We Want to Hear From You!
How has the pandemic affected your habits?
The past year has challenged and changed us all in different ways, health and fitness habits included. While stress has led many people to experience undesired weight or sleep changes, the change of pace and perspective has also sparked healthy lifestyle habits.
As we look back on the year, and begin to imagine the possibilities ahead, we’d love to hear about YOUR experience.
Share in the thread below!
- How has the pandemic affected your nutrition & fitness habits?
- Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
- What do you look forward to most?
We look forward to hearing from you!
Alex
Member, MFP Moderator, Greeter, Premium Posts: 10,048 MFP Staff
Member, MFP Moderator, Greeter, Premium Posts: 10,048 MFP Staff
Replies
Having said that, I'll try to answer the questions as accurately as possible.
- How has the pandemic affected your nutrition & fitness habits?
My nutrition habits have stayed pretty much the same, I still eat mostly at home, and weigh and log everything. My fitness habits suffered a bit at times, due to lockdowns and closed gyms. I did try (and mostly succeed) to keep a regular activity, either by doing online classes, improvise some resistance training, and continue walking and running whenever that was possible.- Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
I'm definitely done with the whole "shaking hands" thing. I've always hated it, to be honest. Also, hugs and kisses will mostly be reserved to close family members. I will continue to wash my hands, but I already did that prior to the pandemic, so that's definitely a habit I want to keep. Also, I won't feel awkward by wearing a mask if I feel the need to, even when all restrictions are lifted.- What do you look forward to most?
I want to share a meal with my family without being afraid to pass them the virus. I really miss going to live concerts. And to movie theaters. And I also want to go back to the gym.Stay strong and safe, everyone!
Here are the answers
How has the pandemic affected your nutrition & fitness habits?
---- It was awful like nutrition and fitness, from the point of view of nutrition cause before,meals were delimited in time, breakfast a little coffee and them something at job, lunch at job together with the colleagues, dinner at home
As fitness my main workout was walks , I am doing this also now, but near home, with or without my dog, i feel like i have to do the walks , but not because i enjoy them,before I used to go to park, I used to enjoy the alleys with trees in bloom , admiring flowers in the yards and streets full of people smiling at u from near the fence of the yard
Now the streets are empty people stay in their homes , it is sad even when u walk
Now also the time of the job is so interlaced with the time at home that nothing is really well delimited
I try now to put a line between them, but truth is it's hard, i work sometimes till 22:00 although i could have left things in the morning.When I went to job my free time was starting when i was closing the door of the office
Now it is but in fact there isn't any free time very clear
I bought however an elliptical and I am happier with it and as nutrition I am trying to do my best with the meals especially
Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
---- I do not miss to go to job premises , i talk daily to my team , but i miss meeting directly with them.What I would keep is working online, it was more efficient.As I work in IT support, I found that a lot of the users developed skills, gained experience, some of the let's say silly questions at the premises they have eliminated, maybe cause they started to think more , maybe they had support at home from their loved ones , but they have developed a lot. I am really proud of all our users .I would keep however alternating between going at the premises of the job and online, and people to chose this by themselves this, not to be imposed
I also would go with more shopping online, I like it more in certain cases then the real one, not in case of groceries, fruits, vegetables, meat and so on ,so food, more like other products non food
I also learnt in this period to be more understanding, as you do not see the person and talk directly , live,we talk online but it is not the same so I have learnt to be more emphatic, think at the others issues,suffer or enjoying more with them, it was a time of reflection and I think I love more the humanity than before, maybe cause all of us have been united in the same suffering period of time, same difficulties
What do you look forward to most?
---- Not to wear the mask, this is the most one for me, I hate this mask, being more in the nature, not just near home , walking to the parks and seeing people altogether enjoying life,not just an alone park where u can admire only nature, nature is made to gather the admiration and good vibe of all us, not just us alone, i miss the serenity and joy of people, now they are all sad, worried and disappointed
That being said I also have to recognize that this community of mfp , made me or made us forgot this difficult times, by uniting us with having same goals of being healthier, being happier, it's being supportive due to her members and for this I say Thanks!
