Episode 21: Surviving a Pandemic: 10 Tips to Boost Your Physical & Mental Health

In Episode 21, we’re talking COVID-19! I got sick for 12 days in March. Was it coronavirus? Find out in this episode. Talking all about that experience and sharing 10 tips to boost your physical and mental health during this pandemic. Spreading hope and positivity!

Episode Timestamps

  • I’m back! Coming off a 14-day COVID quarantine and rocking my protective masks! (0:00)
  • Officially back on the mic just like Conor McGregor (1:00)
  • Wise Eats getting sick? How can this be? Also, a Ric Flair blurb (1:10)
  • No one is exempt from COVID-19 (1:30)
  • Audio issue with this episode explained and Conor feels my pain! (2:00)
  • The world has turned upside down! Plus, a Donald Trump blurb (2:20)
  • Wise Eats is taking over this whole s**t just like Conor took over the fighting world (3:30)
  • Current stats from the CDC and Worldometers.info (3:40)
  • CDC.gov is a great resource for COVID-19, or is it just fake news? Dave Ramsey chimes in (4:00)
  • Update on the number of cases and deaths as of this recording (4:20)
  • Percentage of citizens who will experience symptoms and overall outlook (4:30)
  • My experience with getting sick in March. Was it Coronavirus? Wise-Eats.com/COVID19 (5:30)
  • My 12-day sickness and all the symptoms (5:55)
  • This Day in Diet History: My epic cheat day once I got my sense of taste back. Kodiak Pancakes, Sorrento Pizza, Yasso Mint Chocolate Chip Greek Yogurt Bars (6:50)
  • The Rock compares cheat meals to church on Jimmy Fallon and how they benefitted me (8:00)
  • What my doctor advised me to do while sick + Joe Rogan blurb about health (8:15)
  • Why I think I might’ve had the virus back in October 2019! (9:20)
  • 10 ways to boost your physical and mental health during this crisis Wise-Eats.com/COVIDTIPS (10:30)
  • Tip #1: Sleep (10:45)
  • Tip #2: Hydration (11:00)
  • Tip #3: Exercise – Why I think weight lifting too soon kept me sick longer and what I did instead (11:15)
  • Tip #4: Hot Baths/Essential oils. Shout out to the wife for this one! Game changer. (12:00)
  • Tip #5: Healthy diet Wise-Eats.com/ApprovedFoods (12:50)
  • Why being healthy makes everything you do in life easier (13:20)
  • Tip #6: Supplements (13:45)
  • Tip #7: Avoid Alcohol. Why I’m not drinking during the pandemic, maybe not ever again! (14:20)
  • Allen Carr’s How to Stop Drinking Without Willpower book recommendation (14:40)
  • Staying ready for whatever this pandemic throws at me in life! (15:50)
  • The power alcohol has over us and whether or not we’re all brainwashed (16:10)
  • The ching ching guy! Probably our favorite video clip of the pandemic (16:30)
  • Tip #8: Continue learning. Books I’m reading, classes we’re taking. Total Money Makeover, Magic of Big Thinking, Financial Peace University (16:45)
  • Invest in yourself during the downtime (18:00)
  • Tip #9: Start with Gratitude. Journaling gratitude and goals daily. No room for panic when you start from a place of gratitude! Conor agrees (18:20)
  • Tip #10: Stay Positive. The antidote to survive a crisis! (19:00)
  • Stop listening to your sister-in-law’s baby cousin on Instagram! (19:30)
  • Listen to highly encouraging experts in their field (20:00)
  • Why I fight negative thinking and uncertainty every day (20:25)
  • Growing up without a mom and losing my big brother when I was 13 (20:30)
  • Starting with the worst-case scenario and work backward from there. Having confidence to get through anything (21:30)
  • Word to the Wise. To make a submission, please leave a comment on YouTube, post an iTunes review, or e-mail WiseEatsPodcast@gmail.com. Any social media interactions also may be included in this segment! (21:55)
  • My final thoughts on COVID-19 and why I believe we’ll get back to normal soon (23:00)
  • BLOOPER REEL! Had tons of fun with this one, hope you enjoy it! (24:00)
  • Wise-Eats.com/Episode21 for show notes, pictures, transcript, and more!

