The pandemic pounds have arrived
I got an email from a co-worker who asked, “How’s your WFH situation?”
I was aghast – until I realized that WFH stood for “Work From Home.” It was not some nasty Urban Dictionary thing. Thank goodness.
I had to be honest. My WFH situation is as unbalanced as my WTO (Working in The Office) situation. There’s good stuff and bad stuff. As we all know, “You have to take the good and take the bad. You take them both and there you have – The Facts of Life.”
Since I’m working from home, I don’t have office enemies – unless you count the scale. I didn’t get COVID, but I did get the 19. I packed on pandemic poundage of pachyderm proportions. It seems weird to start a diet between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I will never be able to waddle around on New Year’s Eve if I don’t start now. No one should be winded blowing into a party horn. “Whooo – huff huff – oooo!”
Last December, I was doing really well. I was dieting and exercising, getting ready for my trip to Australia. I got to my goal weight. My first goal, at least. I’m more of a Hurdles Guy than a Marathon Man. By March, I got past one hurdle.
Don’t get me wrong. I was still overweight. While snorkeling around in the Great Barrier Reef, I had to wear the extra-large life vest. There’s a picture of me snorkeling around with a sea turtle. I love it, but the yellow vest had a giant XL scrawled on it. Hello, it’s Photoshop time!
When we got back from Down Under, the world shut down. Then, it started up again. Then, down again. I bounced back into a WFH situation.
I’m not ready to go back to the gym. Being around people who are sweating and breathing heavy sounds fun, but it would land me on Dr. Fauci’s naughty list.
In the summer I took little jaunts around the neighborhood. I’m not walking in a winter wonderland. This December, I got one day of exercise. It snowed and I had to shovel. It was enforced manual labor to prevent my mail carrier from slipping, falling and suing.
The lack of exercise wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t increase the eating.
At home, I work too close to the snacks. At work, I refused to pay for an overpriced bag of pretzels out of the vending machine. I’m not paying a dollar for 14 pretzel nibs (yeah, I counted them). My home office is too close to the kitchen.
Then, there are the red and green M&Ms in a ceramic bowl shaped like Frosty the Snowman. You use his snow shovel to scoop them up. It’s a jolly, holiday treat.
A dietician once told me you should eat small meals throughout the day instead of one big one. I don’t think she meant handfuls of M&Ms every hour.
I just need less isolation and more isometrics.