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973741 tn?1342342773

Corona Virus and Diet and Exercise routines

So, in my neck of the woods, we are cooped up.  We are to stay isolated.  Gyms are closed down and we aren't to go in situations in which there are multiple people.  What about you?  Is this impacting your exercise or diet routines?  How so?
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Avatar universal
I try to eat healthy food and do at least some exercises because I really miss this
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My gym started group exercise via Zoom.  So, many places hold virtual exercise classes right now.  I think our gyms will be opening back up in a week or two.  When do you think your area will open back up?  But the virtual class is a way to not feel by yourself when you do it. The only issue I had was kids walking in on me during it and laughing.  Sigh.  
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
I'm a little late to the party, but for anyone looking for indoor exercise/walking type things, you might take a look at YouTube for Leslie Sansone - she's got a lot of walking videos and you walk with her.  She does a variety of exercises along with simple walking in place, leg lifts, etc and gets the whole body going.  I actually dug out my DVD the other night and will probably start working on that in the coming days.

We have a stay at home order here, too, but we're still allowed to get out and exercise - walk, run and even play golf, etc so long as social distancing is practiced.   I've been walking every day, but I'm losing my walking partner tomorrow morning so I'll be on my own, too.   I do have  a treadmill and was going to sell it, but I'm thinking I might hang on to it now as I can use it during the summer when it's too hot to walk outside.  

As for food - we've only been out for groceries a couple of times... the stores aren't stocked all that well and what produce there is, is quite expensive.  I do have frozen fruit and veggies in the freezer so can get by for a while, but the frozen food section of the store was nearly empty.

We, typically, have an abundance of fresh produce stands around here, but those aren't here this year and the main produce market we, typically go to is closed now.

I've actually kind of "gravitated" to the "not so good for me" types of food that my husband usually prefers, which includes a lot of sandwiches, pizza and other junk simply because I'm tired of trying to figure out what to cook...  :-)

In spite of not eating all that well, I've not gained any new weight recently, but neither have I managed to lose any of the weight I gained last spring on one of our trips up north...

My sleeping pattern will be changing with my neighbor leaving, so that might change my eating pattern, as well.  It can't get much worse, so it's bound to get better.

~~Stay safe and wash your hands~~
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Do you have a smart phone, Barb?  I lost my walking partner as well and wondered if I'd be entertained.  But I discovered the world of podcasts.  I don't really do the 'talk show' types but like the episodes that are about a specific subject.  I have a whole list of ones I've listened to that I can recommend as 'good' from my perspective.  I listened to one on Jeffrey Epstein who I knew some things about but wow, it was pretty interesting and one on Princes Dianna just recently.  lol  I search up "best podcasts" and get my list of ones to try and they are all free.  There is one I got my husband listening to also which is business wars---  takes two companies and the history of how they battled it out.  Sounds boring but is super interesting for some reason.  All of the behind the scenes things for brands and companies we all know.   I also have listened to books on tape---  audiobooks when I use my phone.  I have to pay for those usually though.  

I get groceries delivered two times a week.  I am so bummed as I got a delivery yesterday, have a stocked frig and our power went out last night and stayed out for 17 hours (just came on a bit ago).  Sigh  Frozen seems still in good shape but just not sure about things like that pack of chicken I was going to make tonight.  Kids won't mind, that means I'll probably do carry out tonight.  Which is like a huge treat right now.  but I hate to throw any food away!  And hate to have to go to the grocery to replace anything.  And delivery is about a week out here for food.  Big pain.

That's good you aren't gaining.  Nice to lose but you know . . .  gotta go with the positive.  I haven't gained during this either.   I was losing a bit but that has slowed as I found I am enjoying the night time sweet treat again.  :>)  Oh well.  I gotta look forward to something, right . . .
Hi there...
Yes, I do have a smart phone.  I have a radio app, as well as my own playlist that I listen to when I'm mowing the grass, etc. and I used to listen to that when I was using my treadmill before.  It's just boring because there's nothing to look at like there is outside.  :-)  When I'm walking outside, I can marvel at how "springy" everything is or check out all the birds in the trees, flowers in people's gardens, etc - no end of things to see.   Too bad I can't put my treadmill outside; I'd spend hours on it...  :-)

I didn't really think about podcasts though; that's a good idea and I do have an app that's in our van that allows me to listen on my phone as well.  Only problem is that one's not free so if you can let me know what site you find yours at, I'd appreciate it.

