How I Stayed at 19% Body Fat While Recovering From COVID-19

Rest Did Wonders For My Body and Mind

I find it amusing that after a short battle with COVID-19, my body fat percentage was the same as it was before my brief encounter with “the plague,” as one of my friends called it.

Does that mean if it had been COVID-35, I would have ballooned to 35% body fat during my two weeks of forced rest in the Land of Lard Ass Isolation?

Not likely, but amusing nonetheless.

A little over three weeks after my COVID-forced fitness break, I returned to the gym. Despite an extremely mild case of the virus, the exhaustion that had been my most prominent symptom lingered. It was enough to keep me from pushing myself into the depths of one step forward, two steps back.

Before returning to the gym, I did the responsible thing; I went for my yearly physical and got a clean bill of health.

In this article, I’ll share with you the main takeaways from my journey back to working out after COVID-19. This is the roadmap I followed. It is by no means intended to be the one you should follow.

I am not a fitness guru. But for decades, I’ve used my body as a laboratory for health and fitness. What follows are the results from this lab rat’s latest experiment.

My First Post-COVID Workout

I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I was a little scared to return to the gym after almost three weeks. I had promised myself that during that first session, I would listen to my body and quit whenever it told me to.

I kept that promise. Twenty years ago, I would have silenced my body’s voice and paid a hefty price for it. Am I older and wiser than I was back then? Sometimes. This was one of those times.

My goal was to do at least a 30-minute full-body workout. To do that, I planned to decrease the weight and increase the reps for each exercise. I started each machine and free weight exercise 5–10 pounds lighter than my pre-COVID levels. And I increased the reps to 15 instead of my regular 10–12.

It worked. After 30 minutes, I stretched a little and walked out of the gym, satisfied that I had accomplished what I had set out to do.

There’s no science to this, and I caution you not to follow my lead blindly. The plan I followed that first day back is based on years of experience. It might not work for you. So, figure out what does work for you, and do it.

Yes, it’s that simple.

I also didn’t do any cardio that first day and focused on monitoring my strength. The day after my gym workout, I went for a 10-mile bike ride and felt good. It was 20 miles fewer than my regular rides, but I was thankful to be back on the bike.

There’s always something to be thankful for, even if it’s just being able to unclip your shoes from the pedals and not fall on your butt cheeks. (Both of which I managed to do.)

If there’s a lesson to be learned, it’s that you shouldn’t be embarrassed to take a step backward in your fitness routine so you can gain momentum to move forward again.

No one is judging you. No one cares how heavy you lift, how long your workouts are, or how many days a week you work out. They only care about what you’re wearing. (I’m kidding. Well, maybe just a little.) As a friend likes to remind me, “It’s not what you do; it’s what you’re wearing when you do it that counts.” (Humor keeps us young, so lighten up and laugh.)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record (I’m sure some of you remember records before vinyl became vintage cool), listen to your body!

Despite my three-week fitness break, my pre-COVID 19% body fat remained intact. Well, that’s not entirely true. It went up to 19.4%, but considering that my most strenuous workout during isolation was getting out of bed and going to the bathroom, a .4% increase is pretty darn good.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, listen to your body!

This backs up my theory that our bodies know how to reach homeostasis if we listen to them and do what they ask us to do.

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines homeostasis as:

“Any self-regulating process by which biological systems tend to maintain stability while adjusting to conditions that are optimal for survival. If homeostasis is successful, life continues; if unsuccessful, disaster or death ensues. The stability attained is actually a dynamic equilibrium, in which continuous change occurs, yet relatively uniform conditions prevail.”

Your body knows what it needs, and listening to it will reward you with the health and fitness benefits you’ve always strived to reach.

Had I pushed myself back to the gym too soon or ignored my body’s cry for rest, things might have turned out differently.

Three Key COVID Observations

If you were to ask me what were the most significant fitness takeaways after losing my COVID virginity, it’s this:

1 — The first few days after I tested negative, I got out of bed and did a few things around the house. But I lost steam about midday. This was my cue to take it easy, nap, and do something I have difficulty doing … slow down.

2 — Besides extreme fatigue, I noticed an increase in my resting heart rate while fighting COVID. Even though my blood oxygen level was in the high 90s (one of the key markers that COVID hasn’t affected the lungs), my resting heart rate, generally in the mid-60s to 70s range, remained in the low 80s even after I tested negative. My doctor says it’s my body’s way of fighting the virus. An EKG confirmed all is well.

3 — I lost 4 pounds in three weeks, even though I ate three meals daily, plus snacks, and wasn’t moving much. However, I was eating very clean, and consuming no refined carbs or sweets. I’m working toward putting back the weight I lost, and even though I have yet to reach my pre-COVID weight, I notice that the more I eat, the stronger I feel. (Duh, food is fuel.)

Senior(ity) Has Its Perks

After my COVID New Year’s Party in isolation, I had a lot of time to read about all the perks that were available to me now that I had reached (ahem) senior status.

I found out that my health insurance supplement plan, for which I pay a hefty price, covers four monthly sessions at The Exercise Coach, an exercise program that offers 20-minute, personalized coach-led workouts using computerized machines to track progress. I especially liked the one-on-one coaching, and the small gym size ensures only two people are allowed inside at a time.

I was skeptical about the program’s promises in such short workouts, but I’m all in favor of “free” benefits — especially when I’m already paying for them. The four complimentary workouts cost the same as what I pay for the insurance supplement that includes the four sessions. I suck at math, but not so much that I didn’t realize this benefit made up for the supplement’s monthly fee.

So, I did what any early-bird-loving, freebie-seeking fitness freak (notice I didn’t say senior citizen) would do. I signed up.

This week, I had my first session. Other than being whacked upside the head with a giant slice of humble pie, I loved it. I left the session with my legs shaking, my heart pumping, and my stomach growling. My overenthusiastic smile as I high-fived my coach was a dead giveaway that I was a little tired.

“You cool down now, Barb. I’ll get you some water,” he said.

There’s nothing like introducing a new set of exercises into your routine to remind you that variety is the key to fitness. Doing the same thing all the time invites injuries and muscle imbalances, not to mention boredom. Two days after my Exercise Coach session, I’m still sore, and it has nothing to do with COVID but everything to do with working out in a different way than I am used to.

This is not a commercial for The Exercise Coach, but it was quite the workout. I look forward to monitoring my progress as the weeks pass and seeing if the program lives up to the claims on its website.

Did COVID Make Me Cool?

Although I’m back to my routine after my COVID hiatus, I’m still closely monitoring how I feel throughout the day. If I feel a little tired, I take a break, knowing that taking a day off will reap greater benefits than pushing myself to exhaustion.

My favorite moment after returning to normal after COVID came courtesy of a trip to the grocery store after my Exercise Coach session.

I was leaving the store when a neighbor walked in with her 10-year-old son. We stopped for a few minutes of small talk, then said our so longs. But the little boy’s words to his mom as they walked away stopped me in my tracks.

“She is so cool,” he said.

I have no idea what prompted him to say that, but when a 10-year-old says you’re cool, you are.

Life is good.

Start slow and taper off, my fitness friends. That’s the secret to running the marathon called life.

Thank you for reading this article. I welcome your comments. If you found this article helpful, please share it and give it a few claps so others can find it. If you’d like to support my work, buy me a coffee!

Barb Besteni is a writer, spiritual seeker, former rock star, and animal lover. After 35 years of writing, copyediting, and producing content for local, national, and international television news, she left the newsroom for the comfort of her home office. Get an email whenever Barb publishes a new story on Medium: https://medium.com/@barbbesteni/subscribe.