As we approach a holiday season like no other, conversations about health have never been more at the forefront of our minds. Perhaps a silver lining to this challenging reality could be re-framing of our interpretation of health and happiness. Taking care of yourself and those around you is no longer just an important personal mission, but also a global one. And for many, weight loss will be a central goal of that mission.
Unfortunately, stay at home orders, while good for reducing risk of exposure to Covid-19, has increased time spent on more sedentary habits that take a toll on health. The closure of many gyms and reduced capacity in outdoor spaces has increasingly meant that more and more of our usual exercise habits are interrupted. The hard-won discipline which may have previously helped us maintain a healthy weight has been tested to the extreme; and eating and drinking to curb the anxiety of an uncertain future became the for many of us. The “Quarantine 15” or “Covid 19” (the number being the number of pounds gained) became a meme online, a collective joke to help with the unfortunate reality. But eventually those gains may have real health consequences.
The CDC reports that about 40% of U.S. adults are obese and 32% are overweight [1]. This means that about 75% of Americans may be struggling with an issue involving maintaining a healthy weight. It’s important to remember that these categories are defined by a person’s body mass index or B.M.I., the measurement that compares ratio of height and weight. This measurement does not take account what makes up weight (i.e. muscle v. fat), which can be problematic when analyzing athletes or those with different genetic make-up or body type. However, there is a well-documented connection between obesity and chronic health issues such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and a variety of cancers, a group of some of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Other studies have demonstrated that obesity may also be linked to lower vaccine responses for numerous diseases [2]. Finally, obesity also raises your risk of severe complications from Covid-19, potentially tripling the risk of hospitalization from a Covid-19 infection and the chance of experiencing life-threatening consequences [2].
Thinking of your personal weight goals as they relate to your bodies’ ability to defend itself from disease may make you think of multivitamins, doctor’s offices and dreaded “weigh-ins”, but in reality, the process doesn’t have to be bad at all. Personalized meal plans such as those we offer at NutriFit can take the guess work out of creating a diet that is both effective and enjoyable. With over 2400 recipes, a Michelin-star chef, and over 30 years of experience creating delicious, fresh, portioned meals and delivering them straight to your door, we take the guess work out of any diet. Whether your goal is weight loss, general health, disease management, weight gain or athlete meals, we have the tools to help you get to where you want to go. This holiday season, when so many things seem difficult, let us help you and your loved ones make eating for a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle easier.
1 – https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
2 – https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html