About lockdown weight gain

[Leanandmean31]

So I was talking to a friend on Zoom and she told me that she has gained a stone and a half during lockdown. I was shocked when I then spoke to other friends and heard the same thing and that I am one of the only ones I know who hasn’t gained weight and used lockdown as an excuse to eat what I like. I am worried about the NHS burden as there are so many patients who have had their treatment delayed due to Covid and the last thing we need is more health issues caused by obesity.
AIBU to think that people should be more responsible? Btw before anyone flames me I am not talking about people who have had a very stressful job during lockdown. My friend said her DH has discovered a love for baking so she has just been sitting there eating bread and butter for 2 months.

I've gone from 9 stone to 9 and a half stone over the course of lockdown. I run around after a toddler all day and am doing couch to 5k, although judging by your original post my efforts are clearly not good enough. Sorry for not "being more responsible".

Yabu.

OP, maybe all of these people you're describing have fantastic private healthcare plans so never need to access the NHS for medical care.

Oh, OP, you will despair when you learn that I've put on the same amount of weight as your friend...and mainly through increased alcohol consumption. My DH doesn't even bake.

Could you pop that (and the fact that I gave up smoking three months ago, breastfed both children about a hundred years ago and am a normal BMI) into your spreadsheet of judginess and calculate where I am on the scale of shame?

Oh good for fucking you!

I’m shielding. Did I want to gain weight no?

I’ve even been attending online weight watchers meetings in this time.

But I wasn’t allowed to even go out for a walk for 3 months. I wasn’t allowed to do my usual hobbies involving exercise. Despite exercising in the house and restricting food intake I’ve still gained weight. I wasn’t allowed to go out to the shops so had to rely on what food was being delivered to me. My medication got changed to one that causes weight gain and causes other horrendous side effects. Again the medication change was due to medication shortages related to Covid.

So yeah, here, have a bloody medal. Well done you. All of us terrible people who have gained weight all bow down to your infinite superiority and deserve 1000 lashes for gaining weight in lockdown and putting immense stress on the NHS.

I am worried about the NHS burden

I rarely drink alcohol, not because of my amazing willpower but because whilst I do very much enjoy the odd drink when I do have one, it's simply not one of my triggers.

Have you ever stopped to consider that many of the people who claim they can't understand how it can be so difficult not to overeat are naturally the same around food as I am around alcohol? (Obviously this rules out people who have to really work at not gaining weight because they will know how much effort is involved).

FFS - I feel bad enough about the half a stone I’ve put on without being told this is “irresponsible” - the NHS isn’t going to collapse because I weigh 9 stone instead of 8.5 stone.

I’m WFH, and work is busier than ever in the sector I work in. I’m not moving around from room to room like I do at work (all the meetings are videoconferences at my desk). I’m not getting out for a walk at lunchtime (I’d at least walk to the canteen and back and try and go the long way around if time permitted). I don’t have as much time as I used to because I’m WFT and trying to homeschool 2 children and trying to keep on top of the housework. The gym is shut. The swimming pool is shut. It’s much more difficult to maintain my usual weight even though I’m still exercising 5 times a week.

I imagine you think your beautiful, but there is clearly nothing beautiful about you. You sound bloody horrid !!

Not sure why you had to announce they’ve got no self control and I do see your point however, not sure the spirit of your OP makes for good debate.

@Lily193
You’ve just reminded me that I have private healthcare from DHs work - I’m off to stuff my face, guilt free now that the NHS is safe from my lardy arse.

I've put a stone on. I'm usually very active, run marathons, go to the gym. Now, no gym and I struggle to find the time to run in-between home schooling and work. Life seems busier in lockdown weirdly. Also my job is work from home now which means I'm much less active in terms of daily steps. I'm drinking more wine , just because Im bored I guess and I'm struggling to adjust my daily calorie intake to less to take into account the reduced mobility. Thank God my friends haven't judged me though on my weight gain!

I haven’t but only because I’ve trained like a demon and still only managed to maintain. Stuck at home all day long wfh and homeschooling the children doing barely any steps, not getting out and about, no walking to the shops, everybody stressed out and probably eating and drinking more etc. I can see exactly how it’s happened.

@leanandmean31 - I don't think you have any understanding of the many factors that combine to cause an individual to overeat and become overweight/obese. Just because your friends don't appear to be stressed doesn't mean they aren't.
They haven't told you that they are, and without wanting to sound mean, it's probably because they know you will judge them, you may think you hide your feelings of disgust about their weight, but they know - even if only subconsciously.
To be honest I would be quite shocked if anyone has been through this pandemic without feeling any extra stress.
I probably look to outsiders that I wouldn't have any stress - I am at home every day on full pay not having to work - just the occasional day here and there every few weeks, I know just how lucky I am for that. DH is still working full time, he works very close to home and his job hasn't been too affected by Covid-19. DS13 is home and his school have been amazing in setting work digitally and keeping in touch, on the whole he has been good at getting on with his work, although there have been challenges. He is missing his plethora of usual after school activities and sports as well as his friends.
So, to the outside world everything looks quite rosy in our home.
But, I have spent 12 weeks at home with very little to do, I am usually either at work with a lot of other people - which I absolutely love, or driving DS all over the place to his various clubs, and seeing my friends etc. I am bored beyond belief. I am stressed about Covid because I don't want anyone to die from it - lots of my family would probably not do well if they caught it because they have underlying health conditions and/or because of their age.
Because of these things (& probably a lot more) I have eaten too much of the wrong food and gained weight - I don't know how much because I don't weigh myself, but I'd hazard a guess at a good stone.
Some people don't overeat when they are stressed - they drink more, or exercise more, or eat less, or smoke more, or take drugs or use other coping mechanisms. We can't stand in judgement of anyone else because we are not them, we are not living their life.
The saying 'Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes' is so so true.
I have no idea what has led you to feel judgemental about weight and the burden on the NHS, but I am sure there is a reason and I respect that.
Please try to respect your friends and be supportive of them rather than thinking badly of them.
If any of my friends tell me they have gained weight my first thought would not be 'oh no the nhs' it would be 'are they ok with that or are they letting me know because they feel upset about it?'
Anyone who is overweight knows the consequences for their health, we don't need people to remind us or judge us, that just adds to our stress.
Try to be kind OP - life is neither black and white nor simple

