The Covid-19 pandemic caused the entire world to go under lockdown. People were quarantined inside their homes for long periods of time as all human activity came to a standstill.
Quarantine Weight Gain Stories!
Work-from-home became the new way of working, changing people’s lifestyle and habits. Emerging out of quarantine many people are now seeing an increase in their body weight.
Why did people gain weight?
- Lack of physical activity
Once shut inside their own homes, people’s levels of daily activity dropped significantly. This even includes a cut down on their commute to their workplaces owing to work-from-home. Gyms, parks, yoga studios etc. were all closed leaving people with no space but the confines of their houses for any physical movement. This caused a severe lack of mobility and exercise. It is no news that when the body doesn’t get enough movement, people gain weight.
- Food trends
One thing that people turned to when in lockdown was trying out new food recipes from around the world. Social media feeds were full of food pictures with some recipes becoming worldwide trends such as Dalgona coffee and mug-cakes. People learnt to cook all their favourite meals at home from burgers to pizzas and tacos. Consequently, people’s calorie intake increased and coupled with little or no exercise it lead to them gaining weight.
- Stress
With everything that was happening around the world, a lot of people underwent severe stress and often stress causes weight gain. Under stress, a lot of people’s appetites increase drastically and they begin overeating. They mostly turn to comfort foods such as chocolates, chips etc. that unfortunately have little or no nutritional value and a lot of unhealthy fats and sugar that make them gain weight quickly.
How to lose quarantine weight?
- Eat home-cooked food
Now that the world is opening up again people want to go to their favourite food joints and indulge in their favourite food items. However, if your intention is to lose all that extra quarantine weight, then you should avoid eating out as much as possible. When you cook food at home it is much healthier and helps you lose weight.
- Walking and climbing
Try walking to places that are not too far away. If your place of work is nearby, leave home a little early and walk over there instead of taking a bus or a cab. This way you do not have to take out special time for a dedicated workout but you will still be shedding the weight. When you have an option between taking an elevator and the stairs, always choose to climb up the stairs. Your body needs this sort of physical activity to lose the quarantine weight.
- Join a fitness programme
Now that gyms, fitness studios, yoga classes etc. are opening up, there is no better way to reduce all that weight gained by sitting at home. Once you pay for a fitness programme you would be compelled to attend it every day. Fitness programmes have specialized trainers who know what your body needs and can help you manage your weight in a healthy manner. They even help you monitor your diet according to your individual needs.
- Watch what you buy
When you go out grocery shopping pay attention to what you purchase. Try getting more fruits, vegetables and other healthy food items instead of unhealthy packaged food that have no nutritional value such as biscuits, ready to eat noodles, chips, beverages etc. If you don’t see all these things when you are hungry you will automatically switch to picking up the healthier options available at the moment. This way you can save yourself from putting on any more weight. Instead, the fruits and veggies will only aid your weight loss.
Staying locked up inside one’s home is a guaranteed way of gaining weight. While it was unavoidable during the worldwide lockdowns, things are opening up now. Many people have gained weight during quarantine but there are many ways that can help them shed it. Being a little mindful of one’s eating habits can go a long way. Choosing stairs over elevators, walking to places when possible, purchasing less junk food and more fruits and vegetables are just some of the small lifestyle changes and habits that will go a long way in one’s weight loss journey.