I’ve been hearing this joke a lot now that the re-opening phase during the pandemic is continuing. Some say the COVID-15 and others say COVID-19 suggesting we might have put on a few extra pounds during quarantine.
For those of us that have gained weight during quarantine, why do you think that is?
Here are a few things that come to my mind. How many of them apply to you?
- Boredom
- Emotional eating
- Stress
- More alcohol
- No motivation
- Less activity or exercise
- Overeating
A few weeks ago, I did an article called “WHAT ARE YOU CRAVING AND WHY?” under my remote health and career coaching arm, WODeration LLC, about cravings and what they mean for your food choices. You can check that out here. A lot of the reasons in this article also apply to why we are where we are with our coping mechanisms during this time.
In this blog, I’d like to give you some simple tips on how to regain control of your health.
The first step to doing any of this though is acknowledging that it’s time for change regardless of where you are at or what your goals may be.
Tip #1: This is a health pandemic. What is our first line of defense? That’s right, our health. Think about one thing you can start working on today to improve your health for the long run. Is it quitting smoking? Not having more than 2 alcoholic beverages a night? Is it, simply going for a 10 minute walk in addition to your usual routine? Is it only having one piece of chocolate from the candy bowl in Karen’s office? What can you do to see this time in your life as an opportunity rather than a set back?
Tip #2: Find structure for your daily routine. We often times over commit so it becomes difficult to get things done because we don’t allow time for things that are inevitably going to happen that are beyond our control. This stresses us out and find a way to cope. Maybe go to your Google calendar or this new tool I learned about called Google Keep (the bomb!), and set up some framework on how you would like your day to go. If committing to a daily plan is too overwhelming, perhaps commit to a weekly one. Do you want to work on those things we talked about above everyday or just a few times a week to start? What do you think you can manage now and then go from there. It’s not a race after all!
Tip #3: Find resources for implementing that structure. We can’t do everything ourselves, so where can you get help from to make those things more manageable? Is it meal prepping in an app like My Fitness Pal instead of hours by the stove during your weekend or is it working with an expert that can put all of that at your finger tips and have it be tailored to your lifestyle. This is probably the one I drive home the most as usually, it isn’t the question as to whether you are capable of doing it on your own, but rather if you have the time to find out how to do it on your own. For example, you are great at taking care of your children but if you need to be somewhere else you hire a babysitter to help don’t you? Can’t be two places at once right? Yes, you know how to workout but just trying to figure out what you are going to do for your workout is discouraging enough. Why not have someone do that for you too? Finding resources for what you want to get accomplished isn’t a sign of weakness but rather one of resourcefulness. You cannot do everything yourself.
And that’s it! 3 easy steps . . . you can do it!
If you are interested in what GET FIT EGV has to offer you for getting started, you can check out those options here.
