Health Improvements or Deterioration under Restrictionss

[Pellice]

I'm curious as to whether anyone's experience with physical well-being has changed in the past 4 months or so. My rather unexpected experience has been with alcohol.

I used to drink one beer per day, very rarely two, and really enjoyed it. But when the quarantines and lockdowns began, I stopped drinking entirely. I didn't want to deal with any more retail than I had to, I didn't want to gain weight due to confinement, and I didn't want to start drinking anything additional. I knew I'd be doing more cooking, housecleaning, and gardening, and those are activities I often enjoyed with a beer, so better to do without than add more.

I didn't have an issue with quitting, but I did miss a beer - and still do. My discovery was, after a couple of months, that I felt *slightly* different - better, more energetic, and I still do. I wonder if it were the elimination of that single beer? I can't think of what else it would be - I'm probably exercising less.

But I still miss a drink! Last night I made an excellent lemon garlic shrimp dish and thought it would be great with some wine or beer. But, I think I'm feeling vaguely "better" without alcohol.

Has anyone else experienced health impacts, good or bad, from the restrictions? Less fast food? Less or more careful diet?

 

[harllee]

I am still drinking my one glass of wine in the evening. However, I am getting more aerobic exercise. I love riding my bike but at normal times the roads around my house are too busy to ride. Since Covid-19 there is such less traffic so I am riding my bike much more and really enjoying it.

DH has an autoimmune disease (psoriatic arthritis) that he has had most of his adult life which is well controlled by medications, one of which is Humira, a biologic. As a consequence of the disease and the medication he is much more likely to catch diseases (like Covid-19). So we have been extra careful--not going out, doing curbside groceries and restaurants, seeing friends and family only at a distance or on Zoom, etc. As a consequence DH has been feeling much healthier--none of his normal colds, stomach bugs, etc. We are learning that DH should not be going out in public like we use to in order for him to stay healthy even once this virus is gone. It will be quite an adjustment for us since we are both big extroverts.

 

[MRG]

During the stay at home I was watching saturated fat as my last lipid panel sucked. I started logging my food into MFP to see what was causing the problem. As a result I've lost 12 pounds and feel great. I had a phlebotomy just before the stay at home and feel awesome as a result too. I can't take BP meds anymore and have more way more energy.

OP we stopped having alcohol last September and just recently added a couple drinks some days. No joke I sleep better without any.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Harley, do you both intend to stay home as a new way of life?

 

[tmm99]

I haven't been exercising much at all (I was an avid volleyball player until mid-March), and it looks like all the muscles I used to have on my legs and stomach have disappeared; I'm now a flabby mess and am sure that's not a good thing.

On the other hand, the lockdown gave me an opportunity to reassess what I've been doing out of inertia, realize what's important in my life and focus more on them while mercilessly dropping the rest of the crap (people included). It's a type of mental spring cleaning I've been going through, and I think that's a good thing for my mental health.

 

[harllee]

Harley, do you both intend to stay home as a new way of life?

Certainly during Covid-19 we will remain extra cautious no matter how long it takes. After that--I don't know. We had always gone out to many events, parties, etc with large crowds and I am now finding out now DH suffered because of it. We are just now realizing how often he was sick from some infection, he thought it was the psoriatic arthritis or a side effect of his medicine. But now that we have been home for 4 months he is overall feeling so much better-- and we are figuring out he was pretty much constantly sick from an infection, often not enough to put him to bed (except he was terribly sick with the flu 2 winters ago) but enough to make him feel run down and yucky much of the time. I am a very healthy 68 year old and I guess I could still do things without him but I might bring diseases home and frankly I would not have much fun without him anyway.

I expect many peoples lives are going to be permanently changed.

 

[Amethyst]

I've been exercising at home every day and haven't gained weight. Nevertheless, without the strength training machines I used at the gym, I've lost muscle mass and roundness. It's scary how fast it goes...reminds me of when my arm was in a cast a few years ago, except this is all over. There is loose skin on my knees, elbows, and shoulders that wasn't there before the shutdown.
I really want to get back to the gym, yet that one visit where I was the only masked patron scared me off.

 

[tmm99]

I expect many peoples lives are going to be permanently changed.

I agree. As you see things you didn't see before (ex. DH's condition), I see things I didn't see before as well because of the restriction. And even if the restrictions are eased, my life has changed forever, and hopefully for the better.

 

[jollystomper]

My weight is down several pounds and has been closer to the low end of my desired range. My eating stayed about the same, maybe less. I did focus a lot more on snacking more on fruits, and keeping my added sugar intake well below the daily recommended levels.

While golf courses were closed, to counter the gym I would do about an hour of aerobics and hour plus of walking. With golf back that has definitely lowered my weight, due to both walking the course and not being very hungry during or after playing.

