It’s been a sleepy week so far. I suspect that I am working off a serious sleep debt. I fall asleep each afternoon for a few hours. I wake up in the morning still tired. Which means that the new plan for May, once the last story is in to Dean, is rest and recovery with a dollop of housecleaning. And perhaps some planning for physical training and diet.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I joined the JCC in December to improve my exercise routine and health. That effort fell off a cliff when I became so sick in February. I’d barely healed and started up again when Memphis closed down, taking my gym with it.

Technically the JCC is open again. I am allowed to go there, by appointment only, and work out for a maximum of 45 minutes. If I’m willing to risk bringing the virus home with me. Which I am not. So I need a new plan.

Also, I need a plan for a diet that doesn’t rely on large quantities of vegetables since those are hard to buy a month’s stockpile of. (We are shopping once a month to limit exposure to the virus.) Ideally my new diet will include bread, legumes, sweet potatoes, and rice since those are easy to make or keep on hand. I’ll supplement it with a limited number of vegetables (not two pounds of cauliflower a day). Some fruits seem to keep for a month (apples and mandarins, for example) so those are also on my list.

Decades ago my eating was constrained because we were very poor and because we couldn’t keep much in our apartment. At that point I first adopted the McDougall diet plan, which is a vegan, starch-centered diet that disallows fatty foods. It’s a perfect pantry diet since most of the items can be kept in the pantry. Vegetables and fruits are supplemental rather than central. I may need to return to that.

Ultra athlete and Iron Man winner, Rich Roll recently brought his coach, Chris Hauth on to discuss how athletes should deal with this period of isolation where there are no races. Some athletes cannot even go out for runs. He made a lot of good points. One is that this is the time to dial in diet, strength training and flexibility. I’m not an athlete, but his thoughts speak to me as well. I can also do strength training and yoga. I can prioritize sleep. I can figure out my diet.

After I turn in this week’s story, that’s precisely what I am going to do.

I hope you are staying healthy. Be well, friends!