I am now fully vaccinated against coronavirus. That gives me all the sundry and various benefits, such as…nothing.
During the pandemic, I amped up delivery of meals through HelloFresh. I was filled with good intentions to avoid supermarkets, providing less chance for contact and spread of the disease, as well as giving my kids dinner choices that they enjoyed.
One wintry night, my younger son looked at the six-step recipe card and noted, “It says ‘add salt and pepper’ in five of the steps.”
In January, New York City and the surrounding area was sacked by two separate snow storms. Limited to calisthenics around the house, I indulged in some less than healthy food habits for the first time during the pandemic.
The first week of February, I finally went for my COVID-delayed annual physical. To my surprise, my blood pressure — always roughly 120/80 — had rocketed to 140. I had not anticipated being diagnosed with high blood pressure as a side effect of my decision to give my family healthy meals.
“Come back in six weeks,“ instructed my physician. “If you can’t get those numbers down, we’ll talk about a medication option.”
As a runner for more than 30 years, this was not an acceptable alternative. I vowed to bring those numbers back to normal once the temperatures allowed…
