While COVID-19 certainly is not a good thing I do try to find any positive I can in a bad situation. Like being in quarantine has given me more time to spend with my son that I would have not otherwise had. I am learning new recipes, and getting my house cleaned, which it really needed! As a fitness professional I am seeing people really starting to tune into their health like never before. Really paying attention to how they feel, now some are borderline obsessive taking their temperature three times a day and washing their hands every 20 mins, but it is good to see people finally paying attention to their health.

I do feel that our health is something we take for granted on a daily basis. Most people hit the ground running: planning meetings, social gatherings, kids’ activities and schooling. The fact we woke up, breathing, heart beating, muscles moving practically escapes us. Now we look at those with underlying health issues and getting sick and I think for some we realize “I am thankful to have this healthy body”.

So now that you may have this new appreciation for your body, what are you going to do to maintain it, or maybe you realize your body could be better? You could make it leaner, stronger, faster, healthier. If you are part of the 30.5% on the American population that has obesity and other weight related issues, you may want to focus now. There is growing concern over the connection of obesity and COVID-19 complications and deaths. Two new studies have been released this week regarding COVID-19 and the affects it has on people with a body mass index (BMI) between 30-34. Patients younger than 60 with a BMI of 30-34 were twice as likely than their non-obese peers to be admitted to the hospital for acute care instead of being sent home from the ER. One study in New York found that these people were 1.8 times more likely to require critical care in the hospital’s ICU.

I know we have all heard that carrying the extra weight isn’t good for blood pressure, diabetes, our knees, our backs, etc. However, that really hasn’t seemed to get anyone moving. So now I ask, if these other health issues didn’t trigger you, will COVID-19? We are willing to shut down our economy, lock ourselves in our homes and cancel all the fun events we had planned to protect ourselves from COVID-19, but are we willing to change our diet and exercise habits to do the same?

I have worked with my fair share of stubborn clients that don’t consider the extra weight as any big deal joking that “they have a keg, not a six pack” or that they are trying to “achieve that new dad bod look” and even women who say “men like curves”. I am not saying everyone needs to be at their peak and look like a model. However, I do feel, especially in America, we have started to embrace our obesity as a positive and not a negative. We praise celebrities who are severely obese by saying things like “look at their bravery.” Then on the flip side when another celebrity like celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels asks on the Ellen show “What is brave about that? They are sick.” She gets bashed everywhere for being mean. Note, she could have been nicer about what she was saying but she had a point. Why are we embracing this unhealthy lifestyle that is now literally putting you at even more risk of death from COVID-19.

Again I am not trying to start any kind of fat shaming or scare you into thinking that extra slice of cake will kill you, but there is a real obesity problem in our country and now especially with COVID-19 it is literally killing us. When making this point about a month ago one person commented that “isn’t this common sense?” Well yes you would think so, but I think what even surprised me was that now a study recently published by MedRxiv, about cases specific to New York City, showed obesity to be the third leading cause of COVID Hospitalizations. A link to the article is listed at the bottom of this page. In summary the number one predictor was being older than 75, the second predictor was being ages 65-75 and third was having a BMI over 40. This means if you are 65 and older you are at the most risk followed by if you have a BMI of over 40. Not smoking, asthma or a history of lung disease. A high BMI was the biggest predictor next to age. What really shocked me this week is the CDC did their own study across 14 states and found the following.

“During March 1–28, 2020, the overall laboratory-confirmed COVID-19–associated hospitalization rate was 4.6 per 100,000 population; rates increased with age, with the highest rates among adults aged ≥65 years. Approximately 90% of hospitalized patients identified through COVID-NET had one or more underlying conditions, the most common being obesity, hypertension, chronic lung disease, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease.”

Note the list after age,

1. Obesity – Treated with proper diet and exercise, medical intervention such as surgery may be required in extreme cases.

2. Hypertension – Treated with proper diet and exercise, in extreme cases managed with prescription drugs.

3. Chronic Lung Disease – This can vary depending on the disease, but again proper diet and exercise can prevent some and help during the treatment of other diseases.

4. Diabetes Mellitus – No cure but can be managed with diet and exercise, prescription drugs and insulin.

5. Cardiovascular disease – Primarily starts with changes to lifestyle such as eating properly and exercising. In extreme cases may need medical intervention.

Bottom line is this isn’t anything new. We have all heard this before and I could speak all day about the benefits of proper diet and exercise. But now that we are all seeing in real time the effects of COVID and we are taking extreme measures to slow the spread I want to use this time to also encourage you to make other health habits a priority. I understand making changes like this is difficult but look at what we have all been able to accomplish. For weeks our economy has shut down, we never would have thought it was possible, but here we are doing it. Closing schools and homeschooling kids, while working from home and not being able to go out on the weekends to unwind, but here we are. You don’t have to make major changes right now, for now I want you to take a deeper look into your health. I’m so glad you are all washing your hands now, I didn’t know that wasn’t a thing until COVID. Now, can we consider the foods we pick up with those clean hands? Can we start making plans to become more active when we are done binge watching Tiger King after quarantine?

If you are ready to develop a plan to create a healthier you but are not sure where to start, feel free to contact me. I am now up and running with my own online client portal and app where you can join a community, develop nutrition guides, track food, browse through a workout library and get the support you need from a certified coach or trainer all from the safety and comfort of your home.

Links for articles/studies referenced:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.08.20057794v1

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/groups-at-higher-risk.html

WOLLERTON WELLNESS