My Journey With Weight Loss – Impact of the Pandemic

Another good training session this morning and now I am looking forward to upping my intervals next week. Strangely I just wrote that without sarcasm which had you asked me 3 months ago when I started my training I would have told you it was laced with sarcasm. Apparently I am getting better at this interval training and my strength and endurance are both improving.

So let’s talk about the pandemic. A little over a year ago I was in Mexico as the borders were being shut down. Talk about panic and fear that I wasn’t going to be able to get home. Of course when I did arrive home it was self-isolation for 2 weeks and then our Province did a quasi-lockdown for a month. Even when the restrictions were lifted my siblings and I decided that due to their health issues we just really needed to stay home. That has meant that we have basically stayed in self-isolation for more than a year. This combined with my husband not being able to come home from his job has put a lot of anxiety on all of us. I have written several times about my improving mental health throughout this journey and this could seem to be inconsistent with being isolated. The truth is I have found ways to avoid letting this pandemic impact my mental health.

What did I do? I started with reaching out to find volunteer work that I can do safely from my home. That led me to calling isolated seniors each week which is hugely fulfilling. I will note that currently I have picked up additional volunteer work doing taxes for low income seniors which I am told after each call how appreciated it is. The downside to this one is seeing the small amount of income some of these seniors live on. Never the less, it is hard to let the pandemic get to you when you are helping others.

Of course the next thing I did was to start walking. I know I have mentioned that I walk along the promenade at our beach but when I initially started walking it was all over the City I live in. What I found interesting was even though I have lived here all of my life, I saw things I had never seen before especially regarding the beauty of this City. I was thrilled one evening out on a walk when I witnessed a small wedding on a front lawn with all the attendees socially distanced (this one really put a smile on my face). But then I decided to try walking to the beach, something I had avoided because it means walking up a steep hill to get back home. Once I conquered my fear of being able to do it I was able to spend months doing walks along our promenade every day. There is just something about seeing the people, hearing the ocean and breathing in the salt water that just makes you feel better. I am getting a little impatient about starting those walks again as the weather improves.

There are a couple other things that have helped ease the impact of the pandemic on my mental health. One is having pets. Yes, this is a pet loving house with 3 cats and 2 dogs and they can do wonders to lift your spirits when things seem a little dark. Moreover, having a young dog means regardless of the weather I have to take her for a long walk each day or she has too much energy and will destroy our house. The second is the fact that I have now received my first vaccine. Don’t get me wrong, I know that being vaccinated does not mean anything will change in my life right now, it just relieves some of the mental pressure of hearing the numbers of COVID cases continuing to increase.

The bottom line is this pandemic has been hard on most people. However, you can find ways to prevent it from bringing you down. I know I am glad that I did because if I hadn’t I don’t think I would be where I am today, strong and healthy.