I told a patient to drink wine, coffee, and eat junk food
Recently I told a patient that despite all of the hype he can drink alcohol, he can drink caffeine, and have some sugar.
Imagine that. A doctor telling a patient to indulge a little.
How did we get here?
This was a patient that need a procedure on his heart. Not for a massive heart attack, but for an arrhythmia that required an ablation. After his ablation, this gentleman decided that he didn't want to have another episode like this.
He decided that having another episode was not an option so he set about to make the usual lifestyle changes that we discuss with our patients.
He cut out alcohol, caffeine, sweets, and started exercising a lot more than he was before. It's very difficult to make those changes, but he was motivated.
Honestly, I feel like a lot of physicians don't even discuss them as much as we should because most people don't want to or are not going to completely revamp their life. I’m guilty of it. I'm not saying it's right, but making these changes is difficult and not everyone is cut out for it.
I get it. He's nervous and doesn't want to have another episode like this. I may have scared him during our first visit since the pumping function of his heart was very low. It's interesting to me that he is making these changes when our team has pulled other patient's from the jaws of death and they don't make these changes. The changes are hard though, and there is a lot of confusion around what to do and confusion keeps people from making the needed changes.
With this guy though, I'm worried about a different problem. I'm worried that he's going to burn out and revert back to bad habits. If I'm being honest, I don't see a problem with a little alcohol, caffeine, or junk food. We do not need to be so strict that we never cut ourself some slack. If we have good habits that guide our decisions most of the time (five to six days each week) then we can afford to have a cheat meal or a beer.
This is how I have been dieting over the course of the past year and I've lost 10 pounds since March and have gotten stronger with my workouts. I have my set targets that I hit most of the time; I'm not perfect, nor do I want to be. I still really like junk food, but I don’t eat it all the time.
For the time being, he doesn't want to give himself some slack, which is fine. There is a time to be strict and a time to be more lenient. He's trying to engrain his good habits. I'm sure he'll continue on the same road that he's on and continue to make the changes he's making. But I wanted to make sure he knew that slipping up once or twice will not set him back that far.
“Perfection is the enemy of good.”
It's what we do consistently that has the greatest impact on our bodies and health. Just like one day of eating healthy won't move the needle much, neither will one day of eating poorly if it's in the context of a healthy diet.
Perfection is the enemy of good. I need to remind myself of this often. Sometimes good enough is good enough. Trying to find the perfect diet and sticking to it is often incredibly difficult and will lead to burn out and re-gaining whatever weight was lost. Getting things right most of the time with a diet that is achievable will last longer than the perfect diet you can't stick to.
Lasting changes take time. There's no Amazon Prime Now for these things.
Start off easy:
Focus on small changes
If you're eating out 7 days a week, cut it down to 6 and cook a meal at home
If you're only drinking soda (even if it's diet), make it a point to drink a glass of water every day
Exercise once each week.
If you're not used to working out, go for walks outside for 30 minutes
If that's too much, go to the gym for just 5 minutes a day. The aim is to make it a habit to at least go to the gym
Start cooking at least 1 meal each week that you like to eat.
It's hard to get started and it can be intimidating, but once you get good at cooking one good meal your options begin to grow
I've made my fair share of meals that I didn't like.
This year has been really helpful for me now that I have a few meals that I know I can make and I like pretty easily.
What do you think? Comment below with your hot takes, tips, or tricks.