Anyone put on the Quarantine Fifteen?

[bae]

Ow, Bae, gout is so awful. Feel for ya.

I would not recommend getting gout to anyone. It's amazing how simply having your big toe in this condition can debilitate you. On a pain scale of 1-10, this was a consistent 7-9 depending on time of day, and made sleep quite troublesome for days. (Pain level 10 for me is defined by the time I swam into a Portuguese Man of War while night-diving).

I believe I stumbled into the situation from a combination of poor covid diet, and reduced hydration.

I shall be happy if it never reoccurs.

[JaneV2.0]

Ok Jane...what are your strategies? I need inspiration.

I'm hardly a good example of anything, but I've settled on intermittent fasting or timed eating, with a side of low carb. That seems to work best for me.

[sweetana3]

We are finally able to go to our exercise classes. 3 hour long classes until Sept when it will be four. Two are pure cardio and one is strength exercises. That plus the walk to get to and from the gym (not driving a mile) has helped both mental and physical health. Now need to clean out the snacks around the house and not buy more.

[happystuff]

I picked up the Dreaded 15 after the first few months, I think it was a combination of the daily baking and the lack of exercise.

I was starting to work on resolving the situation, when I got hit with my first attack of gout (and hopefully the last) in my big toe a couple weeks ago, which reduced my ability to exercise, bother.

I'm so sorry!! I got gout ONCE (thank goodness!) in my mid-20's in my big toe! It had me in tears. I hope it clears up quickly for you!

[Teacher Terry]

I had a friend with gout and he was in agony. Get well!

[JaneV2.0]

I think my SO used quinine. I don't remember if he was prescribed the usual drug--allopurinol?

[frugal-one]

I haven't gained weight but it has shifted. I now have a spare tire???? I have not been to the gym and am having trouble exercising by myself. I do walk 4-5 miles per day but know this is not enough.

Sorry to hear about the gout Bae! Hope it goes away SOON.

[rosarugosa]

Definitely carrying a little more weight in my tummy which I attribute to more sugar and alcohol. I'm only up 2 or 3 lbs though.

[jp1]

Ok Jane...what are your strategies? I need inspiration.

For me it works to simply not keep snacks in the house. That mostly worked pre-covid and works even better now because I'm not inclined to risk getting covid by going to the store just to buy something unhealthy. Thankfully I've never really been a snacker, but if I were I'd start keeping fruit or carrot sticks or whatever at home so that it would be the only "snacky" thing around for when I wandered to the fridge looking for something to fill the "I'm eating just to do something" void.

Difficult for me was that I decided to give up caffeine given my blood pressure scare. At first the issue was that I missed the daily energy boost. I'm well past that now, but there is exactly one choice of decaf coffee at our Safeway and I thought it sucked. Finally this week I got to the end of the bag and when using up the remainder I figured out how to make it taste better. Since I was at the end of the bag I just used all the rest of it (probably 50% more than normal) and the resulting coffee tasted great! Now I'm putting six teaspoons in the french press for two medium size cups of coffee. That seems excessive, but it tastes so much better.

[SteveinMN]

I haven't gained weight but it has shifted.

Same here. I thought I'd gained weight, but a recent visit to the doctor (only place I get weighed) shows I'm down five pounds since lockdown. It just doesn't feel that way. I know I've been snacking more but I must have compensated for that in meal portions (eating one egg instead of the usual two, etc.). It certainly hasn't been an increased activity level.

Sorry to hear about the gout Bae! Hope it goes away SOON.

Yes, pretty nasty stuff, that.

there is exactly one choice of decaf coffee at our Safeway and I thought it sucked. Finally this week I got to the end of the bag and when using up the remainder I figured out how to make it taste better.

Alton Brown has a trick that might work, as well -- a little bit of salt in the coffee as it brews. The proportions are on-line; we used 1/8 teaspoon for 48 grams of ground coffee. So maybe just sprinkle a few grains on your French press ground coffee, steep, stir, and taste. It's supposed to counteract bitterness. It never tasted salty. We noticed it has a positive effect on crummy coffee but it doesn't enhance good coffee.