I see lots of people on social media talking about how they’ve gained weight this year from COVID-19. When the global pandemic hit, I was freaked out and wanted to do whatever I could to avoid catching COVID-19.

In the pre-COVID-19 days, I would go to the gym a few days a week. It wasn’t making a big difference, but it was helping to preserve the status quo.

After we were locked down, I was going a little crazy being homebound and the only thing I could do outside the house for a while was exercise, so I started doing it every day.

At first, it was a half-hour or so a day to get my blood pumping. Then it morphed into 5 miles a day – either walking or intervals of walking and running.

In addition to enjoying the fresh air and change of scenery, I had read that vitamin D was helpful in staying resistant, so being out in the sun each day was a plus.

I also began taking 1,000 mg vitamin C each morning and one gallon of water per day with a motivational water bottle that had times you should drink the water by.

Since I wanted to track my progress along the way I also got a Withings watch, which tracks steps, heartbeat, sleep, etc. It has some similar functionality to an Apple watch, but it looks like a real watch.

I like the Withings brand and have used one of their WiFi-enabled scales for years to track weight loss and gain. This information syncs into their own app and others.

I didn’t stop at exercise and water consumption – I also focused on low-carb foods in the Atkins Diet.

Since I started my COVID-19 exercise plan I have lost around 20 pounds and I am feeling a lot better.

If there is any silver lining from this global pandemic, it’s that it got me to get more healthy and build my immunity to avoid becoming a statistic.