@Leanandmean31
Are you sure you got the numbers in your name in the correct order, shouldn't it be 13, you sound like a spiteful teenager. At 31 I would expect you to behave like an adult.

Yabu and also seem really judgy

@GrannyBags Indulge without guilt. I shall join you.

I e done the opposite and lost weight because anxiety makes me stop eating. I’m also back on meds and hopefully, counselling, so I won’t be using stretched resources for obesity, but I will for anxiety and depression. Is that better, do you think?

I’m also waiting for a procedure that has been delayed because of all this and it’s having a negative impact.

YABU. I've put a stone on through boredom. It's just work and home. I'm not overweight even with the extra weight. I'm eating better to shift it. Most people I know have gained.

I haven't "used lockdown as an excuse to eat whatever I like". I have struggled to get decent food that I can make meals the family will eat. Teen dd is so bored that she has taken over the kitchen many evenings by the time I come out from the spare bedroom (my office space) at the end of the workday, so I have to eat what she cooks and as it is often far far too spicy, I end up adding large dollops of crème fraiche to make it edible. (And YES, I have asked and told her and sworn at her to keep her out of the kitchen or at least make something we can all eat, or just cook for herself and let me deal with my own meals - but I come out and its' already done).

I got a letter from GP 2 days before lockdown for an MRI on a very painful knee, that I still can't arrange as they are not yet taking non-covid appointments in any of the local hospitals. But that, and the fact that all the pools are closed so I can't swim (and I HAVE tried the sea once that was reopened, but it's too cold), means it's been really hard to get any exercise. I used to walk 30 minutes a day on my work commute but I am finding no time or energy at the moment, and I am in significant pain so unwilling to go out with a grumpy teen and a DH marching along - who neither hear "I want to go alone and slow".

And the stress of teen SN DD, WFH and changing jobs twice since lockdown within the organisation (latter to a very high pace and high stress section), DH WFH and under serious pressure, being the household manager and dealing with issues around food shopping and other shopping, the wider family issues (as they are too far away to visit - sometime next month we can go), …..et,, etc, etc, - all add up to me drinking more alcohol than usual also. Not binge drinking, but a glass of wine, sometimes 2, with dinner most nights. Cos life is shit, ya know?!

And a serious lack of sleep due to stress means I have no energy even after dealing with everything else - and absolutely no wish to get up early enough to go out before work to walk then.

I have been doing yoga and pilates at home. I have been doing some walking when I can. I have not been eating packets of crisps or bars of chocolate or doing loads of baking and eating that.

But having been somewhat successful in losing a stone and a half in the previous 9 months, I have put all that back on plus another stone.

NOT by eating "WTF I want", just the reality of my shitty life right now.

Thanks for making me feel even worse this morning as I got 2 hours sleep last night as my knee kept waking me, the breakfast I was going to have got eaten by someone else, I'm too tired to shower, I have yet another shitty deadline on something that makes no sense and I have no one to ask about, DH is yelling at someone on his calls in the next room, and DD has stropped off to an activity camp (costing me a bloody fortune) after causing 3 rows before she went and left a major mess downstairs with gear everywhere.

I would LOVE to have the time to make proper meals again - or even a whole day eating things that actually taste reasonably nice and not all blowing your mouth off with fieriness and also having an atmosphere at the table.

Yes OP, the hospitals are going to be swamped in a few months with people who have put a bit of weight on during lockdown.

My adult daughter and I have both lost weight during lockdown. She more than me.
We started doing a 15min or 30min workout every evening, just off YouTube.
Daughter has been better than me at eating more healthily, but combined with a minimum 2mile dog walk each day too, we have done really well

How do you know which people are stressed and which aren't?

To the outside world I look as happy as can be...you'd never know I woke up crying every day last week due to the stress of dealing with WFH full time while homeschooling a 5 year old.

There's a real lack of self awareness and compassion on MN these days.

YANBU - completely agree!
I put on a STONE! No stress, nothing. Got made redundant so ate more cake / pastry than usual. Then the gym closed...
I couldn’t make myself to do ANY exercise at home. I knew I should have, I take complete responsibility
Wasted so much time... but I know once I get back to the gym (hopefully within a month) I will be able to lose it. 🤞

Most of us should have taken more responsibility ... but sometimes life is not that easy.

I was a couple of stone over weight pre lock down. I gained a stone and a half (I think) since lockdown. I've started the 5:2 diet, 3 weeks ago to help get rid of it. I'm on a mission lose it now. I have the time to do it so there's no excuses.

How nice of you to join MN or perhaps name change to express your faux concern for the NHS.
I do think it’s important to have open and honest conversations about the impact of obesity on our long term health and the NHS but passive aggressive threads from newbie/name changers are never going to be well received. I say this as someone who’s used the last few months to get fitter and I’ve lost weight, so no skin off my nose.