The lockdown might be over but the pandemic is very much around us. For people who remained at home during the lockdown, one way to cope was with food. While we all stress ate, many young Nigerians obviously struggled with their fitness regimen, as diets went out of the window as the COVID-19 cases went up.

We spoke to a few Nigerians during the lockdown to get an understanding of how quarantine shaped their fitness routines and diets.

Nonso/30/Male

Before the lockdown, I followed a strict low carb and high protein diet. My diet went out of the window as soon as I stopped going to the gym regularly because of the lockdown. Now, I eat a lot of nonsense, and the only thing I’ve ordered so far is food and alcohol.

Sia/ 24/Female

Before COVID-19, my diet consisted of low carbs, fruits and vegetables which I restock constantly. Now, I'm too scared to leave my house. The anxiety from everything going on just made me ask myself if I really want to stop myself from eating certain things. What if I die a few months from now? I've been stress eating as a coping mechanism so I completely ditched my diet.

Ade/ 29/ Male

I was off my diet regimen before the lockdown started cause I changed jobs and had to order food more. Prior to that, I was on a high protein diet, a lot of meat (beef, chicken, turkey, etc) and dairy as well. Drank a whole lot of water and honey in the mornings as well as fresh juice every other day. Recently, I’m trying to do a low carb diet, also still consuming ample amount of protein and cereal. I’m able to stick to this cause I cook and there’s plenty of time to cook.

I’m just trying not to be too lazy to cook and also try to have fruits daily- oranges, watermelon and apples. I need a chef in my life though.

Jumoke/ 28/ Female

Currently, I'm still trying to maintain my gluten and dairy-free diet but being scared of going to buy fresh veggies as frequently as I used to is all just existing at this point. So far so good, the dairy-free part is going well because I'm not much of a dairy girl sha. The cheese that I like is costly anyway, so I think I’m good on that part. On the other hand, before the pandemic, it was hell finding affordable gluten-free goods, but now, it's so much worse.

Khadija/ 29/ Female

I don’t think there is a difference in my diet. I definitely ate more at some point because I always eating my child’s leftovers and I wasn’t going out, or rather, she wasn’t going to school.

I’m actually trying to watch my meals now as I had a stomach ulcer issues after Ramadan. I’ve also gained about 10 pounds, hence, the need to be more serious with my diet. Before COVID-19 happened though, I was losing weight, so I don’t know what happened.

The regimen is really: stop eating kids leftovers, stop getting tempted by pastries especially when other people around me order them, eat all the food in the house and not let anything go bad. I get fruits and veggies from Jos sometimes and I go to one store farther away from my house at the start of every month.

Nina/27/Female

Before the pandemic, I wasn’t committed to any diet, really. I was just controlling my portions but during the lockdown, I was bored so I ate my boredom away. I ate everything I saw. I would eat 5-8 meals a day but then I started to visibly gain weight and my sister did too. So, my sister and I bought a meal plan that’s primarily based on controlled portions.

It’s easy to stick to these diet plans when you’re doing it with someone else and it’s been great. We check each other and encourage each other and I’ve also lost all the weight I gained (and more)!