Even though we started off this lockdown with good intentions, somewhere in between maintaining our safety and preventing the spread of the virus many of us lost track of our health. When you’re already in a state of boredom, irritability, and dismal, resorting to comfort eating might only seem natural. After a busy day working from home, and your kitchen is just a few steps away, getting a quick snack might feel only right.
But make no mistake, all this mindless eating and drinking will only lead to unnecessary weight gain during this lockdown, especially as the days go on. In this article, we’ll be discussing why you are putting on excess weight during this lockdown and what you can do to get back in shape.
Why Should You Lose Weight?
When you gain unnecessary weight, it exposes you to a wide range of problems, related to your health and wellness. It increases the risk of having high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, back pain, and some types of cancer.
According to the National Health Service (NHS) of the U.K, the overweight people can get many health benefits by losing even a small fraction (5%) of their weight. Regular exercise, consumption of green supplements, a healthy dietary plan, and a little bit of commitment can help you lose weight for the better.
When it comes to losing weight, choosing the right diet plan to follow or deciding on what green supplements to take might be hard. You can check out the True Health Diary reviews on Green Supplements to get a better understanding of what you will need.
Why are You Gaining Excess Weight during Lockdown?
To eat and drink until your appetite is full might seem like the right thing to do especially in stressful circumstances like the lockdown, but excessive food intake is never a good thing for your health.
According to research conducted by the British Obesity Society (BOS), a couple of reasons for gaining weight during the lockdown are – less physical activity, lack of productivity, more indulgent food choices, dullness, fatigue, and lack of exercise.
Stress Eating for Comfort
Many of us are facing stressful situations due to the outbreak. We are having to take care of our businesses and establishments while constantly worrying about our friends and family. Due to these constant unsettling circumstances, we are resorting to consuming food for comfort.
But this fleeting comfort of eating too much food will not help us in the long run. That’s why you should always consider seeking healthier self-care practices rather than comfort eating.
Lack of Exercise
Because of staying home all day due to the pandemic, many of us are exercising less than before. We are staying in bed or on the couch all day and, in turn, losing interest in doing any intense physical activity. Without proper exercise, we are gaining weight & becoming clumsy and fatigued.
Boredom
Staying home all day may make you bored and you find yourself in the kitchen going through the fridge looking for snacks. These things often tend to increase as the days go by until one day you realize that you have gained unexpected weight.
In a situation like this, it is always prudent to distract yourself by doing something productive or engaging in something interesting.
Lack of Productivity and Routine
The daily activity starting from waking up at a regular time, taking shower to dress up, and going for a walk, have kept you healthy and fit for all these years.
But under recent circumstances, when your usual routine is no longer the same, you lack productivity. Which, in turn, increases your body weight.
Lack of Access to Healthier Foods
One of the main reasons why you might be gaining unnecessary weight during the lockdown is not getting access to all the healthy foods that usually is a part of your dietary plan.
The fruits and veggies, frozen and canned tin food items that have nutrient-filled ingredients are not being accessible under the current situation. That is why you are leaning on having to order takeout and delivery, consuming too much alcohol, and munching on snacks and other complex carbs.
Depression & Lack of Communication
Due to this sudden lockdown, many of us have isolated ourselves from the rest of the world, and many of us are showing signs of depression because of this isolation. Since we are unable to keep in touch with our loved ones, we are eating, drinking, and snacking more than we should.
How Can You Get Back in Shape?
The pandemic has changed our day to day lives and many of us have become rather lazy, inconsiderate towards our health, and picked up bad eating habits.
When everything is said and done, one question remains. How can you take control and get back in shape while adjusting to the drastic change during the lockdown?
Change the Narrative
Instead of thinking that the lockdown has changed everything, look at it as an opportunity to lose weight. You can turn this situation around and adjust to the changes that the pandemic has brought by implementing healthier lifestyle choices.
Shop Smarter
When you shop, it’s better to make a list of all the things that you would like to eat in the next 2-3 weeks to avoid unhealthy snacking and impulse food buys. That’ll help you to maintain control of your groceries and overall food intake.
When buying groceries, stock up on nutritious food like canned beans, tomatoes, whole grains, and other frozen veggies.
Make Your Dietary Plan
As you’re not having to do heavy-duty activities, eating more carbs will only lead to excessive weight gain. At dinner, avoid eating high carb foods like bread, rice, potato, etc. It’s imperative to avoid eating late and sleeping right after.
Your dietary plan should include having meals at a certain time since body metabolism works better when nutritious food is taken in a timely manner. If you plan your diet properly it’ll save you from mindless snacking and other unhealthy meal choices.
Limit Your Calories
If you limit your food intake to low carb and maintain a proper diet, your weight will reduce over time. You have to keep tabs on how much you eat during the day and at what intervals. You also have to make sure you’re fulfilling your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals.
Balance Your Diet & Focus on Easy Meals
Instead of snacking unhealthy foods which will lead to unwanted weight gain in the future, try to eat healthy meals, and balance your diet. Try eating nutritious food that is light instead of deep-fried. Avoid processed snacks that are high on sodium.
Fresh fruits, veggies, and delicious salads are the way to go as they’re easy to process. You should also focus on making easy meals at home so that you don’t impulse order food from outside.
Boost Your Metabolism Rate
If you want to lose weight at a faster pace then you will have to boost your metabolism. If your body has a slow metabolism rate it’ll digest food and burn calories slowly resulting in weight gain. You need to stay hydrated, eat more protein, and sleep at least 8 hours a day to increase your metabolism.
Increase Your Productivity
Staying home for a long time has lowered your productivity level subsequently, you have to increase that level by staying active for getting back to shape. You can try doing chores that make you sweat and burn calories. You can also improvise and use your surroundings to get a quick workout and increase productivity.
Exercise Regularly
If you had an existing workout routine before the lockdown started, you should stick to it. If you didn’t, then now is the time to try out different workout techniques that will help you shed the excess weight.
You can do many indoor workouts in the comfort of your bedroom or anywhere in your house where there is some open space, starting from push-ups or pull-ups to morning yoga or a long walk.
Monitor Your Progress
You need to keep track of all your workout activities, dietary plans, calorie intakes, and overall food consumption to better understand your current progress. If you follow up and monitor your progress regularly, you’ll have a clearer idea of what to do next.
Conclusion
While it might feel like the lockdown has impacted our lives changing it for the worse, there is actually a brighter side to this. We can take this situation as an opportunity to do better, and perform better.
It’s time to take control of our lives, evolve as individuals, and help contribute to society by doing our part. Losing excessive weight might seem daunting and unachievable at first, but with proper strategy and commitment, you can shed the excess pounds and get back to shape in no time.
