Our next Board member to weigh in with a lesson learned during the pandemic is TOPS Treasurer, Sandra Seidlitz. She is also a KOPS and hails from the province of Alberta.
Sandra Seidlitz’s Lesson
Freedom Is Priceless
My mother said I was born “old.” Being an only child, I pretty well did what I wanted. I learned to decide what I wanted to do and then planned a way of doing it. It usually worked out. It still does.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made me sit back and think hard. I could no longer travel, go shopping, have my family over for dinner, have friends visit, slip out to the grocery store or even go for a quick lunch.
It’s not that I have trouble finding things to do at home, but I resent not being able to go where I want to go. I make good meals at home, but I get tired of them. It is so easy to add extra spoonfuls (or even another helping, or another cookie when passing the cookie jar), knowing I won’t have to be weighed at my meeting. This is not the time to make all the new recipes I’ve searched for on days when I’m bored. Keeping busy while not involving food is paramount.
If I want my weight to stay the same (I am a KOPS), I must take this on as a project. No one is going to help me. It is up to me. My chapter contacts me but I’m really missing the hugs. I feel the urge to contact members more often because I don’t know when I will see them again.
I hope that anyone who has put on a few pounds during self-isolation will not just accept the way it is. They should give TOPS a try. I hope to see you there.
All my life I have been practicing for this. I am waiting for the time I can live my life again, free as a bird. I might never be home again!
By Rosie Tyler October 13, 2020
The one thing I try to keep in mind, its not about the number on the scale, it’s about getting healthy and staying healthy, regardless of what’s going on outside of me. It’s making a choice daily to eat food that nourish me and exercising, keeping the body moving. COVID-19 does not change that, yes it can be limiting. But the decision to take care of yourself, nurture yourself is not based on whether or not a pandemic is present. True freedom comes when we do all that we can to value who we are. Yes, I will be the first to say, somedays I feel like, what the heck and I don’t always follow through, knowing the truth. But, I do have to remind myself, it’s a journey and with all journeys there are going to be obstacle , hang in there, my true freedom is being healthy enough to do all the things I enjoy doing once the storm has passed.
By Jeanne Colvin October 26, 2020
Thank you , Rosie, for reminding me/us that we /I can not blame COVID for all my/our daily choices.
There are many ways to keep active in body, mind and soul and I am responsible for my self.
By Wanda Lansdowne October 13, 2020
Sending you a big hug, we are weighing in outside for now but really miss the meetings hopefully we get back to normal in the new year. We just have to do what we can as Rick says. Take care
By Barbara Maas October 12, 2020
Sit back, think hard, resentment, extra food. You really summed up this covid era! Anxiety led me to comfort food I’m trying to shed now & finally have a better handle on that and am doing what you are … asking myself to make a real decision to care for my mindful health or sit without a plan. I chose a plan too. Not times to exercise, recipes, etc. but time for figuring out what stays in my life & what goes. What replaces travel I miss, etc. as you put it so well. I decided to leave the Tops chapter I was with because its become complacent, low weight loss expectations & a senior friends club more but I’ll reach out to find another chapter once we can meet. I’m going into a hospital program until I find the Tops chapter for me & using our incredible online resources. Stop, think, make a plan. I did. Glad to read you are as well. Tops is just the best.
By Sandra Seidltiz October 13, 2020
Self talk helps! we can never rely on our chapters to do the work necessary to lose weight. If it is to be, it is up to me.