Why are people gaining weight during corona?

[Anonymous]

Stress eating.

[Anonymous]

I feel like I"m getting more exercise, but when I look at my tracker I'm not seeing an increase. I used to do a ton of walking as part of everyday life, now I have plan to move my body and it feels harder. I'm also stuck at home with a super skinny kid who needs to eat a lot of high calorie foods.

[Anonymous]

OP, Are you seriously dumb enough to have this question in your head but you honestly can’t fathom a handful of potential explanations?

Of course not. You just like stirring up shit and making yourself feel superior. “Wow, it would never even occur to me how someone might gain weight!” Nauseating.

[Anonymous]

Because I don't have more time to exercise - quite the opposite, in fact. Instead of a full-time job while my kids are at school / daycare / camp, I have a full-time job and am watching the kids. That extends my workday, since I need to keep taking breaks for kid stuff - so instead of focusing on my job from 8 to 6 (including commute and lunch break) while someone else is taking care of my kids, I'm logged on to my computer at 7am and not logged off until 9pm. Any breaks I do take are for the kids - going out running for an hour is simply not an option. I'm even making dinner with my headset on for conference calls.

After 9pm, it's catching up on household chores (cleaning is a constant battle with all of us home so much), PTA stuff, scouts stuff.

Oh, and since my "home office" is the dining room table, the kitchen with all its glorious snacks is RIGHT THERE. My resistance to snacks has gone way down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and I really, really, didn't mean to offend anyone. It is true that I have "no clue" what it's like to be a parent yet. DH and I are thinking about it. I only know from my sister's experience and she has not gained weight due to her little one always running around. So I asked, because I was curious as to what others' experiences were and I guess I was very wrong about having "more time." But some people did say comfort eating was a thing.

Again, I never intended to shame. While I say I don't stress eat, I did say that I tend to overeat in other situations - being at work, being bombarded with fast food options at the office park, being too busy with work and social engagements to be mindful of healthy eating. My habits are not better than yours; just different.

No one with a full-time job is playing tag with a 4YO all day to the extend that it prevents weight gain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do NOT intend to shame anyone, I am only wondering why this “gaining the Covid 19” is a thing. If anything, wouldn’t people have more time to get in better shape? For me, I’m more likely to gain weight when I’m working all the time and sitting my arse in the car then the office and more inclined to eat out. Now, if you’re staying home or “quarantined” you’re probably not eating out as much, and unless you’re an essential worker, you’re working from home which means more time either running after your kids or more time to work out, and more time to cook. So why this whole thing about putting on weight this year as opposed to any other when you’d be more busy? What is causing it, among those who do? Honest question.

Boredom. I am trying so hard. But boredom is part of it. I work out and go for lots of walks, but still eat too much. My child is baking all the time too - I only have so much self control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are baking and cooking as a new hobby or a way to pass the time.

This

I’m a nanny and the 13 year old has gained a lot of weight during covid. Now that her parents are home all day, all my rules are gone and they eat whatever they want, bake and snack. Dessert has become a nightly thing. The little one hasn’t gained weight because I make her exercise, but the older one has probably put on 15 pounds. I blame lazy parenting.

[Anonymous]

Stress eating. Eating more meals (before id skip lunch or breakfast because I’d be out and about). Kids’ new hobby is baking and husband’s new hobby is cooking. Comfort eating junk late at night before bed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people stress-eat. Some people cannot resist snacking all day when they are steps from the kitchen. Some people feel like they need gyms to work out/don’t have a home gym/can’t take the heat to go outside. Some people no longer have childcare available. Really OP, you can’t think of any reasons?

Agree.
And for me, due to my position (IT project manager rolling out MS teams to the company) I worked crazy hours for the first 3 months. I was teleworking, but I was putting in 80 hour weeks. A lot of stress eating.
I was getting messages from 6 AM until 11 PM every day.
Not everyone teleworking had it easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our entire family lost weight- started cooking homemade meals I think helped!

You must have really eaten like shit before this.

Missing out on bad habits. My dunkin coffee (and sometimes breakfast) was my reward for my schlep. Lost 7 lbs since quarantine. If I gave up booze, who knows!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a prior PP here. Also, my DH used to wear suits and dry cleaning items, and now he's in casual or business casual and adding to my laundry pile.

And everyone but me is exercising like fiends and in fantastic shape, and just shedding clothing for my laundry pile in droves. Sometimes three outfits a day. I'm awash in laundry

Tell your family to stop putting their clothes in the laundry after one wear!

Better yet, have them do their own laundry. I started my kids on this at age 8. I supervised them at first, but now they are teens and do it all by themselves. HEAVEN!

[Anonymous]

100 percent it was stress eating for me, in March. Stress eating plus going from walking 5 miles a day to not having to walk any miles.

I put on 10 pounds VERY QUICKLY. now i am back to eating normally, and walking most days, and most of the weight has come back off, but not all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people stress-eat. Some people cannot resist snacking all day when they are steps from the kitchen. Some people feel like they need gyms to work out/don’t have a home gym/can’t take the heat to go outside. Some people no longer have childcare available. Really OP, you can’t think of any reasons?

Agree.
And for me, due to my position (IT project manager rolling out MS teams to the company) I worked crazy hours for the first 3 months. I was teleworking, but I was putting in 80 hour weeks. A lot of stress eating.
I was getting messages from 6 AM until 11 PM every day.
Not everyone teleworking had it easy.

OP is old, retired, and childless. They don't get it.

[Anonymous]

I've lost 10 pounds, but saw a friend last week for the first time. My jaw dropped. She had gained at least 25 pounds. She has no excuse. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

I have gained weight because:

1) I used to do most of my working out while the kids were at school. It's harder to get all the workouts in that I used to.

But mostly....

2) I have been cooking and baking more -- pulled pork, fried chicken, banana bread, etc. I am not good at cooking/baking and then not indulging.
3) Working 6 feet away from my kitchen makes it too easy to snack.
4) With so little to do, getting takeout or eating outside at restaurants has become a major event in my family and we are probably doing too much of it.

I'm trying to intermittently fast and not eat anything until 11 or 12 in the morning after a dinner completed by 7 pm, but it doesn't seem to be helping much.