I gained about 30# back during 2020 due to stress. But the stress came from more than Covid related reasons. I'm back on track and have about 10 more # to lose. I've been eating more of a daily routine and not changing it up as much. Lots of fruits and veggies, less meat, enlarging garden area. Fitness was never great to begin with, IOW no public gym or classes, but walking outside has increased. I have an freer mindset than before. I used to worry if I didn't lose enough weight, obsess over every single 1/2 #. Now I figure it's not THE most important thing in my life anymore.
Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
I want to be out in nature more, public less, stay away from crowds; I'll keep masking up as long as it takes. I want to keep finding more way to help change the local environment in positive ways. Working on my mental and emotional issues of acceptance and tolerance, being happy with what I can do vs. always worried about what I can't do. Seeking simple pleasures and less stuff.
What do you look forward to most?
Seeing my kids again.
The big change for me was going without the gym. I struggled at first, but after a few months I adapted, picked up free weights here and there and built a bit of a home gym. I'm actually surprised at how nice it is to workout at home. I thought I would slack off if I wasn't forced to leave the house for a workout. I thought wrong. I do running outdoors and cycling instead of using the treadmill. I'm lucky I live where there is opportunity for outdoor recreation year round. I learned I don't need the gym after all. In fact, not only is it a gross place to be in a pandemic, it's just a hassle anyway having to share equipment with others and listen to crappy gym music, etc. I will not be going back to the gym after this pandemic. The thought of going to the gym now is totally off-putting after all this time. I'm on my own now, and loving it.
Looking forward to traveling and getting back to having the occasional happy hour and coffee dates (out in public) with my husband again.
I gained 19 lbs in the first 3 months of lockdown mostly from snacky stuff like crackers and chips, but that was a wakeup call, and I've since lost 53 lbs.
Cooking at home makes it easier to log accurately, and I've also developed some new recipes that otherwise I might not have tried simply because I had the time.
Also, the pool reopened in July with limited capacity and required reservations for lap lanes. When I made that reservation I really looked forward to it because it was a trip out of the house.
Habits to keep:
The spouse and I agree that cooking at home is great and there's no reason to eat out 3 or 4 times a week like we did before.
I also like scheduling my swims. Even if the pool eventually drops that lap lane reservations requirement, I will continue to put my swims on my calendar at the beginning of the week and not cancel capriciously.
Looking Forward:
I'm a performer, and many of my friends are, too. I miss the stage cameraderie (Zoom plays and Zoom jams just aren't the same) and flexing my singing and acting chops
Thankfully, my gym was only closed for a month. My weight lifting did not suffer. However, my NEAT is down tremendously. That has more to do with losing my job and not having to get up and out of the house like I did when I was working.
My nutrition is slacking. I am comfort eating more. However, I have maintained my weight - which is higher than I would like, but at least I'm not gaining and I'm totally counting that as a win right now.
Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
I need to get my NEAT back up. I need to prioritize protein in my meals and hit my protein goals.
What do you look forward to most?
Getting a job and feeling useful again.
I am a teacher of English to visting international students, so you can imagine how much work I have been getting in the UK in lockdown. All of the extra time has, however, really enabled me to ramp up my walking and I am averaging 5 miles a day. Nutrition? Less good at that./i]
Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
I want to keep on walking.
What do you look forward to most?
Seeing my kids and having a sit down coffee in a coffee shop.
I was in great shape right before the pandemic. Quite lean, working out all the time (often twice a day) and with nutrition dialed in. I didn’t track my food religiously at that point but had become decent at portion control and estimating macros and was seeing the results.
