Covid

My struggles with weight-gain during lockdown

đź“… 20 Jan 2021

The below is a little word-vomity but I wanted to get it all out in one sitting. So, here we go.

Completely unscientifically (I’m not great about weighing myself), I have gained about 15-20 pounds since the onset of the pandemic/lockdowns. Oof.

When lockdowns were first announced, I moved back into a house I was remodeling. The first three months were both a blessing and a curse, as I was able to finish the remodeling work I needed to, but also drank a lot and ate very poorly. A normal dinner was a box of mac & cheese, a half-gallon of ice cream, and a six-pack.

A typical day consisted of zooming into my classes, finishing as many projects as I could around the house, and then binge eating and drinking for the rest of the night. Again, this was not a great time and not something I’m very proud of.

I went home to spend the summer with my parents after classes finished in May. In contrast, this was a rather healthy time for me. I started a part-time job as a back-end developer for a start-up and accomplished a lot.

But, when I went back to Louisiana for fall classes, I fell back into the same pattern. Fortunately, I was not drinking nearly as much as I did in the spring, but I continued to eat poorly and did not exercise hardly at all. As a result, I continued to gain weight.

The wake-up call for me came around mid-October. I had to wear dress clothes for the first time since the start of the pandemic and realized that I had gained enough weight that they didn’t fit.

So, I was left with two choices: buy all new dress clothes or lose weight.

Thus, I started the journey I am currently on: losing all the weight I gained during Covid - and maybe more.

When classes let out right before Thanksgiving, I headed home to spend over a month with my parents. We woke up nearly every morning between 5-6 am and did around 40 minutes of a workout program. Towards the end of my break, I spent an additional week with my sister doing the same thing.

Initially, I didn’t make much progress, probably because of all the holiday eating! But I am now back in Louisiana and am starting to make real progress. I have been eating as clean as possible, specifically consuming about 200-400 calories less than my maintenance calories, and not drinking at all (this I think is key for my body type).

And that’s my experience with Covid weight-gain. I know I’m not the only one. For me, I think this will serve as a reminder as I near my 30s to take better care of myself. I have to watch out that I don’t fall into a similar pattern ever again.

Day 2: #100DaysToOffload

P.S. A lot of people have experienced terrible personal tragedies over the past year since the onset of the Covid pandemic. This post is not meant to downplay or overshadow those situations or those individuals in any way.



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