The New Normal

by Jennifer Ashton, M. D.

  Don’t turn an emergency into a personal health crisis. Stocking up on foods you like doesn’t give you carte blanche to load up only on frozen pizza, Tater Tots, and Kool-Aid. Some comfort foods are fine, but an emergency, especially a viral outbreak, is not the time to play roulette with your health. Be sure your meal planning includes foods high in protein—think canned tuna or chicken, smoked salmon, beans, shelf-stable tofu, or frozen cuts of meat—along with vegetables (canned or frozen) and sources of healthy fat like olive oil, nuts, shredded coconut, and shelf-stable cheeses like Parmesan.

  Remember liquids. If you don’t drink tap water, load up on enough bottled water to make it for two weeks. And everyone should remember to include beverages they may want or need, like shelf-stable milk, juice, and/or powder-based drink mix.

  Designate an emergency-food area. If you have enough space in your home, designate a kitchen cabinet or part of a closet as your emergency-food area. This way, no one in your household, including you, will dig into your emergency supplies simply because they’re there. Your emergency cabinet or closet is also a good place to store extra medication and your first-aid kit (see here on why you need both).

  Don’t panic buy. Panic buying became a problem in many areas of the United States in the early months of the pandemic, increasing food-supply chain disruptions and hurting many who suddenly couldn’t find basic essentials. Panic buying can also harm you: Hoarding supplies increases anxiety levels and can lead to more compulsive behaviors.

  And don’t panic eat. Just because you have food doesn’t mean you have to eat it. Unfortunately, though, panic buying often leads to panic eating. For these reasons, don’t overstock and try to designate an emergency-food space if space allows. Remember that frozen and canned foods can keep for months or even years.

  Everything about our new normal is different, including how we eat. Some of our new nutritional habits, like cooking more at home, are great for our overall health and well-being, but others, like stress eating and overeating, can be deleterious. You may not have realized how your eating patterns have changed as a result of the pandemic, but taking the time to self-evaluate and recognize the new habits you’ve adopted can help you keep the healthy ones and do away with those that may be bad for your health and waistline.

  Similarly, it’s also important to recognize that how we eat in the new normal should change. Some of us may need to consume less to compensate for lower activity rates and/or recent weight gain while everyone can stand to prioritize the low-sugar foods that can help safeguard our bodies in pandemic times. Remember, food is medicine, and with every bite, you have an opportunity to help nourish, protect, and treat your body.

  Chapter 5

  Exercise

  If you’re struggling to adapt to the new normal, know that everyone else is struggling, too—every single one of us. Some may be more confident in areas of the new normal, but no one has adapted to every aspect. No one has all the answers, and that includes me. So while I may have been able to navigate my way out of anxiety and stress eating, I haven’t yet discovered how to enjoy exercise in the pandemic era.

  This is not an insignificant development for two reasons. First, while fitness has always been vital to good health, it’s become critical now as we face two pandemics—one physical, the other mental—in which exercise can play a key role in helping to prevent and treat adverse outcomes of both. Since I’m not as eager to work out in the pandemic era, my fitness has dropped, which has caused my physical and mental health to fall in many ways (e.g., my LDL has increased by eleven points over the past year, which I attribute solely to less exercise, and I’m not as cheerful as I used to be). That’s not exactly ideal when there’s an ongoing viral outbreak and another pandemic that may or may not be right around the corner. We need to be stronger now than ever before.

  Second, the fact that I’m now struggling to enjoy exercise is like saying the Cookie Monster no longer likes chocolate-chip cookies. Exercise is integral to my identity; it’s part of my DNA. I’ve been playing sports or working out in one way or another since I was seven. For about three decades up until the pandemic hit, I was at the gym up to six days a week, doing cardio, lifting weights, or some combination of both.

  While it may sound crazy to those who don’t like exercise—and no judgment, because I get that exercise isn’t everyone’s thing—I love the way working out makes me feel, physically, mentally, and emotionally. A good workout leaves me feeling fit, strong, confident, healthy, and powerful, like I can do anything I want with my body. Working out is my mental salve, what I do to stay optimistic, energetic, focused, clearheaded, and happy. Bad day? I go the gym to get over it. Long day? I hit the spin bike to reinvigorate. Great day? I lift weights or take a total body workout class to celebrate and reflect.

  In other words, to me, working out in the gym is what traveling, watching football, playing sports, and a host of other hobbies, many also transformed by the pandemic, are to other people. Now that going to the gym or taking a fitness class is nothing like it used to be, I feel lost, if not a little depressed.

  Despite these feelings, I’ve worked hard to try to find some joy outside the gym. I’ve done a hundred push-ups a day and held planks for minutes at a time after rediscovering the benefits of both in The Self-Care Solution, which I wrote before the pandemic. I’ve also tried doing other types of exercise at home, even though my apartment is small enough that when I roll out a yoga mat, only half fits on my carpet. When I was sitting all day to be on TV, I started wrapping resistance bands around my knees and doing hip abductor exercises in my chair.