Honestly, everything went off the rails for me after the first couple months of lockdown. Mostly a motivation issue. Aesthetics and performance are frankly stronger motivators for me than health. When the world basically stopped, I couldn’t see the point any longer in getting up at 5am to go for a run outside alone wearing a mask that made me run slower as I tried not to inhale my own sweat... I also found the gym a very motivating environment and my gym has been closed since March 2020 (with the exception of one month in the fall). Like pretty much everyone, the pandemic upended my routine and harmed my mental health and for me that also meant turning to junk food for comfort. So I have some extra fluff now, and have been really struggling with that.
2. What habits do you want to keep or change as we inch towards “normal”?
I would like to go back to my old habits. So far under lockdown I have not been capable of sustaining a healthy routine despite trying a few different strategies. I’m really happy for those who improved any habits during the pandemic but sadly I can’t count myself in that group! I wasn’t tracking my food everyday before but I would like to start that too.
3. What do you look forward to the most?
Going to the gym each day, running without a mask, and socializing. Feeling fit and confident again would be great. I don’t even recognize myself anymore and just want my life back.
Since my usual food choices were now marred by COVID, I decided that this would be my chance to really start a healthier diet. As of today, I have lost 34 pounds.
How has the pandemic affected your nutrition & fitness habits?
When the pandemic and related restrictionss started, I was already in year 4ish of maintenance after loss in 2015-16, and several months into an effort to (re-) lose a few vanity pounds within the healthy BMI range, and intentionally do that super slowly. Having fewer social events, and restaurants and such limited to take out, reduced temptation and made that easier. I'm down around 9 pounds or so since last March, down more like 12-13 overall since I started the slow loss.
On the fitness front, I've been quite active for 18 years or so, since my mid-40s, during much of which I was still obese. Because my preferred activity is on-water rowing, I usually go through lowered exercise volume, and more desultory schedule, in Winter (when the river freezes, basically). In 2020, the Winter lasted until around August, because the rowing club was closed. Also, the twice weekly spin classes, which I'd done for years, were shut down.
As a result, my exercise was uneven. I did more walking and biking, rowed once the club was open, did some lifting and machine rowing at home, did some yoga/stretching/core exercises off and on, ultimately bought a stationary bike for variety. There have been periods when I was working out 6 days a week (sometimes more than once a day), some when it was zero, mostly in between.
Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
I hope I've learned some things that will help me be more consistent in self-directed exercise outside on-water rowing season. I want to do more walking (to stay better conditioned for it), a bit more biking during rowing season, and to keep some regular yoga practice going (as I sometimes have in the past, too). If total average volume goes up a bit, that'd be good. I don't think I'll go back to a gym spin class for quite a while.
Cooking at home myself is getting a little old, but has also become pretty easy. I may do less solo eating out, in the long run.
What do you look forward to most?
The rowing club having learn-to-row classes again, and more social activity generally, plus of course more rowing this summer (I hope) compared to last. A bit more social life, which has been near zero in Winter especially. Some day - not right away - being able to go back to my favorite brewpub, sit at the bar, chat with strangers and acquaintances, and try some of the special beers that are only available in the taproom.
It was a year ago today we went into lockdown, and we went from being a 2 income household to our only income being the government wage subsidy.
My small studio gym shut its doors permanently, so I went from 3-4 sessions in the gym a week plus walking, to just the walking with a couple of videos at home.
In terms of nutrition, we mostly ate at home already, but with no work or school or anything much going on, food planning and prep became a focus of the day...a little too much baking etc. I had been losing a little weight but put a couple of pounds back on.
It was about 7 weeks before the kids went back to school, but I was still at home most of the time until I got my current job in July.
After lockdown the owner of my old gym offered me one on one training sessions once a week to finish up my prepaid membership, so I didn't really look into anything else for a while, but really in hindsight I wasn't exercising enough. I put on a couple more pounds then.
This year I have joined an online gym subscription service and it suits me perfectly - gyms are open here, but I looked into the timetable for classes and it doesn't work for me, and is a lot more expensive anyway. I miss working out with other people, but for now that's outweighed by the benefits.
