These are crazy times! Most of us are in some sort of isolation mode, largely indoors and waiting for things to change. There is a sense of waiting for the next shoe to drop from circumstances largely beyond our control.
But there are things we can do to not just stay busy but also to improve our situation. Not only can we work on those projects we’ve been promising to do, but we can also take time to examine our own personal priorities in the health and well-being of ourselves and our families. The number one reason people tell me they want to manage their weight is “to be around for my family and to be able to do things with them.” In this new Covid-19 world those reasons are still key – that hasn’t changed.
Public health figures have called out age and obesity as among the significant risk factors for more severe Covid-19 cases. While we can’t do anything about our age, we can work to improve our weight at all times. By working on our weight, little by little, we improve other Covid-19 risk factors, such as diabetes and hypertension, and improve our likelihood to enjoy time with our family and friends.
I heard an interesting podcast recently about weight gain in new circumstances. The speaker was talking about weight gain during the first year of college, the so called “freshman 15” or 15 pounds of weight gain often seen the first year of college. Only he was talking about the “Covid 19” and the weight people are putting on while cooped up with too much time, food and alcohol. Now that we are through the first blush of this new normal, it’s time to take a look at what we can do to emerge as fit and strong as possible.
One of the major things we can do is to take a personal inventory of where we are with our weight and plot a course towards improved weight and health. What we do now rapidly improves our body’s immune function as well as weight loss and maintenance. I commonly see diabetes improve within days of beginning a reduced carbohydrate plan. Days! Not weeks or months, but days! This is one example of many – what we do today, even cooped up inside, can be a positive contributor to our well-being and that of our families. So feel good about the positive changes. Take this time to pick one or two things to work on and then repeat! Lastly, let’s all use this time to work on the things that we now have time to focus on – our health and our relationships.
Dr. Rick Lindquist, MD
LEVL Medical Advisor