Covid and Nutrition

Back in the summer I was interviewed on NBC. They asked me to speak about Covid 19 and Nutrition. The newscaster wanted me to talk about the COVID19 weight gain. You’'ll see in the video clip below their video clips DONT match what Im talking about. (kind-of funny). I obviously had a different idea for the interview. I felt it was important to offer compassion and grace to all people. Weight gain during COVID wasn’t bad or something to feel shame about.

In my option making people feel guilty about gaining weight during a pandemic was not helpful. It certainly wasn’t a motivator! After all we survived (still surviving) a PANDEMIC! If weight gain happened, so be it.

Did you know the rate of EATING DISORDERS increased during COVID?

Food insecurity, fear of going outside and losing of family and friends all have an impact on how we nourish our body. Imagine if you didn’t have access to a big box grocery store? Imagine if you had to take a bus full of people just to get the simple basic essentials? I don’t know about you but I didn’t want to be around lots of people back in April 2020.

If I had to choose to be in a crowded grocery store or eat what’s already in my cabinets, I’m eating what’s in my cabinets. Survival was the name of the game. I couldn’t go out to see friends but I could make a yummy loaf of bread and create joy and comfort for my household, that’s what I did.

We were glued to screens 8+ hours a day either working, going to school (online) or zooming. We lost our safety nets, our routines, our friends, our outlets. Uncertainty was the name of the game. Finding certainty in an uncertain world was the goal for many of us.

We must give ourselves grace and compassion.

It was important to me to bring to light the real issues that people were facing during the hit of COVID. Weight gain was not one of them.

NBC 30 Interview (linked interview)

More information on Covid19 and Eating Disorders (linked article)