Did facing a pandemic send you into crisis mode? Did it cause you to hunker down at home and make you want to drink, bake, and sit on the couch watching movies? Or, did it motivate you to take a look at your current health and make a change for the better?
I think a lot of people changed their normal behavior during the pandemic. Stress often causes people to do things out of their norm in order to cope. Many people turn to food to comfort themselves. These comfort foods are generally not considered “healthy foods”. Comfort foods are often loaded with fat and sugar. If you were used to going to the gym to get your exercise in, that changed when the gyms were shut down.
The pandemic changed our routines
The pandemic caused some people to have more free time than usual and other’s to have less time depending on their circumstances. Staying motivated to workout and eat healthy required flexibility and a new plan for many people. Were you motivated to make a new plan and stay on track with your health, or did it derail you?
Without a gym to go to, if that was your normal routine, you had to make a new workout plan. Fortunately, there are plenty of online sources that can help you get a workout right in your own home, with or without equipment. Did you use this time to discover new/different ways to get exercise? I was able to try some workouts that were not part of my normal routine. I tried barre workouts, which turned out to be a lot more challenging than I expected. However, I found that I enjoyed the challenge and the change.
Did your emotions take over?
Even with so much information about how exercise and healthy eating can boost your immune system and keep you healthier, so many people let their emotions take over and caused them to do the opposite of what they should do to avoid/reduce the risk of illness.
It’s not easy to go against our urges and emotions, but if it’s really worth it to you to stay healthy, you’ll be able to make the right choices. Most of us know what is healthy and not healthy even if we don’t always make the better choices.
Most of what we are exposed to in our lives, such as advertising and social media, doesn’t promote better preventative health. We’re bombarded with ads for things like fast food and alcohol. We know that consuming these things in excess will lead to weight gain and poor health. It’s up to us to think about the long term affects of what we eat and do, not just want we like to do in the moment.
Preventative health
Obesity has been named as one of the biggest risk factors for developing severe complications with Covid. There’s a big push to get everyone vaccinated against the virus, but I haven’t seen a big campaign aimed at helping people live healthier lifestyles in order to avoid severe outcomes. Of course getting a couple of shots in the arm is easier than changing the way you eat and how much exercise you get, but a healthier lifestyle change can help you reduce your chances of other deadly and debilitating diseases as well.
My point is, when you’re making choices, try to make choices based on logic not just on your emotions or what makes you feel better in the short term. The better choices aren’t likely the easiest choices, but they’re the ones that will pay off in the long run. The good news is that it’s not too late to start making healthier choices and living your better life.
I recently heard that a donut company was giving away free donuts to those people that could prove that they received their vaccination. Kind of a mixed message if you ask me. Get your vaccine to be healthier, but then eat some donuts, which are loaded with saturated fat and sugar (not healthy at all).
Have you struggled or found the motivation to thrive during the pandemic? What has helped or hindered you in your success? I’d love to hear about it, let me know.
