A day in the life

My patients are always asking me how I manage to stay so young and to keep so trim and lean. And I’ve heard from a few Reality Health Check readers wanting to know the same thing. My usual answer is that I follow my own advice. But to give you a better sense of what I mean, let me walk you through my day yesterday.

First, I should start off by saying I wasn’t always this lean and health conscious. In high school, I was 70 pounds heavier than I am now. In fact, I am probably in the best shape of my life. And, as you’ll see, it doesn’t take a Herculean effort to stay that way…

Yesterday I woke up at 6:30 and took my beagle, Remington, for a 15-minute walk. I came home, fed him, and then had a protein shake. I like one called Designer Protein because it doesn’t have any added sugar and it tastes great just mixed with water.

I wasn’t seeing patients yesterday, so I finished my shake, and headed into my home office and switched on the computer to settle in for a morning writing.

Before I knew it, it was time for my training session. I ate 10 macadamia nuts before my trainer, Shane, arrived. I worked out for an hour with Shane. Yesterday he had me do three sets of nine exercises, and then stretching afterwards.

By then, it was time for Remington’s afternoon walk, so we headed outside for some fresh air. When we got home, I fed him and then whipped up one of my favorite quick lunches: A 12-egg frittata with zucchini and cheese (recipe). I ate 1/4 of that and saved the rest for this week. I like making enough so there are leftovers. Therefore, I always have food ready to just heat up and eat–and I always know the quality of the ingredients.

After lunch, I sat back down at the computer and got in a few more hours of work before calling it a day.

I headed straight to the kitchen to get dinner started. I’d gotten these great duck legs from the farmers market this weekend and couldn’t wait to eat them. So I made a duck cassoulet. Which sounds fancier than it really is. In fact, it’s one of my go-to, easy recipes. I just pan seared the duck legs (you can also use chicken leg quarters), threw them in a baking dish, chopped up some leeks and cauliflower and tossed them in the dish with the duck legs, and covered everything with veal stock and a splash of red wine.

Then the whole dish goes into the oven and bakes at 350 degrees Farenheit for an hour and a half.

While I waited for dinner to cook, I watched Boardwalk Empire and the season finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey (I was in a New Jersey state of mind I guess). By the time those shows were over, dinner was done and I was ready to turn in for the night.

So, as you can see, I do eat, exercise, and follow my own advice–it’s that easy. Which is why I know you can do it, too.


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