Strange Tales from the Pandemic: Weight Gain Edition

My topic today is a little out of the ordinary, but I want to talk about it. So the pandemic is in month, I don't know, nine, and I want to talk about how it has affected my diet.

I am pretty sure I told everyone that reads my blog, I lost about 100 pounds total five years ago. The weight has fluctuated both ways, but where I am today, I weigh about 270 pounds. That means I have kept off around 70 total, which I think is solid. But during the pandemic, my weight has just been totally stagnant, and I don't get it. I run more now than I did before, but I do eat a little worse. When I was really on my diet, Atkins, I was pretty militant about my carb intake. That went by the wayside when I started running half marathons. I was burning so many calories at races and runs, my body actually needed carbs. I needed that little extra energy to get through the run. This was when I discovered Tailwinds, and that stuff is magical. It is a powder drink substance that I put in my hydration pack and drink during longer runs. One packet has 50 carbs in it, and I drink it all. When I really watched carbs, I only had 40 a day. So, one packet of Tailwinds was more than I had in years. But it was working. It was helping me push through the harder parts of longer runs and I liked it. I started to let myself eat more carbs, still staying under 100 a day, and I was still losing weight.

Then the pandemic hit, and it all just stopped. Not my running, not my intake of carbs, but my weight loss. I cannot gain any weight, or lose any weight. Since March of this year I have been 270 pounds. Sometimes I'm 270.5 or 270.3, but never under 270. I don't get it. I do eat more carb loaded meals. I let myself indulge in pasta sometimes, I'll have tacos on occasion, I'll eat pizza and I will have real ice cream. I have also really taken to oatmeal because it really is a superfood. And besides the oats and milk, everything else is either low carb or sugar free. But to counteract the food, I run five days a week. I do no less than three miles either. I push myself when I run too. I ran a sub 25 minute 5k, which is really good for me the other day. I go longer distances. I let myself get lost on runs through neighborhoods. I burn tons of calories. But when I weigh myself, boom, 270 no matter what.

It is kind of infuriating. I don't know what to do, or why this is happening. My only theory is the pandemic, and how the mental aspect has affected my diet. I need to get back to doing super low, to no carb diet, but the mere existence of sugary and starchy foods has been too good to pass up. And when I get stressed, eating is my comfort. I know that is bad, but it is true. When the pandemic first started, it was ice cream almost every night. With the election it was cereal and milk. With the post election stuff, it has been pasta and bread and pizza. But I try to justify it by going out and running four or five miles. I guess I do need to rededicate myself to Atkins, but with the virus raging even more, all I think about to calm my nerves is what food I will eat for the day, or what I will have for dessert. It has done a number on my body too, but it isn't noticeable. It is more of the gross way, with upset stomachs and going to bed super full and bloated.

I hope that I can find a way to push myself to go back to a lower carb diet, but with more race cancellations, and the possibility of my kids going back to virtual learning soon, I doubt it will happen. I don't know, I guess I just wanted to vent today. Anyway, time for a run to counteract the pasta I will be having for dinner.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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