First off, I am not a doctor, and I am not providing any medical advise, only my opinion. Second, what a person decides, whether to get a Covid vaccination shot, is their own choice, and should be made in consultation of their doctor. As for myself, I decided to get the vaccine, and also got a booster shot. The only side effect has been a sore arm for a few days, and I did a double on the same day, with both a Covid and Flu shot, one into each arm. The Covid shot arm was sorer longer, and that was the only side effect.
All during the pandemic, it has been reported that people who are obese, are at a higher risk to get the virus, than those who are not obese, and the obese are more likely to be hospitalized or die. It is not bad enough that the medical community uses BMI to classify people as obese and morbidly obese (as I have written previously, the BMI classification system has many problems), but now, with Covid, what can you do immediately to lessen your chance of getting Covid and getting hospitalized or dying from the virus, if you are overweight? It is not like any of us can lose weight immediately.
This blog was started to provide people with the inspiration, advise and some tools to make impactful changes to themselves and improve their lives. But what can be done right now to help protect yourself from getting Covid, aside from vaccinations, other medical treatments, social distancing, etc.? Losing weight does take time, and it is a process, but there are baby steps that one can take to strengthen your body’s ability to fight Covid.
On thing you can do immediately, is that start exercising, to build up your body’s cadiovascular capacity, and also strengthen your breathing. Covid attacks the respiratory system, so it makes sense, if you heart and lungs are strengthened by exercise, they can better resist the virus. With any exercise program, first consult your physician, but generally, start slow and build up from there. Most cardiovascular benefits come after at least 20 minutes of exercise, and done 5 days a week. For the 11 years, I have been exercising at least 1 hour a day, 7 days a week. I am also a fan of non-impact exercise, so I prefer the recumbent bike and elliptical machines, rather than treadmills, and walking outside is very beneficial. You have to be more careful with running, since that is a very impactful exercise.
Another thing you can do, is cut our refined sugars, or sugar substitutes. For me, I have not had a soda, regular or diet, in 11 years. Alternatives are unsweatened ice tea, water with natural citrus flavoring (lemon, lime, or orange juice), or sparking water. Is this the magic bullet, no, but what these steps do is provide you with a means to improve your health, and take control of your life to a certain extent, so you might better to combat this virus. Exercise, and improving your diet, can help you fight off the more severe outcomes from this virus.