We've never done grocery delivery... we don't live right in a city so it's not as easy for us.  

I'm so sorry to hear about your power going off just when you stocked your fridge... what a bummer that is.   I'd hate to throw out a pack of chicken, too, but I'd be kind of leery if the power was off for 17 hrs unless it might have been slightly frozen so it would have stayed "really" cold.  Anyway, if you decide to do take out tonight I hope it's something super good.  :-)

We actually did take out for lunch today - husband wanted chicken, which he usually doesn't like so we went to get some.   We ordered online, then went to pick it up.

Yes, I'm happy that I'm not gaining a lot - of course, my weight can fluctuate by 2-4 lbs over the course, of a day, but when I gain/lose that much, I know it's not fat, it's fluid.  :-)   Anyway, I do have about 8 lbs I need to lose just to get back to where I was last spring...

I'm with you on those evening sweets - not a good thing, but you're right - we need something to look forward to.   :-)
You might check the websites of the grocery stores nearest to you even if they aren't very close. Our "local" store is 7 miles from our house, and they have been delivering groceries and doing pick-up at the store for a year or more thanks to the "Shipt" software. (You don't need to look for Shipt, you just look at the grocery store's site and it's all integrated.) I'm ordering a big order once a week, and we go to the store and park in the designated spot at the designated time and they bring everything to the car and load it in. It's pretty nice.
Our largest grocery store, here, has Instacart for delivery.  There have been a lot of complaints about the service, lately.    We can go to our local Walmart SuperCenter and do pick up.  They've been doing that for a couple of years now.  
20895295 tn?1585904154
I am also staying at home & all the gyms here are closed & I can't go for running also. I am trying do some exercise at home to keep myself busy & fit but it a it tough to workout without equipment's.
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Yes, it certainly can be.  I enjoy my daily 'get outside' time for a walk!  Have you looked into things on youtube you can do at home?  HIIT work outs are of different levels and you don't need any equipment for most.  I've found some I really like.  You will get endless results if you look that up.  I put the computer on my table, back up and go for it.  Your body doesn't care what it does . . . even if you are sort of bored.  Just keep moving! :>)  
Yes I am doing the HIIT & LISS workout by watching YouTube videos & it is helping a lot.
I have tried some HIIT youtube videos as well.  I really like it because it is so fast.  I like a work out that accomplishes the mission in under 30 minutes.  I am not familiar with LISS.  I will look that up!
Avatar universal
But the real question, folks, is, how in heck do we find toilet paper?
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As dominosarah says, you know all those mismatched socks you have? There you go!
Avatar universal
I am lucky to live in an area where I can go running around the neighborhood and avoid coming close to any other people, and also lucky that happens to be my favorite exercise.  If we are told to stay inside, I guess I will have to switch to running on the treadmill (and I know I am incredibly lucky to have access at all times to a treadmill which hardly gets used because I run outside most of the time).

Being cooped up indoors is giving me more time to feel bad that I'm not doing nearly as much strength training as I should be (I get plenty of cardio), so I've started to make a spreadsheet of which exercises I do when I occasionally lift some light weights, since I tend to just do the same ones all the time.  So far it seems to be working and I'm trying to get in about 10 minutes a day.

As for impacting my diet - I've been food shopping once in the last week and a lot of the normal staples for me were not there (e.g. eggs, bagels, frozen veggies and fruit, potatoes, frozen ravioli, frozen meatballs, etc.).  I'm feeling stressed by the whole thing and bought a dozen donuts on clearance.  It has taken us several days to eat them, so I wouldn't say I have binged, just not something I would normally get and sometimes I like treats when I'm stressed out.

