Now that most states have asked people to stay home, many currently have more time on their hands. Some have found the time to do things that they have been longing to try, including cooking and baking. And as most people engage in their hobbies, some are distancing themselves from the kitchen for fears of gaining weight. The quarantine has given birth to a new debate – should you worry about quarantine weight gain?
Experts believe that it shouldn’t. COVID-19 is something to worry about. Our future is uncertain, so thinking about weight gain should be the least of our priorities. You have to accept that you have a lot on your plate right now – unemployment, an impending economic crisis, and the safety of your children. These are all valid concerns. And when you add your weight to these concerns you are only causing yourself undue stress. Here are some of the reasons why quarantine weight gain should be the least of your worries right now:
Groceries are Lacking in Supply
While you may have a plan to eat healthy by grabbing fresh fruits and vegetables when you do your grocery run, the truth of the matter is, it is hard to do. Some grocery stores do not have an adequate supply of the healthy food items you would want your family to have. Your choice now boils down to what is available to feed yourself and your family. Right now, it is hard to choose the best.
Exercise Is Not Enough
You may browse your social media and see your friends doing home exercises and feel guilty. You should not. You should understand that exercise alone cannot help you shed the weight. Often, when you engage in intense sweat exercises, you unconsciously compensate for it by eating more. For example, a 30-minute run can help you lose at least 280 to 300 calories, depending on your weight. If you, however, indulge yourself in a protein bar afterward, your effort goes down the drain. While exercising has pronounced health benefits, exercise alone does little to impact the scale.
Take a Cue from Your Body
Perhaps one of the most overlooked facts about our body is how smart it is. If you would only learn to listen to your body, it can give you clues on when it needs to eat and drink or when it needs to move or rest. Most individuals fail to take a cue and watch for these signals. Once you take time to listen, you would realize that the less movement you make, the less energy your body consumes, the less calories you need to eat.
What You Can Do Instead
If you are following the news on the SARS-CoV-2 virus, then you know that the dreaded Coronavirus has significant effects on the vulnerable sectors of the community, such as those diagnosed with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The same conditions that are highly related to diet and lifestyle. That said, you should still try to lead a healthy lifestyle as much as possible without worrying about your weight. Here’s what you can do instead:
Think Twice About Grazing
While you are at home, it can be tempting to continually snack on food while you are mindlessly doing your tasks or working from home. Once you know how much you should eat in a day, it would be easier for you to understand your hunger and fullness cues. According to Cutting Calories, three meals a day is the ideal count. You should allow yourself to experience comfortable fullness and moderate hunger levels.
Gauge Your Hunger
Once you identify your fullness levels, you will gain a better understanding of how hungry you should be to allow yourself to eat again. You should be able to determine the level where you can be moderately hungry. This way, you never push yourself to binge eat so that you can fulfill your hunger with comfortable fullness.
Deal with Emotional Hunger
Comfort foods are called such for a reason. Sometimes, we give in to eating not because we are hungry but because it is comforting. As much as possible, you should learn to divert your attention so that you don’t succumb to emotional eating.
Adapt Your Meals
If it is too difficult for you to buy healthy foods, then you should experiment on cooking meals and tweaking the ingredients to include food items that you have in your inventory. This way, you can skip the canned goods and still eat healthily.
Get Moving
While at home, you don’t have to stress about not engaging in intense HIIT workouts, but you have to make sure that you get moving. There are various ways that you can sweat it out at home.
Stressing about your quarantine weight gain will not do you any good. Instead of worrying too much about it, use the quarantine time to assess your life and health goals and plan on how you can work toward them.