Recipes Mentioned in This Episode:

Articles/Brands/Products Mentioned in This Episode:

Movie Clips

Website Design Thank You: DoeringDesign.com

Logo Design Thank You’s: @this_show, MGSignsDesign.com

Editing Animations Thank You: Darin Roberts aka Misteredit1 on YouTube

The Wise Eats Podcast is written, filmed, edited, and produced by Wesley Wise, and shared by YOU. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Submit questions, comments, feedback to WiseEatsPodcast@gmail.com or @weswisefitness on Instagram. Thanks for watching, listening, reviewing, liking, subscribing, and sharing. Be good to yourself, be good to others, and make wise choices!

What’s up, Wise Guys and Gals? Welcome to Episode 21 of the Wise Eats Podcast! I’m former fat guy and possible COVID-19 survivor, Wes Wise.

Yes, you heard that right. I was sick for 11 days and am coming off a 14-day quarantine. You might be thinking, how can this be?? Wise Eats…of all people, how could YOU be sick? The “kale-eating, health and fitness, wheelin-dealin’ son of a gun” getting sick? Madness! Well, no matter how healthy your lifestyle is, no one is exempt from this pandemic. We’re all affected whether it’s our health, our jobs, personal relationships, basically our normal, everyday life.

So, I did get sick, but never fear. As you can see, I’ve got my mask, which has been proven by Facebook, Instagram & Twitter to be 100% effective. I’m practicing social distancing, washing my hands constantly, and doing my part, as we all should, to limit the spread of this virus.

In all seriousness, I’m very happy to be back here with you today and talk about my experience and dive a little bit more into this crazy time that we’re living in right now. The world has turned upside down since the last episode. The streets are empty, there’s no toilet paper on the shelves, the country is shutting down, most states are in full lockdown, the world as we know it is coming to an end, and THE WHOLE THING IS A CONSPIRACY depending on who you listen to!!!

These are crazy times we’re living in. Restaurants have shut down, businesses closed. My Certified Personal Trainer class has been postponed. Everything is on hold right now! Nobody seems to know what’s going on and when this whole thing will be over. People are sick, people are dying, people are losing their jobs. This is a unique threat that we face not just as a nation but as a human species, but I am 100% certain that we will get through it and that’s why I wanted to record this episode today.

And hey, since everyone’s on lockdown, there’s no live sports to watch on TV, maybe here’s my chance to captivate the millions of potential viewers out there who are desperately searching for some entertainment. Look no further than right here! I’m isolated down here in the Wise Eats basement studio, so what better time than now to spread some hope and positivity! Just please don’t forget to give that like button an elbow bump and subscribe to my channel.

My pandemic getup

CDC Information

In today’s episode, I’m going to discuss my recent sickness and give some tips on what I did to overcome it, but before I dive into my experience, just wanted to share some current stats from the Centers for Disease Control website. If you’re interested in getting more information about the virus, visit CDC.gov. It’s a great resource for all the info and answers to most questions you can think of, although many people think it might all just be fake news. Who really knows?

There have been 2.2 million documented cases of COVID-19 worldwide with 147,749 deaths as of April 17, 2020. The United States has seen 695,107 total cases with 36,576 deaths (Worldometers.info). That number will continue to climb as the CDC expects most of the U.S. population will be exposed to this virus in the coming months. The good news is, as many as 50-70% of people will not experience any symptoms, and so far, the total death rate is lower than 1%. Roughly 80% of cases are very minor and not requiring hospitalization.

If the numbers surrounding COVID-19 scare you, consider this: We lost 1.25 million Americans to cardiovascular disease and cancer in 2019 (CDC.gov). I hope once COVID-19 finally blows over that we start working on THAT crisis. Just saying.

COVID-19 Explained

COVID-19 is an abbreviation for Coronavirus Disease 2019. The name was given to the virus by the World Health Organization on February 11, 2020. It was first identified in Wuhan China, but it is not the first-ever coronavirus. There are many types of human coronaviruses out there that we’ve already been exposed to in the past. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused be a novel (or new) coronavirus that has not previously been seen in humans, and that’s why it has become a pandemic.