I'm still trying to eat fairly healthy foods.  I have a bagel for lunch every day.  I run in the mornings,  and I like to have a bagel after a run.  I only have one bagel left, but we have flour and a yeast packet, so I guess I will be making some bagels from scratch.  This is something I can do, but have not done in several years.  (I'm not saying bagel is a healthy food - just something that is a major part of my diet and something I would dearly miss if I had no access to. I can go a few days without a bagel, but my alternative favorite lunch is cheesy eggs or an omelet and that is currently out of the question because there were no eggs.)
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I would just say to others -- for you it's fine, you're a runner, when I was a runner I could burn off anything -- but a bagel is the highest food on the glycemic scale, even higher than eating those doughnuts perhaps.  Bagels turn into sugar in the body more quickly than almost any food and if you don't burn it off quickly will store as fat.  Here's a tip for healthy shopping -- if you go early in the morning, the stores are stocked to the gills with everything except toilet paper, which I can't find anywhere.  If you go later, the shelves get emptier and emptier.  And if you shop at health food stores, and most urban areas have not only a Whole Foods but also usually smaller chains as well -- you will find ample amounts of fresh produce and healthy products to eat.  What seems to be missing are frozen foods, especially ice cream and fake ice cream for whatever reason and frozen veggies and fruits, but fresh veggies are abundant if you're not picky and buy what's available.  What angered me though was to find out Whole foods decided to start closing an hour earlier without telling anyone, of course, and so my wife and I do our weekly shopping after 9PM at the local health food chain and then whatever we couldn't get there at Whole Foods.  I don't shop at supermarkets generally.  Well, Whole Foods was closed, and so we had to go again early this morning, which isn't good for me because I sleep in the daytime for reasons too complicated to go into.  Whether this lasts or not is anyone's guess.  I'm very conflicted about the price of destroying our economy so old folks like me can stay alive.  A dead economy kills more people than any disease, and it causes disease, and if supply chains get destroyed because of a prolonged closure of so many businesses it could lead to long-term problems for those who aren't wealthy.  At any rate, there is no lack of food, there's a lack of people delivering it and putting it on shelves.  So many Americans eat out a lot, and the same is true and even more so in Europe, that as more and more people have to shop and prepare food at home while restaurants go out of business and their employees starve it puts more and more pressure on grocery stores.  It's really hard to know what to do.  It hasn't affected my exercise because I'm so injured there's not much I can do anymore without a few surgeries, so I still walk and do a lot of physical therapy and some core building on the floor at home.  But you can do a heck of a workout at home using your body as resistance as people did in the olden days.  Push ups, crunches, planks and squats come in so many varieties that you can do them for hours without needing any equipment.  Yoga needs no equipment.  Martial arts forms need no equipment.  There's a lot one can do if one really wants to.  Peace to all in these very weird times.
Hi Sarahjogs, like your style my friend!  My son is a runner and he hasn't missed a beat.  He is out daily doing his runs and is doing a push up challenge via a chat group with his track team mates.  He's a little lonely running though and misses the companionship he had running with his team.  He was mentioning last night that it is harder to push himself alone.  He does the run but it just isn't quite as effective without his running group.  But no groups.  So, he's on his own.  We have shelter in place where I live in the whole state now and they do allow outdoors exercise like running.  Just keep your 6 foot distance and you should still be allowed.  Do you have a treadmill?  I don't.  Wish I did.  We were trying to get a weight set for our sons to bench and all that good stuff.  Hard to get that right now!  Everyone probably has the same idea since gyms closed!  For me, I'm old and my exercise routines are just shy of sad.  ha.  Working on it though .  I have a little mini trampoline that I am jumping and running on to get my heart rate up. It's just so boring!  I like to listen to podcasts and walk or do an exercise class.  I will go for a walk today.  Who knew that saying hello to people on the street would feel like a treat?!

I am on the corona diet.  ha.  But really, my food intake is different.  We have a very hard time getting meat here. I have two teenage sons and a husband that I give the meat to first.  I get a couple of bites at dinner.  I have some rolls I got and I LOVE bread items and would say it is a weak spot for me.  I have had none and only give it to my sons. I like vegetables okay but some things have been better than ever to me right now for some reason, maybe because everything feels like I'm lucky to have it?  But I had broccoli this week that was delicious and asparagus.  Ate more than I normally do.  I'm a little stressed so haven't been snacking because I'm not all that hungry and the kids are home to eat my secret stash of goodies.  ha.  So, honestly, I've lost a couple of pounds. I will say that I have a little stash of sweet treats to make the kids.  Once I do, then I'm sure I'll gorge out on it cause I'm one stressful moment away from eating everything in sight!  I do like bagels.  Interesting, our coaches regularly hit up the bakeries and get bagels and even loaves of french bread and the kids all are given this after practice if they want it.  Runners love bagels!  When my sons were in middle school, parents volunteered to pick the bagels up for the meets!  They'd eat them on the bus ride home. I can't eat a bagel without massive cream cheese.  Sigh.  But I love them too, really.  Please let me know how it goes if you make them from scratch!!  
I made a "bagel like food substance" on Sunday.  It has been a long time since I have made bagels (I'm guessing 7-8 years), and I didn't bother looking for my old recipe because I have no idea where it would be, and just used one online and oh boy I wish I hadn't.  Texture is too tight.  I'm not sure if it is because the bread flour was very old or if the recipe was just bad, or if it is because I used the KitchenAid mixer with dough hook instead of doing it all by hand which I used to.  It is a re-learning process.  I want to try again once they are gone and see if I can make a better bagel.  They are still edible and I'm slowly eating them, but luckily we were able to get more bagels from Krogers using pick-up (as well as eggs! so happy now!). So now I'm having one normal bagel and one bagel like food product a day.  (I did make a carrot parsnip soup from scratch last night, so it's not just bagels all day long for me.)

