LTL Wildcard Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022

88olds

We meet here to explore, share, celebrate and (sometimes) agonize over how we do (or don't) incorporate weight loss guidelines into our daily lives. "It's a lifestyle, not a diet" is easily and often said, but sometimes not so simply put into practice.

This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!

Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion.

Monday - crewahl (Charlie)
Tuesday – Wildcard!
Wednesday - misterhub (Greg)
Thursday -imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday - Flintwinch (Tim)

Topic: The pandemic

How are you coping now? I think we’re 21 months in. Did I count right? How is Covid affecting your weight management plan now? Has that changed from when the pandemic started?

88olds

I’ve pretty much gone back to pre covid life. It’s fairly easy when you live in Florida. Before the snowbirds starting showing up, you really didn’t see many masks. Now there seem to be quite a few, even some on people walking in the park. My point being that there weren’t the constant reminders that anything out of the ordinary was going on before I started seeing a lot of people in masks.

Yesterday I went to the gym where I workout with my trainer. It’s small. Can accommodate 2-3 people working out at once. Today I went to the park district gym and played Pickleball. I’m fully vaccinated and boosted. In terms of my fitness I paid a significant price for interrupting the routines I had in place pre covid. The fact that I didn’t get a good replacement routine going is all on me. But nothing I can do about that now. I’ve gone back to living my life.

Did join the big Crunch gym near the house and I guess I’m avoiding that because of the current surge. I can walk in the park as a replacement for that. Last week we went out for lunch and opted for the fish restaurant with the big screened patio over the small fish restaurant where they pack folks in. Those are the only concessions I feel like making for now.

And I’ve gone back to keeping a food diary and changed my meals a bit. Want to drop a few lbs.

Al_Howard

Nothing diet wise changed due to Covid. I did quit drinking a year ago November 30th. That, and the omni-present TOL saying I was "costing her money" by not attaining WW goal (she has 6-7 years holding below goal) LOL.
I did make a couple of other changes besides that. I've started tracking my MFP calories over/under days, and lowered my MFP daily calorie goal. That keeps me well focused. I made goal in September, had back surgery in October (with the exercise restrictions) but was able to do November's weigh-in, still under.
I always credit TOL with being with me throughout this. It does help that we both eat the same things, in about the same quantities, at our daily meals.
As far as living outside the home bubble, we are back to singing at church (no restrictions), but haven't eaten at a restaurant yet. We have been to in person gatherings, including eating with occasionally, with our church fraternity. TOL would love to go out to breakfast, but I know I can eat over 3000 calories there LOL. For now, just keeping on keeping on.

88olds

@Al_Howard

Egg beater or egg white veggie omelet. Maybe ham. No cheese. Be prepared to send it back if they put cheese on it. Tomatoes instead of potatoes. Toast, I like rye, no butter.

steve0mania

My coping skills seem all over the place right now. It's funny, but I never viewed myself as a particularly distrustful person, but I'm feeling an incredible sense of frustration regarding the "Delta wave" and regarding Omicron. I think the news media and certain groups have intermingled a bunch of COVID issues that should really be viewed separately. For example, for folks who are fully vaccinated (and not even necessarily boosted), both Delta and Omicron tend to give mild disease and don't tend to land folks in the hospital (with obvious exceptions for underlying complicating factors, or immune-compromise). I appreciate that Omicron is highly contagious. However, the news media and many government agencies keep reporting case-rates, which are huge scary numbers. What I think we really want to know is what are hospitalization/ICU/death rates for individuals in various categories (non-vaccinated, versus vaccinated, versus boosted? Age ranges? Underlying illnesses or other complicating factors? Etc.?). These latter numbers are hard to come by. I can tell you that in my own hospital, it's something like 98% of individuals hospitalized are non-vaccinated.

The short version of this, then, is that I'm fully vaccinated and boosted, and in generally good heath. My risk is likely to be quite low for hospitalization/ICU/death. I am no longer interested in wearing a mask. I'm no longer interested in being told that I should try to work remotely. I'm no longer interested in having to be tested if I'm asymptomatic. Etc., etc., etc.

OK, with that rant out of the way, my coping for weight management is hanging in there. Early in the pandemic, during the primary lockdown, my weight ballooned up a bit. Once I recognized what was happening (multiple visits to the kitchen during the day), I was able to get myself back under better control. Our 10 pound challenge from last year was really helpful too. While I did put back ~5 pounds of the 10 that I lost, I've been maintaining at a lower place than I have in many years. I'd like to ultimately get back down to my personal target, and I'm hoping that the newest 10 pound challenge will get me there.

I'm exercising regularly, and I was proud that I ran just over 500 miles last year (the year before I was just under 500 miles). I know that 500 miles isn't that much, but it represents a level of consistency that I haven't managed in years either!

So, except for the frustration regarding COVID and its associated rules, my personal health seems to be doing pretty well.

Al_Howard

88olds wrote: »

@Al_Howard

Egg beater or egg white veggie omelet. Maybe ham. No cheese. Be prepared to send it back if they put cheese on it. Tomatoes instead of potatoes. Toast, I like rye, no butter.

I'd have a 4 egg omelet, with sausage and cheese. Wheat toast with marmalade. All washed down with black coffee. Still way too much food, but..............

crewahl

File me under the “overly cautious” group, thanks. I was fine in May through July when infection rates dropped sharply. However, I track infection rates in twelve states where we have family or friends as well as vaccination rates using NY Times Covid data. When we’re higher than the infection rates pre-virus and pre-vaccination, I’m more cautious. I wear a mask in stores, and I avoid places where I’ll be in proximity to a group of people for a prolonged periods - concerts and such. No cruises in 2022 for me. I will go to restaurants and dine in, but here in NH there’s still a reasonable amount of space between tables. I’ll admit to a little frustration that at a point in my life where I should be traveling and experiencing new things, I’m loathe to come out of my bunker.

I get Steve's point about lower symptoms in general for the vaccinated and boosted, and I’ll admit to a little schadenfreude that the more serious elements seem to be reserved for the unvaccinated. However, until the vaccine comes with a warranty, I’m still taking precautions. It’s a bit like LASIK surgery to me; they can talk about low risk and success rates and the rarity of combinations, but until they can restore my vision if they make a mistake, it’s a risk I don’t need to take.

In terms of impact on weight, the fact is I refocused in February 2020 before things shut down. I’ve lost about seventy of the eighty-nine pounds I had regained since that time, and that’s really all taken place during the pandemic. Not eating out probably helped a bit; we went to two carry-outs a week. Things have slowed a bit now that we’re eating out more.

crewahl

Here’s an example of what I’m tracking in terms of trends.

misterhub

I am a mixed bag. I mostly keep to myself and/or my very small bubble. However, I just did a two week trip to our place in Oregon. Pandemic and getting snowed in kept us at home most of the time (80%). But, we did see two movies in the theater. We ate take out once. We went to the store.

I did stay in one hotel each way, and I ate out some on the way. But, I always observed protocols. Wore a mask. Washed my hands. Wore a glove to pump gas.

Now that I am back in my work town, I am reverting mostly to being a hermit. lol