The current situation is making us learn things we thought we never had time to do or cannot do. We find ways in breaking sweat such as manually doing the laundry and cleaning the house so often that it actually won’t need cleaning for a while. Based on social media posts, newly discovered culinary skills were shared, too.
The upside of this newly found talent is that as long as we have the components for cooking, we can satisfy our cravings anytime we want. So, what’s the obvious downside? Of course, we get plumper than the fattened livestock supposedly reserved for the coronavirus-cancelled fiesta celebrations. Our clothes and weights also have more ups and downs compared to fuel prices.
A hormone called” leptin” is made of fat cells in our bodies that tell our brain we have enough fat stored up. Muscle mass and fats are lost when we lose weight, and leptin decreasing makes us hungry so that when we stop dieting and become less active, there is supersized craving and fewer calories burned.
In gaining weight back, fat takes the superhighway to our system and builds up quickly. It is one of the reasons why yo-yo dieting makes us heavier than we had started diet. It could also lead to binge eating. Our physical appearance isn’t the only thing that’s going to have changes but also our insides. There could be inflammations which might alter our immune system, there could be insulin resistance, and there could be possibility of gallstones, hypertension and heart disease because our blood vessels are burdened.
This article is not discouraging the culinary victories we have already achieved. Yes, cooking will always be a part of our lives, and there is that sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when we do it. But there should also be the need to cultivate and improve what we learn in this time of forced isolation. Our point here is to do things in moderation and be active for at least 30 minutes daily. Go ahead and conquer the kitchen, be it for binakol, batchoy or perhaps those fancy sounding French or Italian cuisines. Just don’t forget to “EXERCISE”.
Quarantine restrictions have eased up a bit. Maybe we can slowly get back to what was normal. Yes, unli-rice is just around the corner. Losing some but gaining more is definitely not the new normal. Self-control is the key./PN