I never ran in high school, and started running recreationally in college once I started exercising to lose weight and then for mood control, so I've never run with a team and only rarely do I run with other people (in races, or very rarely I can convince a family member to run with me).  I need to listen to podcasts when I am running outside.  If I am running in a race or a very long run, I will listen to music while running.  I know podcasts aren't for everyone, but maybe your son could listen to something if he's used to just running with no music or podcasts and talking with his buddies.  That might help with the loneliness, but I have no idea what would help push harder when he's not running with his teammates.  Maybe now will be a good time to build a solid endurance base or just maintain fitness.  But I realize it is difficult if that is not something you are used to, and add on top of that the cancellation of track season, I can't imagine how hard that must be for student athletes.  

My niece is a senior in high school and now she's going to miss prom and probably graduation, and I feel so bad for the young people that are missing out on these momentous occasions (but I still feel like it was the right decision to start cutting down on social interactions - if it saves lives it will be worth it).

We do have a treadmill, and I will use it when it is raining very hard, too much snow or ice, or if it keeps raining and I get tired of rainy runs after 2-3 days in a row, or extremely cold temperatures (below 15 deg F now).  I have to distract my attention a lot on the treadmill, so even podcasts are not diverting enough and now I read books on my kindle while also changing the incline up and down every few minutes.  I also will try to work in weight lifting intervals if I'm stuck on the treadmill, but sometimes that doesn't work for me.

I live in Ohio, and we just started "Stay At Home" for the next few weeks.  But, we are still allowed outside for exercise purposes and I usually don't come near people on my morning runs, so it isn't going to change much for me unless we are told to not go outside at all for exercise anymore.  Today I had to dodge some dog walkers and make sure I stayed more than 6 feet away from them.  It will be interesting to see if things getting busier in my suburban neighborhood once things warm up a bit later this week.

I'm incredibly thankful that we are still allowed to run (or walk, hike, or bike ride) outside for exercise, I know some countries have forbidden that  On days I don't go running in the mornings, I have some extreme afternoon fatigue (I am supposedly at an adequate level of thyroid medication but I still get fatigue, but could be anemia related as well).  Running inside helps with the afternoon fatigue, but not to the same degree that getting outside and getting fresh air even if it is dark and cloudy does. Anyway, it makes a world of difference to me to get outside and run, it helps keep my mood in control and anxiety way down.

PS I almost always use a lot of whipped cream cheese on my bagels, sometimes I just do butter and a lot of honey (yes, I know neither of those things are "healthy", but they can be part of a balanced diet).  Krogers has been out of whipped cream cheese the last two times, so I have to settle for normal cream cheese, but, this is a very minor issue and not really something I can complain about when I am healthy and safe in my home.
I admire your dedication to staying fit!  Carrot parsnip soup sounds pretty delicious.  I am longing for soup as I make soup like once a week normally.  I have trouble finding ingredients for things and tend to just go to the store to get staple items.  I come home with a pack of chicken and then nothing to make an actual recipe.  Sigh.  It will be more normal soon for things like that.  I'm glad you are a cream cheese eater too.  :>)  And I like honey also.  I think lots of people have ideas about what is healthy but we all know ourselves and we are all different.  You sound both in great shape and a consciensous eater.  