What is a Pandemic?

So, what is a pandemic? A pandemic is a global outbreak of disease. Pandemics happen when a new virus emerges to infect people and can spread between people sustainably. Because there is little to no pre-existing immunity against the new virus, it spreads worldwide. This is the first pandemic known to be caused by the emergence of a new coronavirus. In the past century, there have been four pandemics caused by the emergence of novel influenza viruses. As a result, most research and guidance around pandemics is specific to influenza, but the same premises can be applied to the current COVID-19 pandemic (CDC.gov).

Current Outlook & My Thoughts

At this time, it is not known whether the spread of COVID-19 will decrease when weather becomes warmer.  There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with COVID-19 and investigations are ongoing. Right now, the goal is to learn as much as we can about this virus and do our part to slow the spread of it. I’m just like everyone else and hoping we can just get through this thing as fast as possible. Get back to work, get back to our normal lives, restaurants, sports, and some friggin’ toilet paper on the dang shelves!

Again, these are just some highlights. You can read more details on the CDC’s website.

My Experience with the Virus

As I mentioned, I got sick toward the end of March. I don’t know if it was corona, but I definitely had all the symptoms. I did a full write-up of my symptoms and experience, which is available at Wise-Eats.com/COVID19.

I’m sure a lot of people are worried about what happens if I get it, what’s it like, etc, so I’ll share my experience just in case I did actually have it.

Overall, I was sick for about 12 days. Many days my symptoms were very mild / virtually non-existent. The sickness did seem to come and go and I didn’t feel fully 100% until the 13th day.

My symptoms included:

In the video, I outline my epic cheat day in “This Day in Diet History”, but I’ll mention here that COVID (if it was COVID) did not hurt my appetite at all! During the sickness, I channeled my inner-2009 fat Wes and used binge eating as a coping mechanism. For the 12 days I was sick, I averaged about 4,500 calories/day, which is nearly double what I need to be eating right now. Here’s my diet journal entry from the day I got my taste back. Pretty epic:

I called my doctor on day 2. He advised that they were not testing in mild cases and told me to stay on 14-day isolation. He said as long as my symptoms did not get worse, the virus will pass and I’ll be good to go! He said to watch out for any increase in symptoms, including shortness of breath.

Overall, the sickness was pretty rough, but nothing much worse than a bad cold or mild flu. Personally, the headache and the lost sense of taste were the worst symptoms. Was it COVID-19? I don’t know, I’ll let you be the judge. I tend to believe it was.

But here’s another thing: I got super sick back in October 2019. My wife and I went to a concert and about 4 days later I came down with one of the worst cold/flus in my life. I called in sick to work for the first time in over SIX YEARS because I was physically unable to go. Horrible fever, completely bedridden, nauseous, congestion, lost sense of taste, sore throat, overall horrible cold symptoms. I was seriously ill. Lasted 9 total days! Literally said I wanted to find out what I had because I wanted to find whoever gave that to me and beat their ass. That really rocked me. So, how do I know THAT wasn’t COVID-19? Who knows…

If you want to read more about the symptoms I experienced, check out the article here:

Word to the Wise

10 Tips to Boost Your Physical & Mental Health During the COVID-19 Crisis

To read my 10 tips article, go to Wise-Eats.com/COVIDTIPS. These are the things that helped me manage the virus as best I could, and I definitely think they helped!

Final Thoughts

This is a crazy time that we’ll never forget. Hopefully this thing blows over sooner than later, but it’s clear that our everyday lives are changed for the foreseeable future. Society as we know it will be forever altered in some way as a result of this, but we WILL GET THROUGH IT. The markets will take a hit temporarily, but they’ll come back. Unemployment has skyrocketed, but the jobs will come back. Heck, I recently got laid off, but am I panicked? No. Because just like many other storms I’ve weathered in my life; this too shall pass. Hope can spread faster than fear as long as we all keep supporting one another. So, be good to yourself, be good to others. Thanks for listening & make wise choices!!

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