Getting Back in Shape After Pandemic

CurvyEmmy

I need to get a LOT of help and support!!

The pandemic really, really scared me. I started working from home and was afraid to go out. I don't know how to cook and I ordered delivery from restaurants every night.

I was already pretty lazy before the pandemic but normally I would get exercise from walking during my commute or walking around stores... but then for 16 months I didn't even get that.

There were a lot of days I barely got out of bed or off the couch.

I watched 6 or more hours of TV per day.

I felt super stressed and food was a big coping mechanism and source of comfort for me!!

I felt tired all the time and my productivity dropped but my work was super understanding because they knew everybody was under a lot of stress. They didn't check in on us a lot. I definitely started to feel lazy and I got used to taking a lot of naps.

My body changed a lot during te pandemic. Especially my belly. My waistline grew a lot.

Now, they are making us go back to the office and expecting more productivity. For the past few months I have been really struggling to adjust because I still feel scared and feel weird about going outside without a mask.

I am 5'5" and was a healthy 160 pounds at the start of the pandemic. In July when I started going back to work I weighed 242 pounds.

Since then I have tried to lose weight but nothing has worked. I’m ~260 now and I’m scared because the weight won’t stop!!

I am noticing changes like not being able to walk as far without feeling out of breath. The first time back at work I felt faint and dizzy when I was going up the stairs, and had to stop to catch my breath. It was really embarrassing and scary. But I hadn't really done stairs in SO long so I guess my body was not ready for that. Now I feel afraid to do the stairs too much so I walk to the other end of the hall to use the elevator even though it takes longer.

I work on a computer so I sit all day long. Even though all I do is sit, I feel exhausted. I am always tired and after lunch time all I want to do is lie down. I have pillows to make my office chair more comfortable but I miss laying on my bed when I worked from home!! My muscles feel sore all the time even though I'm not even using them much.

I feel so overwhelmed I just want to quit. My friend said I should get a gym membership. But if I'm struggling this tired out walking around the office I don't feel like I can handle the gym.

I'm not an athletic girl - I've always been more of of the “couch potato” type girl and a curvy and thick and larger size girl. I'm apple shape so I've always had extra fat around my belly, but I used to carry my weight better and I could hide the belly fat with spanx and high waisted pants. But now my fat is just really noticeable and I can't hide it.

I have gone up sizes, from 18 to 22/24. I did a lot of online shopping when I was staying home but I can't fit into most of it comfortable anymore. I have rolls on my arms and back now. I am trying to accept my self and I am okay with how my legs, butt, and arms look... but my belly area is a big insecurity for me.

I have no clue where to start to get in shape again. I need something EASY because "just hit the gym" is not really do-able for me.

Here are before/after pics from pre-pandemic and then from when I started going to work again (wore the teal dress to work on my first day).

PLEASE be kind and give me lots of encouragement and support!!!

Americanbabydoll

You got this! Small steps at a time.

mrsrichard48

Honey one great thing you got going is that you are young and can fix this since you gained the weight in a short amount of time it's new fat. It will take work but you surely got this. You are beautiful in all the pictures. Once you start moving and push through the shortness of breath you will gain some endurance and be able to move. Try and I mean try because I struggle to make better choices. Easier said than done but what I hear is that portion control is a must. I struggle with that too. I need support as well but please reach out anytime.

CurvyEmmy

Thank you!! Getting physically active has been super difficult for me. I stayed at home and mostly just laid in bed all day for like 18 months due to the pandemic, I felt really afraid about going out Now I’m too out of shape to start doing anything

I’ve never had an athletic body type, even as a kid I was always kind of sedentary and would spend all day watching TV. I’ve always had a tendency to be a bit lazy. So in high school and college the weight started to come on and I’ve been a plus-size girl ever since. But it was always manageable, not too overweight, it fluctuated between 160 and 180 for a long time and I felt good being in that range. I have accepted that I’m naturally bigger and “skinny” isn’t my natural shape. I try to be body positive and embrace being curvy (hence my user name) and plus size and felt OK with my weight.

The pandemic ruined all that. I was at home every day and ordered all my food to be delivered because I can’t cook. I never had a reason to go out (and was too scared) or do anything so i pretty much laid in bed all day.

All those months of just laying around in your underwear never getting dressed and never going out… the lack of activity and the stress eating really changed my body…

Going back to the office is a HARD adjustment. My butt feels sore after sitting in my office chair instead of laying down on my belly like I did at home. I don’t have much to wear anymore. Thank GOD my office is okay with the girls wearing leggings to work (some offices aren’t which is so freaking ridiculous)! None of my other pants or skirts fit and leggings are the only thing that feels comfortable now.

I want to start walking but I am tired after work and I can’t wake up early enough before work. I mostly just want to lie down as soon as work is over.

People have said “take the stairs instead of the elevator” but I felt dizzy on the stairs which scared the crap out of me. I’m so not used to exerting myself that even little things like 1 flight of stairs feel like too much to handle. I don’t know if the mask is making it too hard to breath or what but I still feel terrified about Covid so I always wear it.

I went to the mall with friends for the first time in a long time, and we walked half of the mall and I had to sit down on a bench to catch my breath (I had a mask on, but still). I felt embarrassed because my friends are overweight too but they didn’t need to stop to rest like I did.

That was a wake up call that the pandemic has made me out of shape. I’ve never been in great shape but I’ve also never been out of shape like THIS before and it’s honestly kind of scary but I’m just trying to take small baby steps and more push myself too hard. I need to take care of my self and be kind to my body and just appreciate that I can still do things even if I can’t run or climb stairs easily anymore.

