Stay home, lose weight

There are a lot of people out there who are blaming Covid-19 for their weight gain. I totally disagree. On the contrary, I have lost three kilos this month and even though I am obviously not walking 10,000 steps a day, I am eating healthy. There is no bingeing, no gorging, no late-night dinners and the ruination of the body clock by snacks and tippling every day.
On this canvas, there is a lot of experimentation going on in the average kitchen. With many ingredients not so easily available, finding substitutes and giving old recipes a shot has become quite the option at the moment. People are pulling out old family cookbook specials and giving them a dusting.
So even without standard exercise, the sheer cleaning up of the digestive system with less fried foods and richcurries, we have become more prone to simpler foods. We are eating on time and unhurriedly.
We rhapsodise about the environment having got cleaned up and how the sky is bluer and the waters cleaner and wildlife having a blast, so what is wrong in being a little kind to ourselves by the same measure? A large number of us have used the 'stay home, stay safe' dictate to bring a certain order into our lives.
A friend of mine who is an eminent doctor says that while the human race hasn't figured it out yet, when they get back to the new normal, they will miss these multiple versions of a lockdown. Staying home has brought about a certain introspection, a distinct slowing down of the hurtle, and the comfort of getting off the 9 to 5 treadmill has been quite the revelation. Truth be told, we are getting the rhythm of it and it is okay.
Be fair to yourself. We are a lot more organised, we are using our brains to compensate for what we can't get, reworking our priorities, and figuring out that the pleasures of the rat race are not much fun after all.  
bikram@khaleejtimes.com