool.
Throughout high school, I was an incredibly scrawny kid. I always wanted to gain muscle, but I wasn't too good about weight training, and was ~125 pounds throughout all four years. I spent most of my year training for and playing volleyball or running, so I guess it didn't help me to bulk up either. The summer after high school, I was determined to put on some muscle mass. My two best friends from hs were already pretty bulky so they went to the gym with me and we would train for 2-3 hours everyday during the summer.
In college, I definitely had a harder time working out, but I still made time. I gave into the whole protein powder thing, and tried to eat healthy (or as healthy as a college student can). I was able to gain a lot of weight though and was around 150.
In med school, despite the lack of time, I would always make time to go to the gym. I try to go 5-6 times a week and am still trying to bulk up (currently around 155). I'm definitely not in the best shape compared to other guys my age, but I'm definitely not ashamed of my body.

Anyways, this brings me to the main reason for my post, the frustration I feel towards people who don't take care of their bodies. It's not my place to judge, but as a future physician, I think it's incredibly important to be able to talk to patients about how to better take care of their bodies. It is not just a coincidence that Americans have the highest rate of obesity, and the second highest rate of being overweight. We live in a society that promotes living high paced lifestyles, leading us to eat fast foods, and skip exercise time. We become so complacent with our lifestyles, that we become unwilling to make changes. Instead of sitting in the house watching tv for an hour, that hour can be spent walking/running outside or going to the gym.
We are so concerned about the cost of healthcare, yet we are unwilling to make some changes in our lifestyles that can prevent the diseases that lead to hospital admissions. I understand that some people can't exercise because of other health reasons (joint pains, pulmonary issues) but I think a majority of Americans are just lazy.
(I'm sorry if this post was just me ranting, but it's because I really do care about the issue and it really saddens me when I see patients in the hospital who are unwilling to make simple changes in their lifestyles that can improve their health dramatically).

4 comments:

  1. ^haha comment above. yea you have a great body! sounds like you've worked hard on it. i dunno if you noticed the same thing, but all the guys in med school seem to have great bodies. i remember changing for anatomy lab in the locker room and being damn impressed by the bodies of the guys around me!

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    1. haha thanks! I think most of us started out with decent bodies...but as the past two years have gone by, esp after studying for the boards and starting rotations, it's been harder to workout.

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  2. A part of me hates you (just a little) for having such a nice body. It's something I've always struggled with. While I've been fairly fit the last few years since undergrad, you might not tell from looking at me. I think I must be genetically destined to have a gut. :-/

    That said, I've never felt so thin since M3 year started, because compared to some of these (adult) patients, I'm tiny! It is definitely more difficult to work out during M3/M4 year, but I hope to run a 5K at the end of this month (and take Step 2 CK)!!

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