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Original poster

To wonder why people blame lockdown when talking about weight gain

251 replies

Apple41 · 23/08/2023 22:20

Always been overweight however I lost weight during lockdown due to having time to excerise and cook well. I keep seeing people blame lockdown for their weight being higher and don't get it. Obviously gyms were closed but so were restuarants.

OP posts:
Canyousewcushions · 23/08/2023 22:37

I didn't leave the house at all for much of the time because I was trying to hold down a full time job while providing full time homeschooling and childcare for 3 kids from baby up to school age.

Even my permitted one walk of the day usually didn't happen because I was madly busy from waking up till bedtime.

Spottyhousecoat · 23/08/2023 22:37

I sat at a desk for 60+ hours a week at the bottom of my bed for 2 years I put on a tonne of weight! My lunch breaks were home schooling it was difficult to fit in exercise. Once the furloughed staff came back I got some hours back but by then I was too knackered to exercise.

Sparklesocks · 23/08/2023 22:38

People were stressed.
People couldn’t do their normal workout at the gym.
People were anxious.
People were bored.

its not tricky to imagine.

OriginalAuntViv · 23/08/2023 22:39

Boredom. Comfort eating. Wearing baggy joggers which meant you didn’t notice your clothes feeling tight. No motivation to do anything.

Crossstich · 23/08/2023 22:39

I moved less and ate more. Particularly comfort eating.
It's taking a long time to shift

milknbean · 23/08/2023 22:39

Because people are all different and we didn't do the same things that you did in lockdown?

FerryPink · 23/08/2023 22:39

It's mad to think some people had no idea their lockdown experience wasn't universal.

It's always the people who had a really easy time with lots of extra free time who assume everyone else did as well.

LimeCheesecake · 23/08/2023 22:39

I had a lot less time in lockdown - when I wasn’t working I was homeschooling dcs. I couldn’t just pop to the shops, but stand in a queue for half an hour before I could buy anything.

GoodVibesHere · 23/08/2023 22:40

I'm surprised you can't think of reasons for this.

For me:

  1. I was no longer walking to and from work as I had to work from home, so less exercise

  2. My job became highly stressful due to increased meetings (to work out how on earth we could complete our tasks) plus I had to juggle looking after the DC and making sure they were doing their school work (because schools were shut) whilst working so I had zero time to prepare good meals

  3. Eating increased sugary products and crap because hours went by and I'd suddenly realise I hadn't had time to eat but was really hungry so grabbing biscuits/chocolate

Wishitsnows · 23/08/2023 22:40

I lost weight during the first sunny one and then the boredom and rubbish weather during the second one put it back on

Doyoureallyhavetoask · 23/08/2023 22:40

Work was more stressful (NHS). I had less time to exercise.

Pastries from the local bakeries were the main thing to look forward to!

Vanillaradio · 23/08/2023 22:41

It's great you had so much more time I had a lot less due to trying to juggle work and homeschooling and some aspects of my work increasing due to lockdown. I work part time so the two days I normally have to amongst other things exercise/do housework/take time to myself got filled up with home schooling. Weekends then got filled up with trying to tidy up the extra messy house due to having three of us constantly in it and catch up on the work I didn't have time to do due to dh and I constantly juggling the home schooling. I also comfort ate a lot due to there being precious little else to do for fun. I put on two stone- still got 3/4 of a stone left to lose of that weight.

Thisismynewusername1 · 23/08/2023 22:41

tensmumsnot · 23/08/2023 22:26

Your habits changed and it resulted in a change to your weight. Quite simple really

This.

I went from cycling to work, eating set meals in meal breaks, plus CrossFit 3x a week to wfh so all I did was get up, do a 10 hour shift at the kitchen table, close to the fridge so I’d be up and down snacking from boredom, constantly drinking coffee… I’d go for a short walk with the dog after work but with such long shifts and nothing structured I often couldn’t be bothered,

plus one of my teens started baking out of boredom so we always had lots of cakes needing eaten 😂

put on 2.5 stone. Lost it as soon as I went back to the office and got my daily structure back.

