I last wrote this blog over a week ago with the intention of ensuring I keep up with being active and that days didn't go past with me going back to my normal diet of chocolate, crisps and alcohol. It seems that it was a lot harder than I had anticipated.
Each day since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have blurred into each other, with the four walls that is my home beginning to seem like a prison. Not a prison of the type that criminals have, or even one I didn't like: I love my home, my kids, my wife and the time I have to do all the things I thought I would never have time to do but now I do. The prison seems to be more of a mental one, one that creeps up on you without you knowing it. I was here at one stage in my life when I managed to become the biggest I had ever been, a whopping 14 stone 12lbs. I had even acquired a double chin during those hectic days of eating and doing nothing.
I had, since the lockdown, been going in the same direction without even knowing that I was doing it. I had no routine, there was nothing to do for most of the day and there was no way of getting out of the house without putting myself and others in jeopardy because of the fear of catching Covid-19. And it was eating me alive mentally. I was bored.
Boredom is a dangerous thing to an active mind with an inactive body. It makes you far more lazy than you normally would be. It makes you eat far more than you would normally eat. It makes you feel hungry more times than you actually are. It makes you not do the things you would normally do. And it makes you feel depressed without you realising that you are actually depressed.
Now I don't actually feel depressed, but I know I became clinically depressed earlier in my life, when I was single for about 5 years all I did every evening was to watch films, drink, eat and work. Thankfully I have kids and a wonderful wife that help me and I also have this and healthunlocked.com (although I haven't been on there too for a while). I have realised that I was heading in that direction though, and have managed to start to rectify it so that I am occupied and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The first thing I have done is to write down a routine that I am going to follow throughout the day (see the picture at the start of the blog) and this is helping me to keep going and to start to get my life back into some sort of order and stave off eating and drinking and the boredom that comes with sitting in a house 24/7.
Firstly, thank God for YouTube! There are so many different workouts that you can access that becoming bored with workouts is almost guaranteed not to happen. there are literally thousands of them out there for each different ability. I thought, rather stupidly, that I would start with an easy one when I began doing this - Joe Wicks PE. Sometimes I wonder how much of a moron I actually am to think that it would be easy! I was sweating profusely by the end of it but I did thoroughly enjoy it. However, if you are going to do it, I would suggest thinking about your current fitness levels and take regular breaks and pausing if you need to. I had to stop a couple of times for a few seconds, but mostly managed it and I will be continuing with it whilst I am in lockdown. There are lots more of his videos that take in all kinds of levels - so no matter how fit or unfit you are there will be something for you. Remember to have a lot of water with you.
I have also made sure that my routine means spending some time alone, so that I can have some me time. On top of this there is work, reading (both pleasure and work reading) and some time out of doors, whether this is walking the dog or spending some time in the garden. Whichever and whatever way I decide to do things or add things or change things, a routine will help keep me focused and stop me from being bored and falling back into a routine of doing very little and eating/drinking a lot. That little voice had come back but now it is time to banish it back to the place it belongs.
There are lots of ways in which you can make your daily routine something that uplifts you and keeps you going on your journey despite the obvious lack of normality.Whatever it is you decide to add to your daily routine, I would recommend having one and sticking to it. It makes the days of isolation into something much more bearable - at least it has for me: and the actual making of the following day's routine is enjoyable too.
So until tomorrow (as this is now part of my daily routine)...
Thanks for reading.
Stay strong. Stay safe.
Sean.
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