Living the Lifestyle -- Wildcard Tuesday! 1-25-2022

steve0mania

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: How has "the COVID era" changed you?

It strikes me that we're living through a particularly unique moment in time with the COVID pandemic. Personally, I've felt that there have been multiple phases in the pandemic, with phases of real fear of being that person who gets really sick, times of feeling willing to do "whatever it takes" to help end this, times with a willingness to reach out and support others versus times of selfishness and isolation, boredom, anger, etc.

Working off the (perhaps poor) assumption that we're getting close to the end game of the pandemic now, I haven't really thought much about how I've changed, or even if I've changed.

No need to get super-personal, but how have you changed in response to living through "the COVID era?"

crewahl

I’ll just say that a pandemic is a great place for someone who’s a little paranoid. There are, literally, little things you can’t see that are in fact out to get you. Vindication!

I think the pandemic has changed our lives, but not who we are. We’ve taken CDC guidance seriously, and perhaps more so because we’re both over sixty. I think we’re also willing to recognize that changes in CDC guidance may be valid as we learned more about a virus that we previously didn’t know - airborne vs touch transmission, asymptomatic spread, etc. We've cancelled trips, made plans, and cancelled them again.

I think it also help us focus on priorities a bit. We dine out frequently, and when restaurants closed and then slowly reopened as takeout only, the question was a) are we comfortable doing takeout, and b) what businesses do we support? To a certain extent, we were voting with our dollars for what restaurants would survive. (We ended up with three restaurants.)

Right now, I’m back to masking in public, even absent a mandate and with decreased risk of serious illness post-vaccination and post-booster. To a certain extent I’m treating it like LASIK surgery - until there’s a guarantee I won’t be in the one tenth of one percent with a poor result, the permanence of the risk means it’s not worth exposing myself to the hazard.

My primary concern right now is the talk about this shifting from pandemic to endemic - something that’s always in the environment that we’ll always have to deal with.

So I’m not sure sure be changed, even though the world has changed around me. If I HAVE changed, I’m a little more tolerant of less than perfect service. If 90% of success is showing up, we need to appreciate the ones who at least did that.

88olds

My fitness plan just about fell apart. I started out OK. I put together a routine using various rubber bands but I didn’t keep it going. The only thing that save me was walking. I really like walking. The gated community where we lived had a pretty nice set up for walking. The center of the place was like a big park. From the house to the center and twice around the pond and back was a tad over 4 miles. I did it nearly every day. I still go for a daily walk of several miles. So that stuck and its for the good.

We aren’t going to be able to live in Key West full time. Can I get the condo back as a second home? Unknown right now. But DW and I needed more square footage than what we’ve got in KW.

So here we are in DW’s dream house in Fort Myers. It’s very nice. But I’m more isolated and more anxious than before. My best friend died about a year ago. Not covid. Most of my social friends were folks I met either fishing on the KW party boat or playing Pickleball. That’s all gone. Fort Myers offers some opportunities but the dark covid cloud seems to hang over everything a bit. Even here in FL. Sometimes I avoid going out, sometimes I push back and go anyway, covid be damned.

steve0mania

I've got so many thoughts about this that it's hard to organize (and I've been thinking about how to post).

On the one hand, I do think I've learned to be more flexible. I used to get really anxious or even bent-out-of-shape when things didn't go as I planned or expected. For example, if Mrs. 0mania and I planned to leave the house at 12 pm, I would be at the door ready to leave at 12 sharp, but Mrs. 0mania might need a few extra minutes. That used to make me craaaazzzzzyyyy! Now, since COVID has the ability to thwart any plan, I think I've learned to be a little more "forgiving" when plans don't go as planned.

Also, as unbelievable as it sounds, I've learned to be a better listener to all sides of a matter. This really rose up from the anti-vax/anti-mask groups. I couldn't understand why anyone would ever take that stand. However, once I started hearing some arguments and actually listening to people, I realized that very few folks are out there to simply fight with others. Instead, people come at every issue and problem with their own perspective and history. We are told vaccines are safe. I personally believe that they are. However, can I promise you that there won't be some unanticipated side effect that only appears 20 years down the line (like, for example, a low-level but chronic auto-immune effect because some COVID antigen looks like a protein that's on normal cells in the body?)? Of course I can't, and it's hubris for anyone to suggest otherwise. Nevertheless, on the whole, I agree the risk of COVID currently outweighs the risk that a low-likelihood (but not zero risk) problem arises, but I can understand that others might weigh those factors differently.

On perhaps a more negative note, I've become much more suspicious of our governmental leaders, news organizations, and educational systems. I believe there is a lot more hypocrisy than I might have realized, and that perhaps, just perhaps, there are ulterior motives that are not in everyone's best interests. Everyone's more interested in getting into power, maintaining power, and making money, than doing what's "right." Perhaps I'm late to that realization.

I've also come to realize that despite my best intentions, I've also become more concerned about the possibility of unexpected violence, either from "routine" crime, from mob-action, or from targeted anti-religious (anti-Semitic, as an example) activities. I've come to appreciate that "help" may not always be available (if you get caught, for example, on the wrong street during a protest that is becoming more mob-like; or if you are held hostage in a synagogue in Texas). That means I've become more keenly aware of my surroundings, and less willing to give folks the benefit of the doubt.

I'm sure there's plenty more, but that's what I've got for now.

Al_Howard

I think I've become more patient with TOL. She seems to give me more slack also. Guess that what happens, after 58 years of marriage, and the 24/7 togetherness that Covid has handed us. We seldom leave home, except for church, shopping, and medical appointments.
On the other hand, I've become less tolerant with myself. Oh, well.