You Aren’t Alone

After the quarantine, the gyms in Arizona opened back up – briefly on May 18th. They ended up closing again on June 29th. That is a whole other topic for another time or post.

Anyway, during the brief time that the gym was open I was working with a client and she was telling me about how one of her extremely health conscious friends who had recently adopted a vegan lifestyle had gained weight during the quarantine. Apparently her friend, like many people around the world during this time, had taken up baking.  Whether it was to relieve stress or boredom, this seemed to take up a part of everyone’s day. My client did not bake, but she did gain weight. She said that laps to the refrigerator should count for something. She said that everyone she knows had gained weight except for me. I was very quick to assure her that I was no exception to the trend and that I had in fact gained some weight and “padding” around my midsection. For me, it wasn’t about baking or frequent trips to the fridge. I’m a better cook than baker. Cooking, you can experiment whereas baking is an exact science. Also, I follow my macros so overeating or binge eating wasn’t an issue. For me, the issue was twofold. First, I am a very active person. I’m moving from the time I wake up in the morning until  I crawl back in bed at night. For the first two weeks of the first quarantine I took off my watch that tracks movement, steps, calories, etc. and I’m quite sure I didn’t move nearly as much as I normally do. I finally put that watch back on and was mindful to “close all 3 rings.” This time around, I’ve decided not to wear the watch, but to remain mindful of getting in the same amount of movement. For me, working in the yard brings me joy. During  the cooler months of March to May, I spent time pulling weeds in the front and back yards.Something about being outside in the sun and working with the soil is very cathartic to/for me. While I spent time pulling weeds I envisioned a big garden with raised beds to keep the cottontail out. I also want to put some in the front yard. I admire and am inspired by people who utilize all of their land with plants that can feed them, and as hippie dippy as it may sound, I think it would be cool to have a “community garden” in my front yard that the neighbors could help themselves to. Right now it’s too hot to grow anything, but I can definitely work on setting up the raised beds and preparing the soil. This will help keep my movement up as well.

The second reason for my quarantine weight gain was due to stress. I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little bit of a control freak, and having things change from one day to the next and not knowing when the gym will open and I can go back to work and see all of my clients was kind of freaking me out. Well, that stress raises cortisol levels, which leads to weight gain.

So we truly are all in this together and we aren’t alone. We all have some stress and possibly some weight gain…or maybe muscle loss. While baking isn’t my choice way to decrease stress, gardening for me provides an outlet and yields delicious food. Maybe when this is all done, we can get together; you bring the bread and cake, I’ll bring the salad.