I’m really frustrated by a lot of the workouts people shared with me on here because there is no way I could ever do them. They don’t seem to understand that workouts like that are totally unrealistic for someone with my body type and with the kind of extra weight I’m carrying. Like, even if I were strong enough to do a sit up, my tummy fat is in the way! It’s totally impractical.

As far as diet I’m a big snacker, I always have been since I was a kid. I can’t really get through the day without snacks. I have tried to do fruit cups instead of my usual chips and M&Ms. But they just don’t satisfy my cravings like the “junk” stuff does. Someone also said they have a lot of sugar? I still do a lot of chips and candy to help me get through work and to have something to enjoy when I watch TV at night. I know it’s “bad” but I can’t find a substitute that feels satisfying enough. I am trying to at least avoid the worst of them like Twinkie’s and hostess cupcakes - I used to binge a lot of them during the pandemic (i feel really ashamed about this and it’s honestly hard to talk about but I was pretty much a pig). I still have soda which people say is bad but again I can’t find an alternative that feels good.

I’m really discouraged because I have TRIED to take baby steps but I haven’t seen ANY progress. I have accepted that I’m naturally big and it’s okay to be a plus size girl. I can accept my big butt, thighs, even my arms. I just really hate my tummy. Nothing fits and it’s too big for spanx to suck it in.

I am thinking that I just need liposuction or something to suck out my tummy fat. Because the baby steps aren’t helping. I don’t know what to do??

Americanbabydoll

I want to say first that I understand your frustration and I am not trying to be mean. I had 131.8 pounds to lose to be at my goal when I started using MFP in 2019 and I lost a little and then quit. Just didn't really want to put in the work and had no medical conditions making me want to change. When I started again in October I had 113.6 lbs to lose to be at goal, I have lost 12.2 lbs in 48 days. I am now at 101.4 pounds to be at goal.

Baby steps means making some changes. It is not easy to lose weight, it is a lot easier to put it on, but you have to want to lose it or you aren't going to make the changes needed for that to happen.

You said you still eat the candy, chips, soda and that is fine (as long as there is no medical reason to cut out anything you can eat anything), but do you log it all here and stay under your daily calories?

You say you can't exercise, have you tried just walking in place during commercials. Just a little bit at a time, start out with 1 commercial if you need to. Baby steps.

I'm sorry if I upset you or anyone else in this new group. I am just trying to be honest because I don't feel surgery is the answer for anything if you are going to continue to overeat and not be active.

CurvyEmmy

Americanbabydoll wrote: »

I want to say first that I understand your frustration and I am not trying to be mean. I had 131.8 pounds to lose to be at my goal when I started using MFP in 2019 and I lost a little and then quit. Just didn't really want to put in the work and had no medical conditions making me want to change. When I started again in October I had 113.6 lbs to lose to be at goal, I have lost 12.2 lbs in 48 days. I am now at 101.4 pounds to be at goal.

Baby steps means making some changes. It is not easy to lose weight, it is a lot easier to put it on, but you have to want to lose it or you aren't going to make the changes needed for that to happen.

You said you still eat the candy, chips, soda and that is fine (as long as there is no medical reason to cut out anything you can eat anything), but do you log it all here and stay under your daily calories?

You say you can't exercise, have you tried just walking in place during commercials. Just a little bit at a time, start out with 1 commercial if you need to. Baby steps.

I'm sorry if I upset you or anyone else in this new group. I am just trying to be honest because I don't feel surgery is the answer for anything if you are going to continue to overeat and not be active.

I’m trying to log but honestly sometimes I feel too uncomfortable when I see how much I’m eating.

It’s honestly hard to talk about food because I feel a ton of shame and embarrassment around calories and how much of a piggy I am

My calories are often over 4,000 in a day… and sometimes more if I have a bad day and binge eat.

I am trying to get my meal portions under control because they have grown bigger since I was a kid… I probably eat now twice the portion sizes I did in high school.

But I think my real problem is the snacks because they tend to be the high calorie stuff like chips, M&Ms, Oreo cookies.

I know it’s all really “bad” but I can’t seem to get through the day without those. My tummy is SO freaking hard to satisfy because I’ll eat a BIG meal which SHOULD satisfy me but 10 minutes later I feel a craving for ice cream or cookies or something. Ugh!!! And I can’t just ignore it because it feels SO big

I eat a lot at work because I feel constantly hungry (even though I’m physically full and tired out especially after lunch) and I desperately need a pick me up (physical and emotional).

To be honest I almost left here after some other people on MyFitnessPal shamed me so bad for drinking soda!!! Okay so it’s “bad” but I literally can’t get through the day without it. I have tried before to stop drinking it but I felt an awful headache I am too tired after I have lunch I really need the soda for energy.

I am taking baby steps. I used to have 6 cans in a day (again, I feel really embarrassed talking about this) but I am down to 2-3 now.

I am working on other small changes but it has to be gradual so just not such a big shock to my system!!

I can’t really do the calorie “deficit” but I’m hoping to get down to 3,000 per day and hopefully that will help?

Someone told me I gain a pound of fat for every 3,500 calories so it makes sense why I gained so much because I’m putting like pounds and pounds of fat into my body every week

That is so so so gross and uncomfortable to think about

I do feel kind of ashamed especially when I see my tummy in the bathroom mirror!! but when your body is used to 4,000 a day you can’t just change that overnight without your body practically screaming at you

I have a big stomach so it takes more for me to feel full/satisfied than skinny girls.

Food is really emotional for me and it was my biggest coping mechanism during the worst of the pandemic. And now it’s just gotten really hard to reduce my calories and still feel like I am having enough for me. I wanna lose weight but I can’t just feel hungry and unsatisfied all the time.

I really don’t even know where to start