Taking care of yourself in Covid

[Wingboy]

There has been a little talk about not getting enough exercise. And of course most of us have gained weight. Alcohol sales are way up and mental health has become part of the problem.
Have you made any changes to cope during this tough time?
I learned how to bake bread etc last year and have since gained about 25lb. And of course it all goes down good with some craft beer. Decided i needed to take better care of myself last month, so i quit drinking. DONE. Surprisingly i don't want the same fattening foods anymore that went with the beer. But omg, even with eating a handful of prunes every morning i still need something to get things going. Next step is to get back to my 5km walk every evening.

 

[油井緋色]

Lost 10lb of pure fat so far due to cardio.

However, my MJ consumption has gone up. And by up, I mean I went from 1g of leaf every 3 days to 1g of vape fluid every 3 days (this is like an ounce or some ridiculous amount.) This is admittedly bugging me because I know I've lost control over my consumption, and the result is immediate reduction in short term memory along with less aggression; I need aggression for drive, even if it's kamikaze-like in nature.

While WFH has been a blessing, I noticed my repetitive strain injuries (from riding, sim racing, and computer usage) getting worse. This started after school (where we walked a lot), and is now worse (used to walk from home to subway to work, now it's just running.) I've been trying to compensate with 3 15-30 minute walks a day but the whole "everything is on fire all day" **** at work makes it hard (I'm also a lazy sack of **** lol.)

TL;DR: Need more willpower. We all going through it lol

On a positive note: I went from lifting a weekly combined total of 70,000lbs - 100,000lbs (powerlifts only), to running 20-40km weeks. I tend to focus on what I'm ******* up though, because compliancy is a ***** I'm weak to. My fiancee and I cook A LOT more; I noticed because dish pods are being used faster lol but bills are going down!

 

[Deleted member 50930]

Since last year

-- Stopped drinking alcohol
-- Stopped with weed
-- Take out is twice a month
-- I'm losing weight due to being so busy with my work

 

[pfbmgd]

Try to walk at least 10K a day if not more .
Rode way more and longer distances .

 

[timtune]

Since last year

-- Stopped drinking alcohol
-- Stopped with weed
-- Take out is twice a month
-- I'm losing weight due to being so busy with my work

Wow. Are you sure it's a year? No weed and drink would make a month feel like 12.

 

[油井緋色]

Wow. Are you sure it's a year? No weed and drink would make a month feel like 12.

Dude's got his head in the right place. @george__ keep it up man! That **** is far easier to type than do!

 

[Deleted member 50930]

Wow. Are you sure it's a year? No weed and drink would make a month feel like 12.

All thanks to my wife..........

Also, I am seeing the positive benefit of being able to throw more money into my investments and whatnot

I'm way less depressed too

 

[油井緋色]

All thanks to my wife..........

Also, I am seeing the positive benefit of being able to throw more money into my investments and whatnot

I'm way less depressed too

I am 99% sure this was weed and/or alcohol related lol

 

[Deleted member 50930]

I am 99% sure this was weed and/or alcohol related lol

Ya the weed and alcohol made my house fomo a lot worse

On Fridays, I would go home, have an edible, drink a ton, and be up until 6-7 am Saturday high and drunk AF. Saturday to Sunday moreee.

Mondays find a way to jolt myself awake ><

Wifey had enough of this and started to beat me up. I'm a angry drunk

 

[sburns]

Ya the weed and alcohol made my house fomo a lot worse

On Fridays, I would go home, have an edible, drink a ton, and be up until 6-7 am Saturday high and drunk AF. Saturday to Sunday moreee.

Mondays find a way to jolt myself awake ><

Wifey had enough of this and started to beat me up. I'm a angry drunk

A good wife beating is always fun.....oh not what you meant.

Hopefully you can ride your bike to compensate for the lack of substance abuse and just enjoy life that way.

 

[mimico_polak]

I’ve gained weight, started working out, stopped working out, and made my own alcohol....

wait I think I’m doing it wrong...

on the flip side....more time with the kids...more time with the wife....less heavy drinking nights but the waist line is growing.

I’d love to go for a walk right now, but it’s lunch time and people don’t understand how to stop a meeting....

 

[LePhillou]

We already know about this but:

Physical inactivity is associated with a higher risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes: a study in 48 440 adult patients

Objectives To compare hospitalisation rates, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and mortality for patients with COVID-19 who were consistently inactive, doing some activity or consistently meeting physical activity guidelines. Methods We identified 48 440 adult patients with a COVID-19...

bjsm.bmj.com

So i was in the middle of a structured plan in march last year for both biking and swimming. Had joined a masters swim club, was seeing progress, and had my 2 triathlons booked.
Poof it all went away.
Without goals to work towards im not very good at working out. Next 2 months i gained about 15 lbs as i did nothing for 95% of the day, i might do some kettlebell exercises at night but it wasnt enough.
Then hopped back on the bike in mid May-June as i was turning into a hermit and it really boosted my mood and energy.

