General chat during the Pandemic.
dward59
Posts: 731 Member
Good morning my friends. Checking the March WL Challenge, I saw two others who seem to be having the same problem I am: trying to hold it together during this stressful time without eating ourselves into regaining. I know I want to be able to have somewhere to talk and vent and get ideas, and frankly just to feel less alone (yes, I know we are all feeling the isolation right now, but darn it, we have these tools to assist with that. Let's use them!)
So, here is my rundown. A little over a year ago, I started taking online cooking classes. My cooking has improved so much, and once I got back on MFP it was a wonderful tool. Between healthier cooking and eating, and the exercise I was getting, I was losing better than I have in years. Now this. My psychological tendency draws me now to rich sauces and baking and etc.
Last night as an example, I made chicken burritos for us. I really didn't think they were that bad, but I didn't figure up calories BEFORE eating. I know better. The thing tasted soo good! Once I figured up the calories: over 700 in that one meal. I should have had half the burrito and a good salad. Should have, would have, could have...
Because of underlying medical issues I have, I have to stay home and be extra careful. I can deal with it, but my wife fights it constantly. She just can not stay home, she has to go somewhere and every day. She managed to stay home yesterday only because I threatened to self isolate in the house if she continues to go out daily. In spite of that, she is going out today, ostensibly to pick up herbs for the garden, "because we need them for your cooking." We won't die if I use dried basil! What a balancing act. I figure we are locked in house for at least 20 days, or at least I am, and as I keep telling her, every time she goes out, the clock resets on when we will know WE are healthy.
My sleep patterns are returning to a horrible place they were when I was working a high stress job. I go to bed, sleep 3-4 hours, and wake up for several hours, then eventually go back to bed. I'm not getting a good solid block of sleep, which probably isn't helping my current desire to eat - constantly. Thank goodness we don't have any more chips or crackers in the house! Now, I need to stop baking bread and I can get back to a better way of eating and back to losing.
A ray of sunshine came in email yesterday though. The water fitness course I had been attending is through the local community college system. The instructors have been ordered to provide online coursework. lol Well, you can't fit a pool online, however she is modifying the course to be yoga based stretching and movement. No, it isn't the cardio, but it is something! Since breaking my foot, I haven't been able to do pounding exercises anyway. Walking more than a block or two becomes extremely painful still, and that break was 2 years ago! That is why the water fitness was so perfect. As long as I'm in the class that the instructor controls well. Friday's class is not that way and it drives me nuts. It breaks up into little cliques of gabbing women (to be fair, I am the only male in the class normally) which makes it difficult to hear the instructor. I'm here to workout, not have a chat session. I was that way at the gym too. You'd think my weight would be under better control! lol
Anyway, that is enough of my mental contortions for this morning. I'll try not to be so verbose, if anyone else posts. I'm hoping we can get into a chat thread and figure out ways to support each other through this.
Be well all my friends known and yet to be. Stay home, stay safe, and save lives.
So, here is my rundown. A little over a year ago, I started taking online cooking classes. My cooking has improved so much, and once I got back on MFP it was a wonderful tool. Between healthier cooking and eating, and the exercise I was getting, I was losing better than I have in years. Now this. My psychological tendency draws me now to rich sauces and baking and etc.
Last night as an example, I made chicken burritos for us. I really didn't think they were that bad, but I didn't figure up calories BEFORE eating. I know better. The thing tasted soo good! Once I figured up the calories: over 700 in that one meal. I should have had half the burrito and a good salad. Should have, would have, could have...
Because of underlying medical issues I have, I have to stay home and be extra careful. I can deal with it, but my wife fights it constantly. She just can not stay home, she has to go somewhere and every day. She managed to stay home yesterday only because I threatened to self isolate in the house if she continues to go out daily. In spite of that, she is going out today, ostensibly to pick up herbs for the garden, "because we need them for your cooking." We won't die if I use dried basil! What a balancing act. I figure we are locked in house for at least 20 days, or at least I am, and as I keep telling her, every time she goes out, the clock resets on when we will know WE are healthy.
My sleep patterns are returning to a horrible place they were when I was working a high stress job. I go to bed, sleep 3-4 hours, and wake up for several hours, then eventually go back to bed. I'm not getting a good solid block of sleep, which probably isn't helping my current desire to eat - constantly. Thank goodness we don't have any more chips or crackers in the house! Now, I need to stop baking bread and I can get back to a better way of eating and back to losing.
