“This is how lockdown affected our eating habits” – Karuna Singh

When we first heard about Covid in early 2020, we didn’t expect it to last so long, but unfortunately, it is here to stay with us. Until when? Nobody knows anything. The lockdowns have impacted our lives in ways we didn’t imagine. Before that, we used to eat out or order almost two to three times a week. Sometimes even more.

We were so addicted to junk food that it was difficult for us to imagine our lives without shawarmas, pizzas, and burgers. When the lockdown started, everything was closed down, and it was too risky to keep getting food deliveries from the outside. So, we were forced to focus on home-cooked meals.

We went back to the basics and the family classics. It turned out to be a blessing for us because now we have a much healthier diet that is purely and wholly home-cooked. In fact, I have picked up baking as a new hobby during the lockdown, and it works as a great stress reliever too.

It wasn’t easy at first, but we began experimenting with food at home instead, making dosas, baking loaves of bread, pizzas, and cookies, and curating new dishes.This way, we control the ingredients, the oil, the salt, and the vegetables’ quality to ensure we eat only what is healthy and only in desired quantities.

Youtube has a significant role to play here because, honestly, it would have been impossible to do it otherwise. There are a plethora of tutorials on YouTube for any and every recipe you need. I have learnt so much from it.

I can not believe that it has been over a year since we stopped consuming outside food, barring one instance. I understand everybody can’t make such a big change, but we tried and have succeeded.

Eating healthy is always a good idea, especially in current times when we need our immunity and good health to fight viruses. Staying at home all the time and having minimal or almost no physical activity is already taking a toll on our bodies. So, ensuring that we eat clean and healthy food is imperative. Even small changes can make a big difference. All it takes is the first step.