The lockdown hasn't been good to me?

Lost 60lbs 4 years ago, kept it off until now. I knew I was gaining in lockdown but didn't want to admit it. I stepped on the scales this morning, up 10lbs in 2 weeks. I need to nip that in the bud before it gets out of hand. Okay I am not working, however, as those in the UK will know we are allowed out to exercise and I have been out every day walking or running. Yesterday was a 5-mile walk for example. Its the amount of junk food I have been eating and not tracking that's the issue, not much else to do when around the house.

I do need to lose the weight but I know my mindset isn't in the right place to do it at the moment. I guess junk food brings comfort at the moment with the way things are. Then we have Easter coming up and the house is full of Easter Eggs.

Anyone else going through this at the moment? Or how do you get yourself in the right mindset again?
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Replies

  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,116 Member
    I'm feeling this too, I'm exercising when I can but I'm barely getting 3000 steps in while working at home and the cravings have won recently. I darent get on the scales!
    I started off thinking ok its a couple of weeks I'll go for maintenance and treat it like a holiday - i.e eating loads and not logging.
    Shopping is difficult too, the choice and opportunity isn't there at the moment so it's harder to buy fresh and easier to get takeaways or convenience food.

    I have 12 days off work now so I'm going to use the time to adjust to this temporary norm.

    I've got some jobs to do around the house and garden to keep myself busy.
    I've got time to cook properly so I need to get organised with the shopping, or just be creative with what i can get.
    I'm also getting back to basics, drink plenty of water, go to bed at a sensible time and pre plan/log my meals.

    Your 10lbs won't all be fat, eating more food and particularly more junk food will result in some water weight so don't despair.

    Think back to how you lost those 60lbs and how good it felt, try putting some of your strategies back into your daily routine. Can you try a new hobby to keep you from boredom eating? Or are you able to volunteer? Our town is constantly asking for people to help deliver foods and medicines to the elderly and vulnerable.
  • alexmose
    alexmose Posts: 792 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    A friend of mine referred to it as the covid nineteen.

    I was just thinking about how this reference is underused vs. 15.
  • yuko0407
    yuko0407 Posts: 67 Member
    Same for me, and even worst, as immediately before the lockdown I just come through a very stressful time at work, that already made my weight grow a bit. And before all that, I was only 4 lb away from my maintenance target! Too bad! I'm not sure to be able to come back to my "old" calories target during the lockdown, but I've to manage a kind of strategy to limit the damage...
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
    I don't have much more weight to lose so at the moment I am focusing on maintenance. However I am really concentrating on exercise - doing something vigorous really helps me mentally as well as physically.

    It's hard to avoid junk food when stressed, but maybe focus on the fact that you want to be in the best shape you can in case you are unlucky enough to get the virus. Weight is a risk factor, according to what I have read, so might that motivate you to log more assiduously?

    Anyway, good luck and stay well.
  • RoseyandReady
    RoseyandReady Posts: 256 Member
    edited April 2020
    I'm up and down. I have days where I workout to a few different videos or lift weights. Next day, I'm craving sugar and very tired. I have still been able to lose a bit or no gain some weeks. It's an energy rollercoaster for me. Hang in there.
  • John772016
    John772016 Posts: 134 Member
    edited April 2020
    dave_in_ni wrote: »
    Lost 60lbs 4 years ago, kept it off until now. I knew I was gaining in lockdown but didn't want to admit it. I stepped on the scales this morning, up 10lbs in 2 weeks. I need to nip that in the bud before it gets out of hand. Okay I am not working, however, as those in the UK will know we are allowed out to exercise and I have been out every day walking or running. Yesterday was a 5-mile walk for example. Its the amount of junk food I have been eating and not tracking that's the issue, not much else to do when around the house.

    I do need to lose the weight but I know my mindset isn't in the right place to do it at the moment. I guess junk food brings comfort at the moment with the way things are. Then we have Easter coming up and the house is full of Easter Eggs.

    Anyone else going through this at the moment? Or how do you get yourself in the right mindset again?

    If your mindset isn't in the right place to do it at the moment, I'd say at least log your food honestly right now. When you mindset catches up to realizing what you need to do, you'll have all the data that you need to do it. That can be very powerful to you.
    Everyone is feeling stress right now, cut yourself a bit of slack(not too much!)
    (j/k 😁)
    ...and you'll be fine.
  • mkculs13
    mkculs13 Posts: 681 Member
    Katmary71 wrote: »
    You've got this, sounds like you had your wake-up call. I went the other direction, controlled what I could and channeled my stress into workouts and totally overdid it! I currently have ice packs on my calves and no cardio/lower leg weights until they recover. I'm used to doing a variety of cardio and lately it's been a lot of walking/dancing/wanna-be HIIT videos on You Tube. I figure one of the few things I can control right now is what I put in my mouth and how I respond to this. I'm not able to get all my staples food-wise so I'm trying to be creative with recipes for what I do have. I also don't live with anyone so it makes it easier to keep food I can't moderate out of the house. I'm listening to a lot of music to stay upbeat, reading, watching a little TV, and trying not to go stir-crazy being alone. I was recently talking to my dad about how it feels like life is paused but we're still aging and time is still passing despite it. I'd rather be closer to goals even if they're harder to strive for right now than go back to old ways.

