There are countless stories of people in my life who have been told by overweight doctors, about the importance of making dietary, exercise or lifestyle habit changes. I know this advice, while sound and in the patient’s best interest, comes across as hypocritical and is largely ignored due to the perception of the person giving it. As health care providers, we must convey the importance of taking care of every aspect of our health, including physical, emotional and mental wellbeing, by showing that we value and prioritize those same things in our own lives. It is much easier to believe doctors’ recommendations about how to eat better and maintain regular activity when we demonstrate that despite the rigorous time demands of our careers, we still make the time and effort to care for ourselves.

It is never too early to start implementing these lifestyle changes for ourselves, as well as influencing our family and friends to adopt similar ones. I find it incredibly rewarding to have already seen these actions benefit my parents’ lives. For my father, who has struggled with blood glucose levels related to diabetes, small changes like actively walking 10,000 or more steps a day has made a dramatic impact and significantly decreased his cardiovascular risk factors. In addition, my mother has recently started resistance training, which is especially important for older women, in an effort to diminish some of the more harmful effects of aging like osteoporosis.

We spend a lot of time and money becoming educated in order to help other people, therefore it is vital we don’t overlook the fact that to provide good care, we must start with ourselves. Doing this not only ensures our own longevity, but enables us to be more effective in communicating with and empowering our patients to take charge of their health.

Learn more about NUHS Doctor of Chiropractic program here.