I am sorry about your niece  Yes, I feel terrible for those graduating.  My sons are not in that boat but they trained all winter leading up to their spring track season.  Running and pushing 6 times a week.  They switched from speed to more stregnth running.  They are distance runners for the track team and one of my sons also runs cross country in the Fall and the other plays soccer.  Both require a lot of endurance. I feel bad for the kids that this was to be their last season of a high school sport.  I'll suggest the podcasts and music to them.  I think they are so mindful of having nothing in their ears for safety that they've not considered it before. But I have no problem to distraction.  Their runs have periods of having to watch their watch and speeding up, slowing down, doing progression runs, tempo runs, etc. All sorts of things maybe you understand and I'm like ,okay.  Sounds good.  lol  

Is your niece sad?  

Glad you got groceries!  I'm afraid to brave the store but will need to soon.  

I think my niece is handling it well, but it's got to be hard for her.

We did not get the salmon we ordered (they were out of it), but they had frozen tilapia so that is what we had tonight.

I did an interval run today, so I definitely know what you are talking about.  I am fortunately a slow runner and stay quite alert to my surroundings when I'm running, so I feel comfortable focusing on running and looking for traffic even while listening, but I think if you are going a lot faster and looking at pace on your watch, etc. it can be difficult, and some people don't feel safe at all listening.  

I think people should just do what they want, as long as they are staying safe. I always run facing traffic, I don't run along busy roads (or stick to sidewalks if I have to be on a busier road).  I have headphones that still let in outside noises and I can hear approaching vehicles behind me, and again I'm moving very slowly so the biggest threat is almost always dogs that get out of people's yards.  I do not outrun dogs.  I just stop and try to back away slowly.

The only time I have not felt safe recently while running was when we got some heavy snow the last mile of my run, and I was mesmerized by the snowflakes in front of my face making it hard to focus on the road and watch for cars coming, but that doesn't happen that often and now I'm aware it is a problem.
Ah, I can see that with the snow flakes!  My boys report they like to run in the falling snow but I think just because it isn't that much where we live. We had a very mild winner.  I'm in the southern part of Ohio, believe it or not.  Same state as you!  The weather from the northern part compared to the southern part are quite different!  I don't like the idea of their slipping though which is what I always worry about. Their biggest challenge with their training this season is massive rain!  One has sensory issues and rain bothers him as wet clothes almost feel painful to him.  No one likes it but that has been a trigger for meltdowns for him since he was 3 years old!  Luckily he deals with it now and just does his best.  He has run some of his most important cross country races in massive rain before.  :>)  He views it as good luck in a way even if he hates how he feels.  

Anyway, we ordered carry out tonight!  It was a treat for good grades for my sons as we got their 3rd quarter report cards today.  They got steak!  I got salad.  But it was nice to take the cooking pressure off.  I actually googled what I can make with pantry staples today because I am worried.  lol  

Dogs.  Well, I am a true dog lover.  My dog is my third child and I frankly adore her.  Like big love. BUT, I was bit in the face by a dog when I was 7 years old.  Three major sections of stitches and well over a hundred total.  Traumatic to say the least.  So, if a dog I don't know is acting at all aggressive, I have to fight what I normally have which is a fight or flight response.  I want to scream and run from them. Which has gotten me chased a few times.  I understand the fear of a dog coming at you and you handle it well.  

I feel great that I got out and walked today. The sun wasn't shining but it wasn't raining, so I'll take it.  It was almost 3 miles and I listed to one and a half pod cast episodes which I love to do.  I'm listing to one on Princess Diana right now. Very interesting.  :>)  

Hope your fish was good tonight!  
When I was still able to go the gym and when I had to resort to hiking rather than running or the elliptical machine and now the walks I take (tip -- if you run or walk at night there's nobody out to social distance from.  I always wonder, as a night person, why they always put curfews on at night in these epidemics when stores and restaurants that are open are not crowded instead of putting a curfew on during the daytime, when people are crowding everywhere) I have for years listened to NPR.  I've learned a ton listening to the various programs they have if you have an NPR station in your area that only does talk programs, as we have here.  Unlike TV, which was all Trump all the time and now is all Corona all the time, NPR has shows from all over that talk about all the things that are happening all over the world that TV doesn't really cover since Trump started running for Prez and soaked up all the coverage.  There's a lot going on out there.  Now, I have a very old Ipod which had a built-in FM radio which doesn't come with anything new, but I'm guessing there are Apps that bring you radio coverage on your phone or MP3 player.  Peace.
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