  What saved me, though, was rediscovering the joy of running outside. Usually, I don’t jog anywhere other than a treadmill because I’m prone to Achilles tendinitis, and uneven surfaces, however slight, aggravate the injury. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and so far, while it’s no gym substitute, I’ve learned to feel pretty good with running. I’m not at all where I want to be with exercise, but I’m doing a whole lot better than I was at the start of all this. In pandemic times, that counts as a victory, so I’ll take it.

  Today, I’ve come to recognize that I’ve suffered a loss in terms of working out: the loss of a passion that helped to define me. This loss is obviously nowhere near as devastating as the loss of a loved one, a job, or one’s health, but it’s still a loss nevertheless and one that’s affected me greatly. If you’ve also lost a passion in the pandemic, it’s important to recognize that so you can grieve it and move on.

  But this chapter isn’t about how to grieve for what we’ve lost in our new normal—you can learn more about that here. Instead, this chapter is about how and why to strive to make exercise part of your new normal at this point in time, when you’re still laying the groundwork of what you want your new normal to look like and be. It’s about how to find the time, space, and motivation to work out when both logistics and inspiration to exercise may be in short supply.

  Everyone has a different story when it comes to exercise now. Some have started to work out for the first time in years because they finally found the time or flexibility with working from home or after losing their jobs. Others, on the other hand—and data shows this is the majority of Americans—have become less active or stayed sedentary as a result of the pandemic.

  Today, many also don’t want to use a gym or be around others breathing vigorously, whether inside or out. Others don’t even have a gym to use after many closed permanently when lockdown orders were lifted. Some people have lost their fitness and can’t find the energy to get it back. And of course there are also those who simply feel too overwhelmed by the uncertainty in our new normal to even consider trying to add in exercise, even though physical activity may be the best salve for fear of the unknown.

  No matter your story, there are reasons why and ways how to make exercise part of your new narrative. We’re all facing a new normal, and how we restructure that new normal is up to us. Whether exercise was an integral par
t of your life pre-pandemic or you’re now just looking at ways to improve your situation, this moment presents an opportunity for exercise to help your well-being. If you can build a new reality that includes exercise, you’ll be healthier, happier, and more resilient to whatever happens now and next in the world.

  In this chapter, I’ll share how exercise of any kind can become your secret weapon against infection, stress, and loneliness. Your physical condition and fitness have the potential to improve, even when other things feel as though they’re deteriorating. And in an environment that often feels as though our freedom has been restricted, physical activity stands in the face of that, boldly reflecting that you still have the ability to move and be active whenever you want, even if it is in or around your home.

  What We Know About Exercise in Our New Normal

  While there are plenty of stories of people rediscovering exercise in the pandemic era, the coronavirus outbreak has caused most Americans to become less physically active. That’s a troubling development, given that only 23 percent of adults before the pandemic met federal guidelines for the minimum amount of exercise: one hundred fifty minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week (or thirty minutes of cardio five days per week) or seventy-five minutes of vigorous activity, along with some type of muscle-strengthening activity twice a week.

  New surveys and studies come out often, but reports largely show that those who exercised before the pandemic don’t work out as often or have stopped altogether. One survey, for example, found a 32 percent plunge in physical activity since the outbreak began among those who exercise.1 Step counts have also dropped, with data from fitness trackers showing up to a 50 percent dip in daily steps, as many have stopped walking around offices, across parking lots, in stores, or simply out the door.2

  The problem with our national nose dive in activity is that less exercise has now become part of our new normal.3 According to a survey by LIFEAID Beverage, one in four Americans who exercised at least twice per week before the pandemic aren’t going back to the gym.4 One in three say they will go less frequently than they did before.

  Some have severed the gym because they’re now using home exercise equipment that they purchased after fitness clubs shuttered at the beginning of the outbreak. Others have discovered alternatives like running outside or are doing at-home online classes because they are less expensive and more convenient or pose fewer safety concerns than a gym membership. In fact, 56 percent of Americans say they’ve found “more affordable” ways to work out without a gym since the pandemic began, according to a survey by TD Ameritrade.5

  But not everyone who’s given up on fitness clubs and classes has found another way to work out. Many have just stopped exercising altogether.

  Of course, there are plenty of people who don’t want to go to a gym or never did before the pandemic began. Many regular exercisers who worked out outside or played sports before the outbreak have been able to maintain those habits, with modifications. But for the most part, data shows that many who were regular exercisers in pre-coronavirus times are now exercising less—or not at all.

  The reasons that many of us have lost our exercise mojo are manifold. Some gym users don’t feel safe returning to clubs or classes where people are breathing heavily; others say it’s a challenge or even impossible to wear a mask while exercising inside.6 Safety concerns have also discouraged those who liked to play team sports or exercise outside where there are other people. What’s more, many gyms have permanently closed as a result of the pandemic, leaving some without the option to work out inside even if they wanted or when bad weather prevents an outdoor sweat session.