JenniferBooth · 23/08/2023 22:41

And looking and feeling like a scruffbag isnt conducive to weight loss either.

MrHopsPortal · 23/08/2023 22:42

I cracked open a drink to time with the 5pm daily briefing - that did my waistline no favours at all.

I was also immunosuppressed and barely left the house.

By the first lockdown of 2021 when DH had lost his job, I snapped back into stress mode and lost a stone.

Fucking awful time.

soundsys · 23/08/2023 22:43

Noodledoodledoo · 23/08/2023 22:25

I dont blame lockdown, but I do recall saying to husband all our treats to brighten the time were food/alcohol related. Loads of local food companies did deliveries etc.

I made more cakes/ treats with my children due to time. Our meals didn't really change it was the extras

Exactly this!

GrumpyOldCrone · 23/08/2023 22:43

Before (and after) lockdown my job involved walking about 2-3 miles a day. During lockdown I was sitting on a chair in my dining room for 12 hours a day. I walked about a mile every day for exercise but didn’t have time to do more: I had to work a lot of extra hours. I put on weight, of course. I’ve now lost it because I’m back to my previous levels of physical activity. It’s not rocket surgery.

drunkpeacock · 23/08/2023 22:43

I don't blame lockdown, I blame my love of food!
But I found that I lost in the first lockdown, plenty of exercise and as you say time to cook properly.
However by the final one I found that the only way to "treat" myself and bring a little brightness into what turned out to be a very dark period for DC and I, was through food. A nice take away, snacks in front of a movie, hot chocolate and donuts in the park.
Also, a lot of people drank too much to blot out what was going on and fill the time.
I suppose we all have different ways of responding to situations don't we?

michalwave · 23/08/2023 22:44

I will be forever grateful to lockdown. For some reason weight loss just clicked for me then, and I lost the weight I’d been putting off losing for 8 years.

Tailfeather · 23/08/2023 22:44

I was working 16 hour days sat at a desk and couldn't keep up my swimming. I put on 2 stone.

SunRainStorm · 23/08/2023 22:46

How lovely that you had more free time in lockdown OP. Hmm

It really triggers me in a way I can't make sense off when people assume their lovely calm lockdown experiences and opportunities were somehow available to everyone.

It was incredibly difficult for so many people, and I don't know how anyone with half a brain and a molecule of empathy could not realise that by now.

JenniferBooth · 23/08/2023 22:47

Looking and feeling like a scruffbag Being treated like a disease vector instead of a human being. Struggling in the heat in a mask, Feeling totally dehumanized

If this is the secret to inducing weight loss perhaps we should bottle it and sel it eh?

Pffft

Tiddlywinkly · 23/08/2023 22:48

I can see why some people put on weight. Less movement overall, boredom, stress.

No judgement - I drank alcohol most nights to cope with the stress of it all. I did a lot of running as well though. Also to cope. It balanced out, weight wise, but it wasn't the healthiest of choices.

I'm a bit surprised the few times someone has mentioned lockdown weight gain as the reason they are overweight. Lockdowns finished a while ago.

Animalnitrates · 23/08/2023 22:48

What an embarrassingly tone deaf post. Oh how quickly people forget. Im
glad you enjoyed your “extra time to exercise and eat healthily”. I am in a family where my spouse and I are a medic and an emergency service worker. I literally worked for the first 12 months straight most days over 12 hour shifts and still had to home school my kids -
my only “break” was when I myself had covid, and 2 weeks off for bereavement, you’ll be relieved to know I lost the 2 stones I put on when my parents died though so at least im
not fat, which seems quite important to you. Enjoy your ivory tower

Hairyfairy01 · 23/08/2023 22:49

That's great that you had more time. Most frontline staff didn't I'm afraid. Working all hours (NHS), 2 kids at home that despite being 'keyworker kids' their schools wouldn't accept, low mood due to work and a complete change to the 'habit' of when and how I exercised due to lockdown restrictions (remember when we were only allowed out 1 hour a day)?