Comfort
Food
“…Maybe
we just need to surrender more to who we are.”
Jeff
Brown (Love It Forward)
One of
the things to come out of this year of pandemic stress is generalized fatigue—not
to mention free-floating anxiety. And now, we’re confronting this weight gain,
too! All of us, with few exceptions, have been impacted by the slow-down, and
at times, shut-down economy. Gyms have closed, some of the usual means of
exercise have felt dicey at best. Sometimes walking or jogging with a mask felt
suffocating. We’ve opted, instead, to sit in front of the TV and watch old
movies and eat whatever passes beneath our noses. I’m speaking for myself, of
course. I’m sure this is not your reality.
But now
that everything is opening, including gyms, what excuse do we have? Inertia.
Fatigue. Oh, yes, that, but also our routine has been interrupted and
scrambled. Now we are faced with rearranging our daily schedule to allow for an
hour of exercise—again! I realize this is a first-world problem. Lots of
people, here and other places, don’t have a choice and haven’t stopped working.
They don’t have a gym and they don’t walk or jog for exercise—they work.
Physical labor is all the exercise they need—and a little broom and mop action
wouldn’t hurt the rest of us either.
But
maybe there is another, more important consideration. Maybe we just need to cut
ourselves some slack. Maybe we could take this sabbath day off and rest. Maybe
we should stop stepping on the scales every day and giving ourselves twenty
lashes because we haven’t lost more. Ripping ourselves apart is not an answer.
Eating fewer calories is.
I know.
I’ve craved comfort food, too. Everyone has—because we needed comfort. Maybe
twice-baked potatoes are not the best way to comfort oneself, but sometimes, they
come pretty close. When I think about denying myself comfort food, my body
seizes up and screams in protest—so I simply cut the portion size—and everything
else I was going to eat along with it. Have your comfort food but use a small
plate and don’t go for seconds. There are common-sense ways to lose the “Covid
extra” we’ve put on, and they all involve movement—which does not include head-banging.
Here’s
my suggestion—and the method I am using to reduce that extra ten pounds I’ve gained.
More movement, less couch and screen time. It doesn’t have to be at the gym. It can be in
the yard, planting spring flowers, or better yet, a small vegetable garden. Sweep
the sidewalk, rake the leaves out of the flowerbed, prune the overgrown shrubs.
We can do an hour of that, move every muscle in our bodies, and never leave
home. We can sit in a chair and work-out—especially if we have painful knees or
hips. There are plenty of seated exercise videos on YouTube. And most of all,
we can stop bashing ourselves. This has been a terrible year. The full impact of
this pandemic is just beginning to hit us. Be kind to yourself and to everyone
around you. We need comfort that comes from the heart, and not just from the
oven.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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