While things are going along well here, the pandemic has given me a little extra motivation to be fit and healthy.
The biggest things I hope to keep up are checking in on my elderly or alone neighbours, and staying as healthy and active as I can. And the buying less stuff that lockdown caused (here there were no takeaway food places, no clothes shops, no shopping centres open - only supermarkets, pharmacies, petrol stations. Even most online store were shut unless they fit those essential categories).
In terms of what I look forward to, there's not a huge amount I can't do at the moment other than international travel, but we've done a bit of national travel instead 🙂. It's probably small things I look forward to - there not being such a delay in supply of so many things (but at the same time I like stores being less cluttered!), and not having to scan in everywhere we go.
2020 was the best year by far that I've had in the past 3 years.
Stress disappeared.
Hassles disappeared.
Distancing is great.
Cleaning is great.
Working from home for 4 months was fantastic.
Finishing university at home and graduating with my Master's degree was fantastic.
No long commutes to work for those 4 months.
More sleep in those 4 months.
More exercise at a better time of day during those 4 months.
I was hoping we could do it all again this coming winter, but it doesn't look like it will happen again. It appears to have been all done and dusted by the end of last July.
For me 2018 was the most stressful year of my entire life. In March 2018, my husband had a workplace accident which resulted in a severe traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma for 3 weeks, and post traumatic amnesia for 7 weeks, and in hospital for 100 days in total. Then in community rehab for several more months. He will never recover but, 3 years later, things have settled into something of a routine and shutting down for the 4 months of the pandemic was absolutely the best thing for both of us.
How has the pandemic affected your habits?
During the 4 months of the pandemic, I slept more and I exercised more. In particular, I was able to cycle in the middle of the day. That was so nice and I wish it could have continued, but of course when no one had the virus anymore, everything opened up again, and I returned to work ... last July.
Since July, pretty much everything has returned to "normal" except that we distance a bit better than we did before and stores have hand sanitiser. Both are good things. Extra cleaning is good too.
Graduating university has affected my habits more! I don't have homework every night!
How has the pandemic affected your nutrition & fitness habits?
Pretty much the same. But graduating university has given me more time to exercise.
Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
We've been back to "normal" since last July. I like the distancing, hand sanitiser and cleaning.
What do you look forward to most?
2021 is my Year of Organisation. I'm trying to do a long list of things I've put off while I've been in university and while I've been caring for my husband during the past three years since his accident and severe traumatic brain injury.
I look forward to being and/or feeling on top of things so that I can spend more time exercising and doing "fun" stuff. I haven't had a chance to do "fun" stuff in so long!
In other ways, it's been tough. I miss my parents, who are 79/80 and have been super cautious about their interactions. Even though we have mostly stayed home, any interaction we've had with others, even distanced and masked, they consider a huge risk. So I have seen them four times in the last year. We didn't get to have the kind of celebrations we wanted for my husband's 60th birthday, our 10th wedding anniversary or my dad's 80th birthday. We couldn't be with our son and daughter in law as they welcomed their daughter.
How has the pandemic affected your nutrition & fitness habits?
It's been crap. I have been too easy on myself and it shows. I've reupped my game this week. I haven't been nearly as active and I really don't have an excuse - we've got exercise equipment here. I excelled professionally and extended my work hours, and didn't do what I needed to do physically.
Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
I hope everyone keeps washing their hands. I have been a lifetime hand washer and everyone needs to keep at it. Not just because of COVID-19, but for general hygiene and also, your bathroom hands are NOT something I want to touch!
I have also noticed that people seem to be more understanding in general. Your dog barks during a meeting or your little one walks into the room? No big deal. Your hair isn't perfect or you're having a moment? We're all human. I would love to see that compassion continue.
What do you look forward to most?
