pandemic – The Neverending Lori

I find myself using my Facebook account less often, but one thing I really enjoy is seeing the “Memories” that pop up each day. This week I had a few significant ones that I’d like to discuss.

First of all, three years ago during the COVID “shelter at home” I found a reason to get out of the house to go to a blood drive. I had not donated since I was 18, and I didn’t have a particularly good time at that point in my life, so I had not donated since. But, this time in 2020 was HARD y’all and I needed some human interaction with people other than the ones sheltering in my home with me…so off to the blood drive I went.

Fittingly enough, this week I received my “2 Gallon” pin from the American Red Cross. Not only did I start donating in 2020, but I kept going as I realized that donating blood was NOT a big deal and could really help people. I am O+, so one time the blood drive workers suggested I consider doing a Power Red donation, as O+ is very helpful and in need. Power Red basically takes just the red blood cells and puts the plasma back in, so you’re donating a double amount of red blood cells each time. I have found that any time I am giving blood (be it at a blood drive or for a doctor’s appointment) if I drink a lot of water they can find a good vein easier. Donating blood is SUPER easy and really helps people, so please consider it if you’re not a regular donor!

Another Facebook memory that actually popped up today is the “one year anniversary” of finishing my first 6-weeks following the FASTer Way To Fat Loss nutrition program. Ironically enough, I had basically let my good habits slide but last week I was determined to do ONE workout and to use their app to track my eating.

I’m sure I’m not the ONLY one, but when I track the food I eat, I always eat better! The amazing thing with FWTFL is the amount of food you eat. Seriously – even a year later – it blows my mind that if you’re eating the right balance of food, you need to eat a LOT in order to fuel your body. Last week I did workouts on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. I didn’t follow the workouts by day (as Friday and Sunday are both active recovery) but did total body, upper body, and leg day. I’ve been eating better and tracking what I eat. I feel a LOT better today than I did a week ago.

Honestly, I’m not sure WHY that surprises me. I feel like I’m a fairly intelligent person, but when it comes to my physical and mental health I’m a total ding-dong. Gee, if something makes me feel great and then I stop and feel like crap, it surely has NOTHING to do with the thing I stopped…??? What is wrong with my brain?

Anyway, I’m going to let that go and focus on each day as it comes. I’ve planned out my meals for the next week, made a list, and groceries are being acquired. When I did the first 6-weeks, the weight seemed like it was melting off of me and I wasn’t even doing the workouts. I feel like a newbie again, but this time I’m adding the workouts into my regular routine.

If you’re curious about the FASTer Way To Fat Loss, there are two main components I tell people. One is that you’re not counting calories, but Macronutrients (Carbs, Fat, and Protein). Here’s the thing – turns out your body actually NEEDS carbs, so all that time I spent avoiding bread, pasta, rice, etc….dumb. The other main component of FWTFL is intermittent fasting.

WAIT – don’t go away! As soon as I heard that when I was introduced to the program I was like “Sorry, not gonna work for me…I can’t do that”. Well – turns out I CAN and even when I was “train’s not even NEAR the tracks” off track, I still kept with an IF schedule because I felt so much better when I followed it. The IF period is slowly introduced when you work with a Coach on your initial 6-weeks, and seriously, it’s amazing what a difference it makes.

If you’re interested in giving FWTFL a try, I HIGHLY recommend joining my coach, Jill Lewis. She breaks things down and makes the transition to a healthier lifestyle totally do-able! You can click HERE to join through my referral link (I would NOT recommend it if I did NOT believe in it). Be sure you select Jill Lewis as your coach! There is a special “Midlife Mayhem” round starting on the 24th. My referral link is HERE and again – Jill Lewis is who you select for your coach. FASTer Way has special programs for men, breastfeeding mommas, etc. There is a HUGE group of women over 50 who are taking control of their health and wellness by what they eat. If you’re local and want to join me for a FWTFL workout, let me know and we’ll get together and give one a try!

I’m thankful for the memories that Facebook showed me this week. They remind me that there is ALWAYS something you can do for someone else. Helping others is good for the soul. The FWTFL also reminded me that this amazing feeling I have today is no accident – it’s because I’ve been working AND fueling my body and treating it well.

Have a great week!

Last week as I lay in bed one night I felt a feeling I had not felt in a LONG time. I felt a heaviness in my chest…I remembered having that feeling before – when I’d get bronchitis every year. Now, the interesting thing is, it has been since before January 2020 since I’ve had my yearly bronchitis. In fact, my cough would be so severe and last so long (often for months) that at the start of COVID my hubs and I were very concerned what would happen if I were to catch COVID – would my lungs be able to handle it?

At the beginning of the pandemic, it was quite scary. Hearing this virus was so easily transmitted and how it went straight for your lungs concerned me. I had been hospitalized as a child one summer with double pneumonia and I think my lungs probably have some lingering damage from that. Anyway, I was very worried about how my body would react to this mystery virus that was plowing through the world and inundating hospitals. As more and more information came out I found myself vacillating between terrified and relieved, depending on the story.

I got my vaccination as soon as possible, followed up by a booster. As more and more people around me contracted COVID and came through it well, I figured I would be fine if/when I found myself exposed. We had a few close calls, but it wasn’t until August of 2021 that anyone in our immediate household tested positive. I was the primary caregiver for my elderly father when he tested positive and trust me when I tell you that if I didn’t get it from HIM, I wasn’t going to get it at all!

Now let’s pop back to last week when I felt that old familiar heaviness in my chest. I thought it was odd, but it sure did feel like I was getting sick. By the next morning I was sure – I was sick. I had a barking cough and my voice was raspy. I stayed home from work, hoping it would pass through quickly. I’ve been dealing with it for over a week now, with Sunday being the worst of it. Each day I feel much better. And yes, I did take a COVID test because we had some here at home and I was NOT positive.

Here’s the thing, though – do you remember what it was like to be sick BEFORE COVID? I needed some OTC cold meds so on Saturday I went into Kroger. I was wearing a mask to protect people from my germs. I was not chatting anyone up or leisurely shopping. I went in with a mission to get what I needed and get out with minimal contact. One of the items I purchased required a DOB, so even through I had gone to self-checkout (again, to avoid people) the cashier had to come over and enter my DOB into the kiosk.

She was so repulsed by me that I seriously felt like Patient Zero for the next global pandemic. Did COVID freak us out to the point that we cannot handle normal illnesses in our fellow humans?

One of my friends said it best. She said “Remember when we all just went into the office everyday with boxes of Kleenex and bottles of Chloraseptic with our sneezing and coughing because it was ‘just’ a cold?”!!! YES!!! Yes, yes, YES!

Pre-pandemic we were more tolerant of sniffles and sneezes because, well, because they’re germs and we all have them and that’s how our body learns to fight germs off. I feel like the pandemic has made a lot of people fearful.

I get it. People are traumatized. Lots of bad decisions were made during the pandemic, but nobody knew what the hell was going on or how to handle it. And now when we hear a cough or a sneeze we’re Pavlov’ed into a sense of fear. This was my first time encountering that fear as a sick person. I would imagine I’ve expressed that fear to someone in public, perhaps without even being aware that I was doing so.

As for me, I’m finally feeling better and will be going back to the world of the living. I think all traumas make us long for a return to “before”….I wish we could just go back to how it was “before” that happened. My experience Saturday at Kroger reminded me how much the pandemic changed – both good and bad – and gave me a longing for a return to a time that we didn’t hear someone sneeze or cough and find ourselves filled with fear and anxiety for our own safety.

Tag: pandemic

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