Dr. Kenney’s 5 Spot
I interact with hundreds of patients each week and get asked a lot of questions. On Fridays I like to share some of the answers I give and hope it has value for you.
Do you drink alcohol? For whatever reason, people must be curious about this one because I get it frequently. The answer is that I no longer do. In my older years I would drink beer or wine on the weekends at times while cooking or relaxing. Though I wasn’t a huge drinker, I also wasn’t the type to have a half a glass of wine. Over a year ago, I overheard a conversation between my two older sons and a friend of theirs about how they never wanted to drink. That got me thinking. Then I started to think about how as someone that prides himself on taking his fitness to the highest level, alcohol always felt “off brand” to me. In fact, after a sip of alcohol I would already be thinking about what I’d do the next day to almost punish my body to get rid of it. After considering all these things, I decided that alcohol wasn’t really bringing anything to the table for me and I decided to give it up. After a year of no alcohol I can say that I do feel even better than I did, and my level of fitness has increased too.
A form of exercise I’ve been enjoying? This will sound like a shameless plug but is not. My wife has an online fitness business called The Perfect 20. These are 20-minute workouts that can be done without equipment, anywhere. Over the past week with the holidays I started doing a few of these workouts for convenience and they are amazing! I enjoy the brief, intense workout that I get, and it helps me get a total body workout that also strengthens my core. I had some hip soreness for about a week and it was gone after one of these workouts and it seems to be really helping my running as well. It took me about 8 months to finally start doing these workouts but they’re going to remain a major staple of my routine going forward. Feel free to check these out at www.theperfect-20.com or on Instagram and Facebook.
A snack I enjoy? I am not a fan of sweets, but I can really get down with some chips and dip. I regularly (aka pretty much daily) enjoy gluten free rice chips or tortilla chips with hummus, guacamole or even organic sour cream with hot sauce mixed into it.
Are you a fan of New Year’s resolutions? Yes and no. In my experience, most people make “resolutions” more like a wish list than they do any sort of a plan of action. As a result, most resolutions are already dead by the Super Bowl. What I am a fan of is setting some sort of a goal (short term or long term broken up into short term pieces) and developing a plan of action. I’ll use weight loss as an example because it’s so popular. Rather than resolving to lose 70 pounds, I’d prefer to see someone have a goal to lose 10 pounds in the next month and 70 for the year. Then rather than just joining a gym and hoping for the best, write down and execute the plan for January. For example, I will go the gym 4 days a week, I will take 3 long walks per week, I will cut out bread, drink more water at work, etc. The plan will remove guesswork and stress and help you attain your first goal. Once you hit the first goal, you’ll then have more confidence to get to the next one. So, my advice is to set goals and then back them up with a realistic plan of attack.
A quote I love? “If you want to take the island, then burn your boats. With absolute commitment come the insights that create real victory.” — Tony Robbins
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