Seeing my friends and family. Traveling. I'd like to get a pedicure. I'd like to go to TJ Maxx or a book store and just browse around. I know that I could be doing many of these things while applying protocol, but I've been very, very cautious throughout the pandemic and none of those are essential. It's been more practical to hold off on those activities to ensure my safety...I would not want to contract COVID-19 and compromise myself or my husband over shiny toenails!
I am very optimistic about the future.
It did at first, I ended up gaining back most of my loss and developing poor drinking habits. However, mid-way through I was able to refocus my attention to my health. Having the additional time while working from home allowed me time to exercise and plan meals.
Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
I would like to keep my work from home, additional time to exercise, and less temptation for eating out. I would like to change the fear of swimming around other people!
What do you look forward to most?
Not being afraid of crowded trails and pools.
At first the affect was awful. I ate poorly, self comforting with food, and I slept a lot. Seriously, a whole lot. Probably depressed. But I was intent on staying alive, even in my self soothing sabotaging ways. So in December I snapped out of it and decided it wasn't enough to stay alive. That's when I joined MFP, when I started walking daily, and tracking my calories in. I also quit smoking cigarettes in October which was huge.
>Which habits do you want to keep or change as we inch toward “normal”?
I will keep walking daily or almost daily because I've come to enjoy it and feel so much better afterwards. I will also continue to order my groceries online and pick up, rather than go in the store and shop... except for farmer's markets and other places with fresh produce, I'll happily shop those in person. I may avoid going into indoor public spaces as I enjoyed not even getting a common cold this year. I'll also likely continue to keep some space between me and others, which I actually appreciated as I didn't like to be crowded anyways. My spouse says he'll continue to wear a mask inside stores forever because he is sure that most people are walking germ bombs, lol.
>What do you look forward to most?
I've been fully vaccinated and finally can hug my grandchildren. I can babysit them again and give the moms & dad's a little break. My stepmother is 86 yrs old living alone in California and I haven't been to see her since 2019, so that will be awesome too. I belong to a small local writer's group and it will be really great when we can meet in person again. So basically, I look forward to seeing and helping the people I love the most.
We never had a honeymoon, and we were looking forward to finally going on that special trip for our 20th anniversary. Ugh. Cancelled for COVID! 👎
Maybe we'll do it for the 25th. 🥂
At first, I piled on weight, my eating habits were all over the place and I started comfort eating due to the loneliness and boredom. Add to the mix that my mum has terminal cancer and I wasn't allowed to see her due to shielding, and my elderly gran was all alone in her home and not allowed visitors. It has been really difficult in that respect.
At the start of this year, I decided that enough was enough, I needed to toughen up mentally and get myself back on track. I joined MFP to keep me honest with my eating and to encourage me to exercise more. This has helped enormously, giving me focus, and I have lost 21 pounds in weight since I joined which is amazing.
I have also been offered a place in the London Marathon in October, running to raise funds for Pancreatic cancer research, as my dad died of that in 2012 and it is what my mum has now. With this cause being incredibly special to me, it has given me the kick I need to knuckle down and get running again. Yes, I have a lot of work to do! But I am determined
Better days are on the way, hopefully. At least the lighter nights and better weather are starting - spring is here! And new hope for a better future.
Over the last year the gym has been open on and off, but my beloved classes did not come back and currently the gym itself has been closed altogether since before Christmas.
I am now alternating between WFH and going into the office.
Thankfully my eating habits have been turned around again and the weight is gone. I have been doing home workouts, though what I love most, is simply walking. Walking walking walking. I do 6-8km pretty much every day. I've come to realise it's so incredibly beneficial for my mental health. If I had a particularly "angry" day in work I might even have a little jog. I'm not even sure if I will rejoin the gym.
The daily walking is definitely something I will continue to do.
The one thing I struggle with the most is the lack of social contacts. We're restricted to a 5km zone which is very limiting. Sick of Zoom calls at the same time, so we just have to ride this out I guess.
Good times are ahead I'm sure.