STAY WELL FEEL GREAT
GOING
DOWN It’s the question on everybody’s lips – literally. How do you get rid of the lockdown load? Jackie Rankin asks the experts.
M
y lockdown weight gain came by stealth. First it was mid morning tea cakes and milky coffee, then a hearty lunch (because it was lockdown so we deserved a bit of TLC – didn’t we?) Afternoon tea and biscuits would be brought to my home office by my furloughed other half. There was a smidgeon of self entitlement. After all we weren’t going on our French holiday…in fact we weren’t going anywhere for more than an hour. Then the rules relaxed. We could go out. Eat out. Help out. We’d be doing something to get the country back on its feet – who could refuse? Not me. But as with red wine, croissants and moules frites, this indulgence has manifested itself by the pound. I knew it was happening – but so was so much else. It was good while it lasted, but all good things come to an end. So I asked the experts, how DO you lose the lockdown load? Sian O’Dell is a community dietitian in Liverpool. “When the first lockdown came our lives were turned completely upside down and so were our meal patterns. Before we’d have breakfast, go to work, have lunch, then eat an evening meal. Now we could eat what we liked, when we liked. “Food became a crutch to stave off isolation and boredom. Even as we worked we could grab a snack and carry on. If we felt peckish we knew what was in the cupboards. Cafes were closed so we made sumptuous meals at home. We yearned for the social aspect of food.”
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