How I Keep Healthy

As a gastroenterologist, Dr Kiran Peddi spends much of his day advising patients to eat better, exercise regularly, sleep well, and manage stress. Yet, he admits that medicine itself often makes those goals difficult to follow. Long consultations, emergency calls, skipped meals, and late nights can quietly become a way of life. “At some point, I realised I could not keep prescribing habits that I was not protecting in my own life,” says Dr Kiran Peddi, Senior Gastroenterologist at Yashoda Hospitals.

The turning point came during a routine consultation. “A middle-aged man with diabetes once told me, ‘Doctor, I know what to do, I just don’t know how to fit it into my life.’ That stayed with me because it reflected a problem many of us face—not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of practicality,” he recalls.

That conversation changed the way he viewed fitness. “The biggest turning point was understanding that fitness is not a separate part of life. It has to fit into the life you already have,” he says.

Today, his approach is deliberately simple. He starts his day early, before hospital duties begin, using the quiet hours to prepare mentally for the demands ahead.

“If my morning is rushed, the rest of the day usually follows the same pattern,” he says.

Unlike many wellness enthusiasts, Dr Peddi does not believe in complicated diets or extreme routines. His meals focus on fresh, home-cooked food, adequate protein, vegetables, whole grains, and hydration. “The healthiest diet is often the one you can sustain for years,” he says. “I avoid processed foods, alcohol, and smoking not because of rigid discipline, but because I have seen their consequences in countless patients.”

Exercise remains a non-negotiable part of his routine. He works out about three times a week. “Consistency matters more than intensity. A workout that actually happens is better than a perfect one that keeps getting postponed,” he says. Sleep, however, remains a challenge. Like many doctors, he often manages with around six hours a night.

“Doctors sometimes wear exhaustion like a badge of honour, but I don’t think that’s sustainable. Rest is not a luxury, it is part of being a better doctor,” he says. Perhaps the most important health lesson, he believes, is stress management. Patients often ask if doctors truly follow the advice they give. “I tell them I am a work in progress,” he says.