What is considered a picnic?

[xatcat]

Does it mean you can't walk and eat something outside?

Or is it when your sat down outside eating?

Just trying to clarify the rules.

I don't know how other people exercise but when I do I run, hard, or walk, a long way. I always stop to rest and drink water and, often, have a cereal bar or piece of fruit. It would be somewhat dangerous to do a long run and not hydrate. Most people sit down to so so because they need a rest!

How long are you going out for that you can’t do it without sitting in a bench and eating food just to get you through it?

No one needs that level of exercise every day. Eat your food before you go, the whole point is to get exercise and come back.

Honestly why is it so difficult for people to stay home. Now folks need to exercise so long and hard with their kids they need to take snacks with them.

Go out, do your exercise come home. It’s not bloody hard.

You shouldn't be out for so long that your child needs a snack either Why shouldn't you? Where's the guidance that says "you must have only x mins exercise a day"?

There might not be a problem if you do it. The problem would be if EVERYONE did it. And if you do it, it's not fair that everyone else can't.

Seriously - how is it a problem to go for a long walk in a rural area with few people around? That is neither breaking nor bending a law, and does not go against any guidance. As far as I'm aware, a child being a bit tired by the end of a 3 hour walk does not cause anyone to catch Covid.

Everyone else can do it, as long as they can do so without getting too close to others. So there's nothing unfair about it at all. Of course it may well not be safe to go for a 3 hour walk in the centre of London or Birmingham. The social distancing rules apply to us all equally, but the circumstances of where we live are not the same.

Lord this brings me back - April 2020 is calling , they want their thread back.

Honestly have we all gone collectively crazy for the second time. People should be able to use their judgment. If there's nobody else around crack on and have your banana/sandwich/Pom Bears. If there's someone else near, wait until you're further away. If your outdoor snack involves a tartan rug and picnic basket it's probably not within the spirit of the law, but if there's nobody else around - crack on.

If the police are going around checking what people eat and stopping people from getting their breath back after exercise, then they probably have too much time on their hands and could perhaps be redirected towards breaking up house parties or drug circles.

If posters are watching and commenting on what people eat, then perhaps they should just stay in full stop where they will be happier and safer.

"You shouldn't be out for so long that your child needs a snack either"
Yeah, because an obesity crisis is just what the NHS needs.

LOL at all these people who have obviously never done a 5/10 mile run in their lives saying do it without water.

I have done loads of five mile walks but only ever take water, never food but I hate carrying stuff and prefer to eat when I get home.

@Delatron

Yes good for you *@ImAllOut*. I think the ‘stay the fuck home’ brigade are those that never get off their arses anyway so a long walk or a run is an alien concept to them.

Sitting having a snack on a walk near nobody isn’t spreading the virus so give it a rest.

Well I’m just back from the gym. I’m lucky enough to have a home one. I get off my arse.

However for the vast majority of the population no one needs more than an hours exercise a day. And you can go an hour without eating.

All people are doing is finding excuses to bend the rules. To find ways they don’t apply to them. Suddenly people who have never exercised a day in their lives need to go out and sit on park benches eating bananas.

Fine for those with mental health issues. But for the overwhelming majority of people you can go do your exercise, spend an hour max, come the fuck nome and eat your snacks there.

Without thinking it through, I totally broke this law/ruling.
I was out with my 3yo and 1yo on our walk in the park last week and the 3yo needed some food... so we sat down on the little blanket I had stuffed in the buggy and I gave him his snack. This is against the rules, right?

I dare say sitting on a bench a long way from anyone else to breastfeed a young baby, counts as a ‘picnic’. For the baby, anyway.

At least that’s what my dd was ticked off for during Lockdown One.

'Well I’m just back from the gym. I’m lucky enough to have a home one.'

Bully for you. Some people aren't so lucky.
Hypocritical nonsense.