So i was relatively active for the rest of 2020. In 2021 i started a run streak (not to be confused with streaking) and managed to run every single day (minus one) up until last week when i didnt listen to my body and injured myself. I had also started cycling 3x a week on the indoor training since march.
I'll probably be back up and running next week but i've been able to get some good habits overall.
Key tricks and habits:

Stop eating after dinner (and usually only start eating at 10am the next day) - makes me avoid sweets and useless snacking and breakfast pastries
Drink more water - 3L is no joke... i barely drink half of that if i don't think about it
Focus on protein intake - helps me avoid over-eating sweets... if i'm not hungry for them i won't eat them
Get at least 7h of sleep daily - recovery is key
Drink on weekends only - Unless there's an "event" there usually is no need for that and i also go for quality stuff which discourages binge drinking
Add mobility as much as possible - That's why i got injured last week, i neglected it for a month or so

 

[Lightcycle]

I gained a ton of weight over the winter and couldn't fit into my motorcycle pants.

Since I'm cheap, I went on a diet to lose the weight.

Close to two months later, I finally fit into my pants again!

I celebrated by having a feast-fest for a couple of days.

I don't fit into my motorcycle pants anymore.

What. The. FAAAAAAHHHHH! COME ON!!!!!

I swear I hate getting old.

Off to buy new pants.

 

[油井緋色]

So i was in the middle of a structured plan in march last year for both biking and swimming. Had joined a masters swim club, was seeing progress, and had my 2 triathlons booked.
Poof it all went away.

This is happening to a lot of people.

I have some friends that use me as motivation because I'm really consistent on Strava. But every 3-5 weeks I will **** off for a week just because there's nothing holding me accountable besides "if I don't show up, people will know, they have an excuse to quit."

And I still quit lol

But hey, here's a nice reminder for all of us: deep down inside, we're all a bunch of uncomfortable pussies that need a forceful push to get beyond the uncommon. Being weak does not make us abnormal or negative throughput though; that's the majority, the average, the common. I don't ******* want to be common!

 

[POWERMAN]

I really miss the gym : (

Even on those off days - I'd walk in and then get inspired to pump iron when I see those around me doing the same.

 

[mimico_polak]

I really miss the gym : (

Even on those off days - I'd walk in and then get inspired to pump iron when I see those around me doing the same.

I was so good at being at the gym when I was on site....nothing to do but eat, sleep, work, and workout. So easy to keep that schedule.

Trying to fire up the gym workouts at 6am again.

 

[Ash]

I think I'm an aberration. My peer-pressure receptors don't work very well, so trying to get motivation from others doesn't do anything for me. If I'm going to put effort into some activity or changing a habit, I need to be really clear with myself about what specific benefit I will get out of it. And I need to actually value that benefit. In theory, lots of things are worth doing, but the math doesn't work out in my head to support actually doing most of them. Assuming that they don't all get cancelled, I've got a bunch of trackdays booked this year which will prompt me to do some squats and some cardio. That's worth it.

But there's also a part of my brain that pats me on the back for even discussing my plans about doing some activity/exercise, as though talking about something is equivalent to actually doing it. It's like my brain gives me credit for doing the activity just by mentioning it, so it strips the motivation to actually act. So I've probably sabotaged my own efforts with this post. Not sure if this happens to anyone else...

 

[mimico_polak]

I’m similar to @Ash ... I think about it, do it in my head, and then feel better that I considered it. But you’re all right...action needs to be taken. While I love the WFH thing....it’s horrible for my health.

Time to get cracking on those walks again. I always feel 100x better after a 4km walk around the neighbourhood.

 

[crankcall]

The dog will walk as long as I will take her, so it 5-7kms , three times a day. I'm down about 5lbs, was aiming for 15 , but at least I'm headed the right way.

I'm learning to tie fishing flies, its like art, cost to start was dirt cheap, they may never get wet, but it beats TV

I also acquired a metal lathe and small milling machine. I never took machine shop in high school and now wish i did but turning 5lbs of aluminum into swarf and shavings has an appeal right now. I'll make something useful eventually.

My monthly lunch/beer/post work beers budget was averaging $1000 a month minimum so having an extra 10-12k ,not spent, has been nice.

I had a list of 216 things to do here at the new house and we are at 212 completed

 

[油井緋色]

I’m similar to @Ash ... I think about it, do it in my head, and then feel better that I considered it. But you’re all right...action needs to be taken. While I love the WFH thing....it’s horrible for my health.

Time to get cracking on those walks again. I always feel 100x better after a 4km walk around the neighbourhood.

Just look in the mirror and remind yourself of all the times you've failed, ****** up, and let others down. It should make you ******* angry. Now ride that rage through the workout.

This is sustainable lol