A ray of sunshine came in email yesterday though. The water fitness course I had been attending is through the local community college system. The instructors have been ordered to provide online coursework. lol Well, you can't fit a pool online, however she is modifying the course to be yoga based stretching and movement. No, it isn't the cardio, but it is something! Since breaking my foot, I haven't been able to do pounding exercises anyway. Walking more than a block or two becomes extremely painful still, and that break was 2 years ago! That is why the water fitness was so perfect. As long as I'm in the class that the instructor controls well. Friday's class is not that way and it drives me nuts. It breaks up into little cliques of gabbing women (to be fair, I am the only male in the class normally) which makes it difficult to hear the instructor. I'm here to workout, not have a chat session. I was that way at the gym too. You'd think my weight would be under better control! lol
Anyway, that is enough of my mental contortions for this morning. I'll try not to be so verbose, if anyone else posts. I'm hoping we can get into a chat thread and figure out ways to support each other through this.
Be well all my friends known and yet to be. Stay home, stay safe, and save lives.
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Replies
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Hey Dan! Thanks for getting this rolling. I think it's a great idea given that the vast majority of us are now isolating/quarantining at home, whether self-bidden or under the orders of local authorities. I'm here outside of Philadelphia, PA, and we are under a stay at home order. I get your wife's impulse to want to leave/get outside sometimes - the weather here has been super rainy, which makes getting outside for a walk really hard. To try and minimize our exposure, my husband and I agreed that I am our designated person who goes to the store since I know where everything is and can get in and out quickly, since he has to go out to work (he's in auto repair, which is considered essential) and we can't afford to have him lose his job (they're taking as many precautions as they can to minimize their exposure at work). I'm fortunate enough to be working from home right now, so I don't go out other than a bi-weekly trip to the grocery store. We've been trying to get outside with our 2.5-year-old twin boys on any of the dry days just to air them out and have some semblance of normalcy, but it's pretty tough because they don't understand why we can't "go car", "go grandmom poppop's" "go flower garden" the way we normally would.
Foodwise, I was doing well for the first couple of weeks, but this week was just a cluster between meetings getting added to the calendar at the last minute, fires to put out, and just not taking the time I needed to in order to meal plan and prep. I can COMPLETELY relate to the 700 calorie burrito - I did that with a casserole not too long ago and was kicking myself for days. I just need to positive self-talk myself into planning/prepping for next week so I can end this month on a good note and start April on a better note. I really hope this isn't going to last as long as they're saying it might, but with close friends from back home in NYC in healthcare, it's not sounding good. We were supposed to finally be having our wedding at the end of May (we had to put it on hold when my sister got sick a few years ago, so we just married on paper and put the ceremony/reception on the backburner), but it's looking like we will need to cancel that. Small price to pay to keep people safe. As I'm typing, I have my window open and hear my neighbor's college-age children congregating with their friends at her house, and my blood boils because examples like this are exactly why we are all in the position we're in, and they quite possibly could be spreading this without knowing they're sick.
I look forward to hearing how your yoga class goes - I've always wanted to take one, but never have. I think I'm going to need to dust off the treadmill in our basement and actually start using it, because the forecast is for rain again next week.
Hang in there and have a great weekend! Best, Tara1 -
Hey Tara. Sounds like you have your hands full. I can't imagine trying to deal with this with kids, especially that age. Good thoughts to you.
We don't have College Age kids next door, we have a 90 year old whose family keeps bringing bunches of kids (presumably family) to visit. I keep thinking how irresponsible that is. Kids have so many germs anyway that can lay a senior low, and if they have come in contact with COVID-19 at all, it would be a death sentence for Dick. smh But I have no control over what others do. Just as well, I'm sure doing things MY way would drive everyone else nuts! lol
I was so tired of cooking last night I did nothing but chop fruit and veggies and we had salad for dinner. It was so good! I think I'll do that again soon. I just need to find a bit of protein to round it out. I'm thinking lentils or some high protein grain, but my wife dislikes most of those. So, it will likely end up being some type of pulled meat, or fish. Fish might be a really good addition.
Before all this started, we had signed up with Wild Alaskan Company for delivery of IQF fish, in 6 oz. portions, every other month. Their fish is so good we are eating a lot more fish. It honestly reminds us of our trip to Alaska where salmon and halibut was about all we could afford. Beef was astronomically expensive, and chicken not much better. We did have reindeer/caribou a few times, but mostly it was fish. The box is out of our control, mostly. It is what was caught shortly before the boxes are shipped. It hurts paying out that much all at once, it is not inexpensive, but there is virtually no waste and much better than what is in the grocery. Add to that now it is delivered and we are hooked.
Weather here in San Diego has been rainy as well. Night before last we had really unusual weather; Thunder, lightning and hard rain that became hail at 1:30 a.m. I'm sure the hail would have woken us anyway, but the thunder set one of the dogs off. He set the other one off and it got crazy. I finally got back to sleep at 4 a.m. Fortunately I'm now retired so I can sleep whenever I need to. lol
I have to get moving, if for no other reason than to turn on the heater. Temps are very much below seasonal for here. In the low 40's outside, and at 60 degrees in the house. So either heater, since today is supposed to remain unseasonably cold, or put on a sweatshirt.
Be well Tara, and any who may follow today. I'll check again later.1