  But America’s overriding inability to get back into an exercise groove in our new normal goes beyond logistics. After stay-at-home orders were issued, less or no exercise became a new routine for many—and that new routine has now become our new norm. Restarting an old routine after you’ve established a new one can be psychologically challenging, especially a routine, like exercise, that requires physical and mental energy under any circumstances.

  There may also be a physical hurdle to resuming your exercise routine in our new normal. If you stopped working out for any period during the pandemic, like millions of Americans who were forced to quarantine at home, you’ve likely lost fitness, which makes getting back on the workout wagon that much more difficult.

  Many of us also need inspiration to exercise, which has become particularly challenging to find in our new normal. It’s not so easy anymore to socialize your workout and exercise with a friend, meet a personal trainer, take a fitness class in the same room as others, or play a team sport. If you’re working out at home, transitioning from living, working, sleeping, or eating at home to exercising at home isn’t easy. Some people have also lost their motivation to work out now that there are fewer weddings, reunions, swimsuit vacations, and other incentives to get and look fit. For the weekend warriors among us, there are also fewer races, games, and athletic events to train for.

  Personally, I don’t enjoy exercising alone. Working out with my two athletic kids, instructors, trainers, friends, or even alongside strangers at the gym motivates me and holds me accountable. Another mental hurdle for me that I know many others share: I associate exercise with the gym, and when I can’t be inside a structured environment that includes cardio machines and weights, I feel less motivated because I believe I’m not making the same fitness gains, however erroneous that belief may be.

  For those who didn’t exercise before the pandemic began, our new normal hasn’t exactly motivated the majority to pick up the habit. Still, there are inspirational stories of people who started exercising because they lost their jobs or began working from home and suddenly found the time or flexibility to make exercise a priority. Others have started exercising because it’s one thing they can do after the pandemic curbed the ability to travel, socialize, eat out, and do other leisure activities with abandon.

  Whatever group describes you, there’s one thing we all have in common: The pandemic has changed how, where, when, and maybe even why we exercise. And those changes are likely here to stay.

  Why Exercise is Critical in Our New Normal

  Doctors, researchers, and public health experts have said it for years, but the coronavirus pandemic drives home why we all need to exercise: No one knows when something like the coronavirus will threaten our well-being and make it that much more important to be as healthy as humanly possible.

  Another way to think about it: If you’re adamant about wearing a mask and social distancing—as you should be, since those are two of the most important ways to reduce infection risk—you should also be adamant about reducing your risk of severe illness from infection. And physical activity, along with good nutrition and proper sleep hygiene, is one of the best ways to accomplish that feat. While working out is no guarantee you won’t get seriously sick with the coronavirus or any other illness—we reported on marathon runners who went to the ICU with the virus—regular physical activity can greatly improve your chances of staying healthy and fighting any disease, COVID-19 or otherwise.

  What’s more, consistent exercise has been shown to help prevent or treat overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and other comorbidities shown to increase the risk of severe COVID-19 complications. People who exercise may also have a lower risk of developing acute respiratory distress syndrome with COVID-19, one of the leading causes of death from the disease.7

  While the data is weak on whether eating certain foods can definitively boost immunity (see here for more), there’s plenty of evidence to show that physical activity does bolster immune function.8 The stronger your immune system, the less likely you are to contract certain infections and illnesses. Or if you do get sick, those who exercise have a better chance at fighting off infection or illness in many circumstances.

  Our national need to be active in our new normal isn’t just physical, of course. Exercise is also a mental necessity right now, as mill
ions face anxiety, depression, loneliness, boredom, hopelessness, aimlessness, or uncertainty as a persistent fallout of the pandemic. If you don’t think you suffer from any emotional hiccups as a result of the pandemic, I encourage you to reconsider: Almost all of us are dealing with some degree of uncertainty now, and whether you realize it or not, that uncertainty can take a toll on your mental and emotional health if you don’t have a healthy outlet like exercise to help work through it.

  How can exercise help ease uncertainty and other emotions triggered by the pandemic? In many ways. You likely already know about the runner’s high that happens immediately after a good sweat session, but exercise’s impact on mood lasts longer than this ephemeral elation. In fact, regular physical activity can work as well as prescription antidepressants in some cases to help improve depression,9 while exercising for just five minutes can start to lower anxiety levels.10 A recent study in animals also found that exercise may help people recover more easily from stressful situations, boosting our overall stress resilience.11 Working out also significantly improves sleep quality and quantity (more about why you need both in chapter 6) and may help prevent and treat insomnia. Perhaps most impressively, exercise may help heal acute mental trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by stimulating the nervous system to literally move past emotional immobilization.12