@Bluntness100 but why on earth would a person out for a walk who has decided to eat a banana on a park bench upset you ? The chances of covid being spread this way are absolutely minimal. The fact they are taking outdoor exercise is surely a good thing.

Oh OP please stop being obstructive

I've never seen anyone mid way through an exercise class eating. Drinking some water yes.

@xatcat

Does it mean you can't walk and eat something outside?

Or is it when your sat down outside eating?

Just trying to clarify the rules.

No, what you are doing is what every child does when told they can't do something for their own good.

How long are you going out for that you can’t do it without sitting in a bench and eating food just to get you through it?
No one needs that level of exercise every day. Eat your food before you go, the whole point is to get exercise and come back

No, nobody needs that level of exercise every day (and I don't think anyone's necessarily saying they do that amount every day), but that doesn't mean that they're not perfectly entitled to do it. How does my husband's 5 hr rural dog walk the other day with flask of coffee and snack go against any guidance or have any difference in Covid risk than a 1 hour one? It probably had a lot less risk than people going for a 30 min walk around their local park or town, where they will see far more people far closer together.

Lengthy, vigorous walking to exercise for health and recreation is something a lot of people have always done, and continue to do within the current law and guidance.

The concept of exercise during the pandemic as a grudgingly permitted, perfunctory, tedious but necessary trudge like a prisoner round an exercise yard is really pretty weird to anyone who actually walked for exercise and pleasure before Covid. Doing it that way doesn't make it safer, it just makes it a chore.

@friendlycat

I've never seen anyone mid way through an exercise class eating. Drinking some water yes.

DH has just disappeared on a 26 mile hike, he took his bladder and several cereal bars with him, plus his rucksack, maps, emergency kit and waterproofs, I dare say he will eat his cereal bars as he is walking. I will spend the day sat on my arse inside as usual, I reckon he is probably the more healthy one though

A cup of peppermint tea if you believe yesterday's news story. You know, peppermint tea, that essential walking companion.

I don't agree with it. I think it's ridiculous that two people from different households can meet and talk, but one person cannot stop still and eat / drink a snack

Sigh.... If the “rules” stated that picnics are allowed then the world, his wife, his kids (on their bikes) and his dogs would all be out, with their picnic blankets and hampers, spending hours clogging walking tracks and leaving their rubbish behind to spoil beauty spots - just like what happened in the Summer!

You are allowed to go out for exercise. Eat before you go or when you get back!

I've never seen anyone mid way through an exercise class eating. Drinking some water yes. But at the moment we can't go to exercise classes. Some us walk for exercise. And to get the same level of exercise as you used to get in the exercise class, we have to walk for longer than the exercise class took.

I have mobility issues and I often have to have a bit of a sit down on even relatively short walks. Sometimes I have a drink of water or juice while doing so. Am I to expect a talking to from a passing policeman for doing so?

'Well I’m just back from the gym. I’m lucky enough to have a home one.'

Well then, I'm sure you'll be able to understand why I (living in a small flat with a 3 year old) go for at least one long walk a week, including picnic, to a park that DS really likes. I barely go out shopping, haven't been anywhere busy, wear my mask and wash my hands, I haven't met up with anyone at all. My DS hasn't been able to play with any other children for months, he's stopped running around and I have to cajole him to do so. So no, I'm not going to feel bad for taking a bloody ham sandwich out with us and letting him do something he enjoys!

Sigh.... If the “rules” stated that picnics are allowed Even bigger sigh ...I don't think anyone's arguing for picnics being allowed. They just want reassurance that they're not going to be fined for stopping for a few minutes mid-walk to eat a banana or a cereal bar.

Again just use common sense , walking in open space eg a field would I stop for a quick rest and me and the dc have a drink yes

Would I sit in the middle of my local shopping square on a bench eating my lunch ( if it was even the weather for it ) no obvs not

Not because I’m worried about getting dived on by the police or breaking a rule but because common sense would say the latter option causes risk to others around me ( it’s a busy area despite lockdown as it’s the local shopping area)