Gaining weight during the COVID-19 lockdown

I weighed myself for the first time in a long time yesterday, and I was pretty shocked at what I saw.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I’ve been working from home the whole time.

Like a lot of people my regular wardrobe has changed to more casual and stretchy clothes, so I didn’t really notice that I was putting on weight. My polo shirt and stretchy shorts were hiding a multitude of sins, including the fact that my waistline and belly were both slowly growing!

It makes me ashamed to admit this but in the last three months, since the COVID-19 restrictions were brought in, I’ve put on around 20kg (around 3 stones) in weight!

Needless to say, that is not good!

It’s down to combination of these factors:

• I’m eating a lot more – Being at home all day, I have easier access to food. I’ve been grazing a lot during the day. And without the disapproving looks of my colleagues to moderate my eating activity, I’ve been snacking on treats throughout the day!
• I’m active less – When I was commuting to the office, I was cycling a 7 km each way, which amounted to about 60 minutes moderate activity a day. I’m not doing that any more. I’m still walking the dogs, but overall my activity levels have dropped significantly.
• I’m on medication – I don’t know how much of a contributing factor this is, but I recently started on some drugs that list weight gain as a side effect.

Of course the food thing is probably the most significant factor, and it’s the one that I need to address first. I need to stop eating all the snacks, starting now! After all, I can’t go on gaining weight until I get my surgery. That’s not a good idea on so many levels!

The weight I’ve gained in the last while is already affecting my quality of life right now, but more than that, it’s also making the upcoming bariatric surgery potentially more dangerous!

The heavier I am, the most risks there are with having a general anesthetic. And I’m sure it also would make the surgery itself more difficult.

I should remember all of that the next time I reach for a snack or treat.