Dr. Joe Raphael has dedicated his career to “Lifestyle as Medicine”. He has worked as a therapist, clinician, consultant, teacher, administrator, executive, and researcher. Joe’s post-doctoral education includes psychoneuroimmunology, neuropsychology, positive psychology and he has additional post-doctoral training in clinical nutrition, sports medicine, psychiatry, cardiology, primary care, and healthcare administration. His specialty has been leading healthcare transformation with “Lifestyle as Medicine” front and center. He currently works with Wellsource, a population software as service company connecting healthy lifestyle choices to outcomes and Lifestyle Medicine Pro, bringing “Lifestyle Medicine to Life”.
Location
Portland, Oregon
What’s your favorite vegetable?
Asparagus
What’s your motto?
The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.
What’s your favorite book?
Spirituality of Imperfection, by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham
What’s your favorite exercise?
Cycling
What’s your favorite way to center?
Mindful meditation
What about your daily routine do you think is unique or special?
I break my exercise routine into segments throughout the day.
Whose daily routine would you most love to see?
Picasso.
What is your favorite part about living a healthy lifestyle?
What I feel. What I model to others. Creating contagious behaviors.
Describe your sleep ritual. What time do you go to bed? Do you do anything special to prepare?
I do not eat or exercise hours before I sleep. I try to watch something funny or listen to music before I go to bed. I try to be in bed by 10-11PM.
What’s your biggest wellness challenge? How do you address it?
Work/life balance… Sleep. I take one entire day off every week from all things work.
Dr. Joe’s Daily Routine:
- 5-5:30 AM — Stretch, Foam Rollers, Abdominal Routine
- 5:30-5:45 AM — Meditation and Prayer
- 5:45-6:30 AM — Triage Emails (Wait… That isn’t ideal… ha)
- 6:30-7:30 AM — Exercise (Hike, Surf, Cycle, Basketball)
- 7:30-7:45 AM — Breakfast
- 8-11AM — Work
- 11-11:30 — Weights
- 11:30 AM to 7PM — Work
- 7-7:30 PM — Dinner
- 7:30-10PM — Guitar, Art, and Reading time with my Daughter
- 10PM – Sleep. Close the evening with no technology x30-60min. Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Meditation before sleep.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
“Pops, come on lets play,” my daughter.
What is the most important part of your daily routine?
Morning Routine (Stretch, Abs, Read, Shower, Phone).
What is your #1 wellness habit?
Resilience.
What is the best piece of health advice you’ve ever received?
Listen first.
Tell us about a time you were stuck in an unhealthy cycle and how you got out of it. What was the main inspiration for positive change?
Is having cheesecake, a filet , and too many Napa cabs an unhealthy cycle? Lets just say, I have been in some unhealthy cycles. My main inspiration for positive change was my mother encouraging me to get back on my bike.
If you could give one piece of health advice to your child, what would it be and why?
Practice value. Trust in your values to instill a self-efficacious, sustainable healthy lifestyle. Sample values: Eat Mostly Plants, Create, Move, Smile, Appreciate. I want to inspire my daughter to see what others don’t see and embrace her creative “Raphael core” never losing sight of developing a depth of character in grace and humility. From there she is good, ha.
Joe Raphael, DRPH, MBA, MS is a Therapist, Nutritionist, Teacher, Executive and Fellow at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. For more tips from Joe, check out his web sites: Dr. Joe On Call and Wellsource, and follow him on LinkedIn. To learn more about the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, click here.