Lockdown is a coin with two sides. I'd like to suggest some of the really positive things about lockdown that can help those of us who are looking to lose weight. I lost around 36Kg, that is 5st9lb in old money, though the 2 lockdowns last year and have more or less kept it off. Yes I put some on at the end of the year and at Christmas but, hey, we are all human. This lockdown I will lose the last 10 or so Kg. Lockdown is my friend.

We live in a world where we are encouraged to do this/do that, go here/go there, see this/see that, usually for commercial reasons. All of this doing, going and seeing takes time. When we "don't have time" we can be tempted to take short cuts. Such short cuts may include pre-prepared meals. When we cook those we are presented with a nutritional package someone else has designed, not one that is custom made for us. And because we are good girls and boys who don't want to waste food we clean the plate. Because lockdown reduces our doings/goings/seeings we can get time back, time that we can use to make meals customised to our own weight loss and weight maintenance needs. We may even find preparing from scratch a lot easier than we remember, and cheaper!

We also live in a world in a world where, whether we like it or not, we are encouraged to be social. Being social may mean going out to places and meeting friends. In the UK, at least, that may involve meeting in a pub, coffee shop, cafe or an eatery. For those of us "trying to be good" it presents a real challenge. We don't like to feel left out, we do like to join in. So, wherever booze is involved hollow calories are consumed. In addition after "one or two" the appetite is raised...look out nuts, crisps, burgers and kebabs! Even the "nice" coffees are stuffed full of calories and as for the cakes.....! If you are in an eatery having what you think is the "good" option whilst everyone else is eating what you want to eat isn't fun. It's not "our fault" that we just want to "join" in. By not going out you save money and the temptations are not there.

We have also gained time to reflect on what the journey was that lead us to the weight we are. We can learn to accept that what we did was anything that someone like us would have done in the circumstances that we were in. We can learn that whilst it was not necessarily ideal, it's ok, and, we really have no need to beat ourselves up about it. Knowing that, we can feel good about where we are on our weight loss journey with every day a new beginning. Some of the things I wrote about above may have been things that either contributed to weight gain in the past or have got in the way of previous weight loss journeys. What this lockdown gives us is the loss of many of the "excuses" that we have had in the past. It gives us, to at least mid- February, the opportunity to break some of the "bad habits" we have created and make some new good ones. When the first lockdown lifted, and after losing most of the weight I did last year, I was able to enter the "normal" world with a different outlook on socialising and food and drink. You can learn a lot about yourself if you want to during this period. You have the excuse to not go out and booze and gorge. You have the perfect reason to only have the food that you know will help you "right weight" yourself in the house.

It really is down to you how you use lock down. It can be such a positive thing. Try thinking of positive things that I have not already mentioned, there will be many personal to you. My lockdown assisted weight loss means I am no longer pre-diabetic and that means I am at less at risk if I do get Covid-19. That's brilliant! Choose or continue what ever "right weighting" plan is right for you and use the space that lockdown gives you to boost your efforts.

Take Care, stay well!