Not lifting weights 3 times a week I have lost a little muscle definition, and I want to get back to that. Fortunately my wife still thinks I look good .

I have my annual physical coming up in a couple of weeks, so I will see what my doctor has to say.

 

[rk911]

despite the excess snacking i engaged in between the official start of the Arizona lockdown in mid-March and my semi-annual doc visit last week here at home i actually lost 8-lbs.

in early April while still in AZ i had a bout of peripheral double vision. 4-docs in 5-days, a CT-scan at a local ER in Mesa, an MRI at another facility in Mesa and two blood draws (all normal) told me what it wasn't. but one of the 4-docs was an opthamologist who was comfident that this was diabetes related and would correct itself in a fee weeks. it did.

i'm hoping my life can get back close to normal soon. the thing i miss the most are dinner and a movie with my wife and our semi-regular breakfasts and lunches with my buds.

 

[sengsational]

Fewer beers, for sure. Better disposition, I think, due to more introspection (Stoicism course and readings, more meditation). It's interesting to step outside myself and notice the triggers for a beer. Sometimes it's an environmental cue and other times it's just thirst or hunger or both. Very easy to continue eating one meal per day. Sleeping better. I never did much in the way of exercise, but have had some lifting, bending, squatting labor that, rather than just burn calories, resulted in a health improvement "appliance" that is proven to improve innate immune response. And even after blowing through dough on that, I still have travel money to blow. And right now I'm typing this at 12,500 feet of altitude with an SPO2 in the mid 70's. But not to worry, I'll be back to 98% as soon as I get done with this post.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Harley, that’s too bad about your husband catching everything. We both are extroverted also. Locally all our festivals, etc have been cancelled this year. Huge loss to our economy. Burning man alone was a loss of 61 million. We belong to a few groups that have canceled events. We will go back once they start up again.

 

[samm]

.....the lockdown gave me an opportunity to reassess what I've been doing... realize what's important in my life and focus more on them while mercilessly dropping the rest of the crap (people included). It's a type of mental spring cleaning I've been going through, and I think that's a good thing for my mental health.

+1 Well said.

Lockdown provides good excuse to avoid face-face meetings that I would prefer not to have which makes me feel better.

 

[Boose]

Since I've been (barely) w*rking from home, I've had time to prepare whatever I want for lunch - didn't affect my recent blood panel, which was healthy as usual, but I enjoy the change from eating frozen meals in the windowless break room at my job. It's gonna be hard to go back to Lean Cuisine for my last few months.

Husband and I have been doing a yoga video at least 2x/week, where I was doing it maybe 1x/every 2 weeks before the pandemic. It turns out that you gain a lot more flexibility and strength when you practice yoga regularly! Hiking has been easier as a result.

 

[W2R]

Health Improvements or Deterioration under Restrictions

I lost four pounds during the ten weeks or so at home, before my area started "opening up". Instead of eating out, we were staying home and not going anywhere; I was eating whatever I had in my pantry and freezer. No fresh foods, lots of salty canned foods. Also I wasn't getting as much exercise as I did previously. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs, so no changes there.

When I went to my doctor last week for a routine checkup, he was happy with my blood test results except he wants me to get my triglycerides down. He scheduled my next routine diabetic checkup for six months from now, whereas before he had had me on an "every-three-months" short leash for checkups.

So I guess my health slightly improved, overall? I feel like it's a mixed bag.

 

[Chuckanut]

On the other hand, the lockdown gave me an opportunity to reassess what I've been doing out of inertia, realize what's important in my life and focus more on them while mercilessly dropping the rest of the crap (people included). It's a type of mental spring cleaning I've been going through, and I think that's a good thing for my mental health.

+1

Totally agree. This lockdown has made even more aware of what is important (friends, experiences, time) and what is not so important. I have been a fan of the 7 Habits ever since I read Covey's book. One thing that I got out of it was that our time is limited so why in the world do anything that isn't important even if somebody tells me it is urgent. There are more than enough important things (urgent and non-urgent) to do in life. Especially in retired life. But, it's also easy for me to get side tracked by unimportant urgent stuff and even unimportant non-urgent stuff.

One goal this year is to clear out the junk (physical, mental, emotional, etc.) that absorbs time and keeps me from doing important things.

Now, if I can just get my kids to get their junk out of my home.

 

[harllee]

One thing I discovered during the stay at home was that I had too many things scheduled. So I have been slowly weeding out some of my commitments. Specifically I was on the Board of Directors for a nonprofit that I love (I had been on the Board for years) but I just was not not the same wave length as the Chairman--most everything he did left my frustrated. So last week I resigned. They have already asked me to come back but I have been honest and said I just cannot work with the Chairman and I told them to contact me in the future if there was a change in the Board make up. I feel relieved.