    I can relate. I started back on MFP about 3/01 and was figuring out how many cals w/o being too hungry, etc., for the first couple weeks. Then schools closed and I'm home with nothing to do for 2 weeks (Spring break and my district preparing to get us ready to go online). So I went from exercising every other day, ~4 mi/day, to hiking 5-6 every day and I am dead sore, nonstop. I have enjoyed the exercise and so do my dogs, but I have to cut back and regroup. I'm taking off today and tomorrow and maybe Tuesday. The good news is that I got back to work a couple of days ago and that helped with my focus in general.

    On the downside, my scale just popped up a couple of lbs after several days of overeating. Not wild, but enough to suggest a legitimate weight gain of 1-1.5 lbs. I was getting too hungry again with all the extra exercise. I'm glad to have caught it now and be able to taper back to a more reasonable balance of intake and exercise. It's hard for me b/c that extra activity gave me some much appreciated extra cals, but clearly not enough to balance how hungry it was making me.

    Good luck to everyone, however you choose to try to handle things.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    We're only supposed to be out for an hour to exercise so can't run anywhere from home because that would take to long, besides which it's difficult to see the point if it's only an hour.

    Hold on there, really Ms. Ultra?

    So if *I* told YOU that my dog is sensitive to pollen so we will stay home and I won't take her out for walks, she can just poop in the cat's litter box! Because what's the point? I am used to taking her out for all day hikes but she can no longer do them so she might as well just stay home!

    You would say?

    You would say that I am a *kitten* and that I should take my *kitten* dog out for an hour long walk if that's what she and I are able to do because regardless of whether one hour is the same as an all day *kitten* hike it is STILL exercise and it is STILL better than NOTHING.

    <please note that my dog is fine and not in any way restricted... but YOU ARE NOT if you can't see that one hour's worth of running is better than NO hours of running at all and it will help you feel and sleep better--if only by a little bit.

    put your running shoes on, open the door, get out and come back sweaty 61 minutes later>

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  • somethingsoright
    somethingsoright Posts: 99 Member
    I've gained 6 lbs in 4 weeks since being off work. And this is with me never once taking a day off weighing and logging my food. I still do my normal cardio and strength training, plus I'm now going for daily walks.

    The gain must have to do with me not getting on a calorie burn from moving around at work and just a general nervousness I have in the workplace. Now it's time to make a plan for lowering my calories, which sucks because I was at such a good intake for my mental health, ya know? It was a high enough cut that I felt strong and not deprived. I had a problem with binging on low calorie diets in the past.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,260 Member
    I've gained 6 lbs in 4 weeks since being off work. And this is with me never once taking a day off weighing and logging my food. I still do my normal cardio and strength training, plus I'm now going for daily walks.

    The gain must have to do with me not getting on a calorie burn from moving around at work and just a general nervousness I have in the workplace. Now it's time to make a plan for lowering my calories, which sucks because I was at such a good intake for my mental health, ya know? It was a high enough cut that I felt strong and not deprived. I had a problem with binging on low calorie diets in the past.

    6lbs in 4 weeks is 750 Cal a day, which is a significant overage--what you mention would have a hard time explaining it by itself.

    I mean 750 Cal is the difference between sedentary and very active in *my case* (M, 172.25cm, 153lbs) That's like more than 10,000 steps in my case.... and it would be an even larger difference for you if your BMR is less than 1500 (BMR not TDEE)

    So: are you sore at all? Have you been eating back calories from the walks which you weren't doing before? TOM complications? Are the 6lbs a scale weight change or a weight trend change?
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    I've gained 6 lbs in 4 weeks since being off work. And this is with me never once taking a day off weighing and logging my food. I still do my normal cardio and strength training, plus I'm now going for daily walks.

    The gain must have to do with me not getting on a calorie burn from moving around at work and just a general nervousness I have in the workplace. Now it's time to make a plan for lowering my calories, which sucks because I was at such a good intake for my mental health, ya know? It was a high enough cut that I felt strong and not deprived. I had a problem with binging on low calorie diets in the past.

    6lbs in 4 weeks is 750 Cal a day, which is a significant overage--what you mention would have a hard time explaining it by itself.

    I mean 750 Cal is the difference between sedentary and very active in *my case* (M, 172.25cm, 153lbs) That's like more than 10,000 steps in my case.... and it would be an even larger difference for you if your BMR is less than 1500 (BMR not TDEE)

    So: are you sore at all? Have you been eating back calories from the walks which you weren't doing before? TOM complications? Are the 6lbs a scale weight change or a weight trend change?

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