Why are people gaining weight during corona?

[Anonymous]

I've lost weight because I am exercising more and eating out less.

My spouse has gained weight (very minor amount of weight). They work for a corporation that has had major COVID impacts and as such as busier, plus are attending more meetings that are probably necessary but that results in having to spend more time working outside of meeting times. I see other people walk around the neighborhood on calls, and their culture is video-on, which sucks. They get almost no physical activity. They are thin, so it's whatever, but it is NOT healthy. At all. I totally get how people gain weight if they are overwhelmed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+100. I said the same thing recently regarding the built-in exercise that no longer exists. Walking to and from the train for work and throughout the halls of my huge agency, added 2.5 miles to my day automatically. Now, if I don't make a concerted effort to walk, I could easily end up with under 1 mile per day.

I've added in 40 minutes on the Stairmaster daily to help make up for the deficit. Luckily, I haven't gained any weight, but my body composition has certainly changed. I had started to feel doughy.

[Anonymous]

Many people don’t have the luxury to consider their intake at this point of time.

-(potential) loss of income
-no time to cook healthy meals so upping sodium intake
-triggered depressed
-habits are lost, so people must form new ones
-weight gain is often gone unnoticed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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!?

Dunkin is the worst culprit, when I worked in the hospital doughnuts and coffee was an every day delight.
I gained 25Ibs my first year working there.

[Anonymous]

A lot of people manage stress by eating and making themselves feel good with food drink and relaxation. Some people channel their stress and anxiety into movement. If you’re the first group you’ll gain but you’re not doing anything inherently worse than the second group, you just cope differently.

Also, working from home makes it HARD to get in lots of movement. I’m a yes her and I moved constantly at school. Now it’s all meetings and classes online ... really hard to be as active throughout the day as I used to be even if I squeeze in a workout or run in the morning. That decrease in NEAT activity does make a difference believe it or not.

[Anonymous]

a teacher*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+100. I said the same thing recently regarding the built-in exercise that no longer exists. Walking to and from the train for work and throughout the halls of my huge agency, added 2.5 miles to my day automatically. Now, if I don't make a concerted effort to walk, I could easily end up with under 1 mile per day.

I've added in 40 minutes on the Stairmaster daily to help make up for the deficit. Luckily, I haven't gained any weight, but my body composition has certainly changed. I had started to feel doughy.

Same here. I used to get movement in walking to and from the Metro, walking around the building, walking to and from lunch and the grocery store, etc. Now, if I don't make an intentional specific effort to move, I don't move. And I have to watch a kid, so I can't just leave and take a walk or whatever whenever I want. I've started putting in headphones and having a personal dance party, or doing squats while brushing my teeth, just to get in movement. I guess I never realized how much movement was built into my day before.

[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.

I don’t quite understand what you’re trying to say. People who have to work at home ... have to work at home. For many, that involves sitting at a desk and looking at a computer screen. It might also mean dealing with kids. “Running” after kids doesn’t lead to weight loss. One big factor is the lack of forced movement, as others have noted.

[Anonymous]

Bread and wine.

[Anonymous]

Stress/ anxiety eating. Gym is closed and I have a very hard time getting motivated to work out by myself at home.
B/c we are home all day there is so much more snack type food around that is not normally around.
Since we are all home my family is wanting 3 proper meals a day, like pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Your willpower gets a little weak when confronted with these things constantly.
Not sleeping well due to anxiety and less exercise, less sleep tends to help put on the pounds.

[Anonymous]

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

You are seriously saying you can't exercise because you have too much laundry? Come on, that's a petty flimsy excuse.

[Anonymous]

Let me count the ways.

1) I no longer bike 15 miles round trip to work 3x a week. I now run 3x a week but I have basically cut my exercise time in 1/3 because i no longer have the free time.

2) But if I'm not spending my time commuting why don't i just replace it with exercise? Because my day is split into work and childcare shifts from 7 am to 6 PM. After 6 I have to make dinner, bathe the kids, and get them to bed, which usually takes until 9 PM. At that point I'm exhausted, it's dark out, I have to deal with stuff like health and financial paperwork and packing to move, and i just want 30 damn minutes to myself. And I consider myself very lucky that i don't have to log back on for work after my kids are asleep!

3) I'd like to spend more time outside with my kids, but it has been a HOT summer, and now it's a rainy and humid week. We don't feel safe going to our local public pool, which we'd normally do in this weather. The baby is too small to put on a bike. We are just too cooped up. It sucks. I'm not trying to keep my kids stuck indoors but we're apartment dwellers and the options are limited.

4) It's harder to buy lots of fruits and vegetables when you're shopping in person less frequently, and harder to cook them when you are short on dinner prep time due to childcare. I have tried to order boxes ahead from wholesale services and farms for curbside pickup, but honestly my days are so hectic i find it difficult to remember to do so at least 2 days in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am managing to get as much exercise as before. And we didn't eat out much before, so that's not an issue.

For me, the biggest problem is that when I was working in the office, I would eat the lunch I brought for lunch and then not think about food the rest of the time. I could focus 100% on work while working and be in the zone.

When I'm telecommuting from home with kids, either I'm passing by the refrigerator or I have to give the kids snacks or I am generally getting distracted and it's hard not to feel hungry with all the food around.

+1 Working in an office and commuting and not having enough time and being generally stressed made me skip eating way too frequently. Being home, cooking and sharing meals with family, I eat more. In my case, this means needed weight gain. Plus my "office" is in the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Delicious home made baked goods readily available.

(I have teens that like to bake).

And less movement (I do run 3-4x a week and play tennis on the other days with my kids but just overall I walk around less bc fewer places to go!

[Anonymous]

I have less time to exercise now. My job in longer hours because the day no longer ends. I used to be able to leave work and no one would expect me to answer the phone. But now everyone is home so there is no end of the day. Meetings are scheduled an hour after I normally leave. I no longer can work out during a work break because my son wants my attention the second I leave the room in which I am working. Same goes for when I am done working. I no longer have down time so it’s really easy to tell myself I deserve to eat a bag of chips while watching a work webinar.