So I've Gained Weight During Quarantine & It Doesn't Matter
Let’s address the elephant in the room… I have gained weight during quarantine. And you know what? It doesn’t matter! At the end of the day being 20 pounds lighter or heavier doesn’t change who I am as a person, and it shouldn’t change you either.
For much of my life I have lived in a cycle of dieting or binging and quite frankly being cooped up in the house for so long has taken a toll on my mental health. Which in turn has also affected my food choices and habits. So much has changed so rapidly and life as we know it has completely taken a 180 degree turn. Some days are terrible and all I want to do is watch Netflix in bed, while others have proven to be inspirational. I have found a great sense of creativity that’s also been coupled with moments of intense anxiety and fear. I have spent days inside worried about what things will look like after this is all over, and also found joy in hiking new trails and walking my dogs. I have had meals that were eloquently prepared and delicious and healthy, paired with many that weren’t. Every day, every hour, every moment has been unpredictable and I am learning to accept that my emotions and feelings can and will fluctuate frequently.
All of these feelings, all of these reactions, they are all acceptable.
It’s time that we take off the punching gloves and give ourselves a hug. It’s time that we accept the fact that this pandemic has been traumatic. It has reeked havoc on our personal lifestyles, our choices in life, and forced us to face some our deepest fears. It’s lonely, it’s isolating, it’s stressful and often times sad, and if choosing to eat a burger over a salad helps you get through the day, then damnit eat the burger. If spending a few hours baking cookies with your kids brings you joy and you eat a few too many cookies, that’s okay. And if the best dinner you can muster is a no-contact delivery order from your favorite takeout restaurant, then do it.
The times we are living in are uncertain and strange, and that in itself causes stress on our bodies. The more that we stress about over eating, gaining weight, and what we will look like once this is all over, the more we actually will gain additional weight and feel even worse than if we just took a chance and decided to ride the wave. Stress does so much more to our bodies than make us feel sad and depressed. The extra cortisol running through our bodies causes things to shut down and in turn can cause even more weight gain.
We have to learn to accept that we are in a stage in our lives that we cannot control, and remember that the choices that we feel are best for us in any given moment, are the right for that specific time. We can’t hold onto the regret of eating something we wouldn’t typically eat, or that we aren’t exercising as much as we once did before. If COVID-19 has taught me anything, it is that life is far too short to stress about what we look like or how much we weigh. It’s irrelevant, and life is precious. So please, live in the moment, accept yourself where you are, have compassion for yourself and others, and choose to love rather than ridicule.
With love and compassion for ourselves and our neighbors, we will get through this.
xx – Kat