Today if you log onto Facebook, I can almost guarantee that you will run across a 20+ comment post about face-coverings. I hate myself for it, but I am one of those people who get sucked into reading a 54 comment thread of people pointlessly arguing with others.
Not to try and create a viral thread myself, but I wanted to write a blog post about masks and give my opinion on what we should be doing.
Studies do show that wearing face coverings helps slow the spread of the coronavirus. I wear a face-covering every day in public and have it on me at the gym too, but I am not religious about it like some. I do not feel the need to stand behind my podium and preach to the congregation about wearing a mask, but I understand that wearing it could help prevent me from spreading the virus if I was contagious. I know that there are studies out there also showing the opposite, but I chose to wear it anyways.
That being said, I know a few people who have come down with COVID and all but one are avid mask wearers, and studies now are showing that the chances of you getting COVID at some point within the next year are increasing each day exponentially.
So what happens WHEN you get COVID? Not IF you get COVID.
The answer is, you hope your body can fight off the virus, and that you do not need to be hospitalized. Wearing a face-covering will lower your chances of getting or giving COVID, but how do you prepare your body to fight it when you do get it? That is the question most people should be asking.
Caring is crucial, and it is “caring for others” that is pushed so hard by most avid mask wearers, but what about SELF-CARE? Self-care is something that I think many of us in the United States lack. On average, our population is 40% more obese than the average person around the world. Heart disease and other chronic diseases account for almost 2 million deaths annually in our country, and now, adults are passing this trend to their kids with more people under the age of twenty being diagnosed with diabetes annually than ever before. Its no wonder a respiratory virus is killing so many of our fellow countrymen and women.
Self-care and healthy habits should be at the forefront of everyone’s priority list. We need to create healthy eating and exercise habits asap! I am not talking about a complete overhaul of your nutritional habits, simply eat a little better. Start by removing the things in a standard diet that causes inflammation to occur in the body. Sugar, refined carbohydrates (grains), trans fat (fries), processed meat (deli meat), and excessive alcohol are things most of us are eating and could eliminate today and lower our body’s inflammation significantly within a few weeks. From there, add vegetables to every meal and consume lean meats, and your body will be well fueled for the fight against COVID that is sure to come.
That way of eating is the simplest form of eating for health, but it will take some practice. Something even more effective at preparing your body to fight COVID is exercise! Exercising 3-5 times a week has been shown to increase your immune system and the immune cells that your body uses to fight off the bad things. Exercise does more than builds your strength and endurance; it builds your body’s resilience as well. Someone who pushes their body daily prepares it for stress, and when you are sick, your body becomes stressed. Someone who does an exercise program like CrossFit prepares themselves mentally and physically to be put under stress and succeed. Both are things you need to be prepared to fight off COVID.
I am not saying drop everything and start training for a marathon, but you need to be doing something. If you are not sure what to do and you have made it this far into this blog, call me, I can help you!
We need to change our current state. We need to be healthier and stronger. We can do this through diet and exercise, and I am here to help you. Combine a healthy routine like this with proper social distancing and mask-wearing, and you are putting yourself in the best position to make it through this crisis on the right side.
Is this a cure-all to the current situation? NO, but it will help, and those that genuinely care about others should be pushing diet and exercise right now and not chastising everyone who isn’t wearing a mask.
Richard