Accidentally On Purpose, or How the Stay at Home Order Set the Stage for a Successful Weight Loss Plan

Let’s talk about our relationship with food for a minute.

2020 has been one heckuva ride. This pandemic has pushed us to use our strengths, but it has also often resulted in the overuse of our crutches. Snacking to deal with stress or boredom, unwinding with drinks every night, and not having the typical regimen due to routine changes has been a real hurdle for many. Some of us have found ourselves with more time than before but perhaps lost for how to spend it and for others it has been a constant juggle to keep up. Or most probably, some combination of the two. Whether you are on the stationary bench or the spinning teacup in the carousel of life this year, we are all ready to get off and enjoy the rest of the park.

While I enjoy movement, most of what I’ll be sharing in the next few entries is about food. Chances are the stay at home order brought to light some insight into your eating and drinking habits. Non essential workers may have found themselves at home, and in much closer proximity to the fridge and pantry. Boredom, stress, depression, and less accountability (ie sitting in your jammies on the couch instead of at your desk surrounded by peers) make it easier to over eat and over drink, a recipe for weight gain.

The reality, folks, is that getting the change we want to see is more about our relationship with food than our relationship with the gym. You can sweat out 4-500 calories a day, but if you eat or drink 1000 more a day than you should, you will gain a pound a week. It’s nothing personal darling, it’s just math.

Everyone’s quarantine situation is different. We ended up leaving Ohio mid-March and went to Florida for ten weeks. If you stuck around for this next sentence, I appreciate your forgiveness (and/or curiosity) as it seems Florida has not been the go-to state for Covid protocol. But I digress. To be more specific, we went to a remote island in southwest Florida, accessible only by boat. From a food perspective, living remotely with no local restaurants or stores we almost completely avoided takeout or any kind of fast food. It just wasn’t available. A conservative estimate would be 207 out of our 210 meals were all prepped at home. We trekked to the mainland and shopped once per week for all we needed. No donut runs. No quick stops for burgers and fries because we were out doing errands or too tired to make lunch.

This situation totally overhauled how I looked at food. It became a Level 1 problem to solve rather than 3 or 4. The ability to just make a quick grocery run was gone. Everything had to be planned in advance. We had nine people in our quarantine unit, most of them kids: my husband and I, both our moms, our three boys, and our niece and nephew. It was sometimes stressful (Kids! Do NOT waste that milk!!) but what I didn’t realize was that while I thought I was in survival mode, I was actually putting together a successful program.

Were all the meals clean? Not completely. We baked. We made pizza. There were snacks. During any stressful situation like quarantine, food is linked to morale and we enjoyed a balance of healthy and fun foods to keep us sane. Alcohol, at least for me, was being consumed.

The bigger question: Did we lose weight? Yes and no.

I did not. I maintained homeostasis, which was my goal. A ‘push is a win’ philosophy helped! I made caloric adjustments to match my output. But we are not here to talk about my plan today.

The real story here is that my husband lost 20 pounds. 20! Two holy moly zero in just ten weeks. The reality is this pandemic may have saved his life.

In 2017, he was diagnosed with fatty liver. In 2019, we found out that he was prediabetic. His doctor told him he had to lose 10-15% of his body weight or he’d likely die young. That is awful to hear and we were scared. Motivation for change was at an all time high. But life, stress, long work hours and access to unhealthy foods kept his progress at a snail’s pace. It was frustrating.

Coming home much lighter, he had his bloodwork studied again. After the ten weeks everything was completely turned around across the board. I’m very proud of him- and myself for helping him get there. He had high cholesterol, was prediabetic, and had fatty liver and all of it- all of it -turned around in 10 weeks because he was diligent and stuck to my plan.

But let’s get real for a moment: we were in a bubble. Our situation was unique. I had full control of everything he ate. If we didn’t have it in the house, or the ingredients to make it, we didn’t eat it. He likes to joke that some people get quarantined with a chef, a masseuse, or a musician- he was quarantined with a personal trainer. Ha! I’m not Jillian Michaels, but I’m persistent, he was congenial about it, he complied, and it worked.

While our location was uncommon- the ability to replicate it anywhere across the world IS completely doable. You CAN limit what is in your house. You CAN hold yourself accountable. You CAN stop making quick fast food stops because it is easy. You CAN eat some of the foods you enjoy and have still results!

I am beyond excited to share what worked for him in the hope that it might work for someone else too. The next blog post will go into more detail as to exactly what we ate, how often we moved, and some key points that you can implement at home. Remote island not needed, I promise.

If you are ready for change and to get real about your relationship with food, I am happy to help. You are worth it!

With love,