Tag: COVID-19 pandemic

Getting Creative with Exercise During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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One of the challenges, or perhaps opportunities, which presented itself during this pandemic has been exercising. I am a lover of group classes and have relied on group Zumba and Yoga classes for fitness as well as lifting weights at our local gym. The pandemic has forced me to become a little more creative with how I get my fitness in. My own personal fitness goal is to exercise consistently 4 times a week. Juggling work as a family doc and being a mama to a toddler has given me this specific goal. As I grow in prioritizing my time and becoming more organized I definitely hope to increase the frequency of my workouts to about 5-6 times per week!

So what’s a girl (or guy) to do when your main source of exercising is taken away… creative at home work outs! Which is how I discovered Pound Fitness, a full body workout which utilizes weighted drumsticks. I have fallen in love with these workouts. They are so fun and can be accomplished in 20 to 40 minutes. I ordered the weighted drumsticks from the website http://www.poundfit.com and I also joined “Backstage” their online work out community. I pay $10 a month for unlimited access to all of their videos . I usually do the workouts when my daughter is napping in the afternoon or very early in the morning, so this all takes place outside to not wake her up. Thank goodness we have a covered gazebo because the South Florida summer weather can be brutal!

My set up where I do my Pound Fit workouts… not glamorous but it works for me and most importantly I get my exercise in! I use my laptop to follow along and use a couple of yoga mats to pound on (and protect our concrete floors)!

Here is a link to Pound Fit… FYI I do not benefit in anyway if you sign up for Pound Fit or check out their website. I just wanted to share a fitness routine that I have fallen in love with 🙂

Other exercise routines that I have been enjoying include yoga- there are so many great and FREE YouTube videos that you can follow. Also, just walking outside pushing my daughter in her stroller or wagon counts too!

There are so many benefits to being physically active- I promise to write another blog post with specific benefits, all of which are evidence based. We also know that any small amount of physical activity is better than no physical activity at all. So let’s all move our bodies shall we? I like to tell my patients to start small and slowly work their way up to a greater frequency and intensity of exercising. If you are not used to exercising at all, trying to do vigorous activity like running daily may be unrealistic and only set you up for injury and not committing to a fitness regimen. Small changes accumulate over time and lead to bigger changes.

Don’t forget to speak to your physician before starting a new fitness regimen- get the green light from them especially if you are older or have multiple medical conditions.

So what have you been doing to stay active and fit during this pandemic? What exercise regimens do you enjoy? Let me know in the comments section here or on my Instagram @ladoctorasuarez

Love,

Monica

Despair During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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These are crazy times huh… as I write this post, South Florida, my home, is now the epicenter for the COVID-19 pandemic. I am sure that I am not alone when I say this, these past few months have seemed surreal. Just when things were starting to have a better outlook, just when businesses were starting to open, and we were all starting to step outside and begin to interact more with each other albeit in a socially distanced way (or not so socially distanced for some), our COVID-19 numbers began to sky rocket. Positive COVID-19 results began to accumulate in my work inbox. This was a real change from the beginning of the pandemic when very few of my patients were testing positive.

How could this be I wonder? I was just starting to feel more hopeful, more optimistic. My stress and anxiety were just starting to lessen… At the beginning of the pandemic in mid-March, I used to stay up into the wee hours of the morning pouring over news articles and consuming all of the social media that I could. Post after post from various physician colleagues, all with sobering and desolate details in regards to number of cases, lack of treatment. Stories of young medical professionals exposed to the virus while at work and becoming very ill… some even passing away… kept flooding my news feed.

My sweet dear husband is an emergency physician. What if I lose him? What if he passes away from this horrible disease because he is exposed at work? What if I am left alone, a single mother? Or worse, what if I too get this virus and die leaving my 1 year old daughter all alone? These thoughts would plague me at night, and I would sit up in my bed in the dark crying. Nights when my husband was working until the morning, and I was left alone to face these dark fears were especially difficult.

My sleep deprived nights were more frequent during the beginning of the pandemic, back in March and April. Now I feel mentally and spiritually that I am in a much better place. I still have moments of despair, especially when I see the news and hear of the number of positive cases that we have daily in the state of Florida. However, I am trying to make a conscious effort to focus on moments of happiness in the present- that is instead of thinking too much on how things will be in a month from now, I look and center on moments of happiness in the day to day. For example, I focus on enjoying my morning cup of coffee, relishing in the satisfaction I feel after a good at home work-out, cherishing the time I get to spend with my daughter at home when we listen to music and play in the back yard. I try to focus on the day to day moments of joy instead of worrying about what the future may bring. When worries do creep into my mind, I turn them over to God. Faith over fear. Praying through out the day, inviting God to be with me as I do chores around the house, go into the office, and spend time with my family brings me peace.

Everyone deals with stress and anxiety differently, but what has been helping me is the following:

  • Pray daily.
  • Focus on the present- what is bringing me joy right now in this moment?
  • Exercise throughout the week, move my body!
  • No screen time before bed- I admit that I am still working on this habit, but I promise you what a difference it makes when you unplug for a few hours before bedtime.
  • Reaching out to family and close friends. This helps with feeling isolated.

This pandemic is not forever… better times are ahead. We just need to ask God for patience and strength.

Love,

Monica