My Journey With Health And Fitness – Doing Everything To Stay Healthy

Yesterday my husband and I came home to find my sister had been shopping for the dogs. Turns out she managed to find 2 matching ugly Christmas sweaters for them (challenging because 1 is 7lbs and the other 25lbs). Strangely enough the dogs actually seem to like them and didn’t seem to mind that the sweaters jingle when they walk. They actually wore them for several hours yesterday including while out on a walk and looking like they were strutting a bit to show them off. We really need to take a picture of everyone (except of course the cats) wearing their ugly Christmas sweaters.

Yesterday one of the seniors in my walking group had texted to say that she might be late as her husband was in hospital and she wanted to drop in and visit him. They are both in their early eighties and while she is extremely healthy her husband has some health issues. Turns out he has the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). She has no idea how he came down with this or where he would have been exposed. They keep their circle pretty tight and always mask up. Fortunately, she seems to be fine and we are hoping she stays that way.

This got me thinking about everything I see on social media regarding vaccines and masking. Sometimes I see a post from someone advocating either of these and the attacks on them are not only instantaneous but also often full of disinformation and vitriol. I know some of this is caused by information found on the internet but sadly some of it is also via politicians and professionals. I saw a post this weekend about a 6 year old who had died likely from the flu and someone opted to post that it was her father’s fault for having the child vaccinated and that was what had killed them. I don’t understand what kind of person says something like that to a grieving parent but it just makes me more resolved in fighting all these viruses that are going around.

I have never stopped masking. Ok, if I am with a smaller group of people that I know then I won’t wear a mask. But, every store I go into, being someone with a lot of people I don’t know where I can’t practice social distancing or even riding in a cab, I wear a mask. Moreover, I try to make sure that everyone in this household does that same (though I suspect my husband cheats when I am not with him). I have gotten all of my COVID vaccines/boosters as soon as they have been available (had a text when I got up at 5am yesterday saying I could get my 5th shot and by 5:15am I had an appointment booked for noon). I also spend a lot of time washing my hands and always carry Wet Ones wherever I go. And, as I do every year, I got my flu shot before the season even started.

I get that there are people out there that say I should just learn to live with things like COVID but really that is exactly what I have done. When you live with a senior and 2 clinically extremely vulnerable people you learn that any risk you take with these viruses is an amplified risk to them. That alone tells me I need to keep doing everything I can to stay healthy. I don’t just mean taking measures to protect myself from illness, I mean looking after my overall health. Quite frankly why else would I be spending 2 1/2 hours at least 5 days a week keeping myself fit.

So, if you disagree with what I am doing please keep your opinion to yourself. You don’t live in my circumstances nor do you know the research I have done to ensure this household stays as healthy as possible. Besides, COVID is what got me healthy in the first place so I have a lot of respect for it.