Making use of your inner control freak during the coronavirus crisis

I didn’t realise I was a control freak until I was around 50. With hindsight it is easy to explain – I had always chosen paths where I could stay in control of my own destiny. For example, instead of accepting a job with a telecoms giant I decided to do a doctorate instead. Without analysing the reasons I always made decisions where I ended up with a measure of control that made me happy.

So how does this relate to today’s circumstances? My advice has always been to control what you can and relax about what you cannot. The current coronavirus pandemic is an excellent example – as someone of 65 I should take Covid-19 more seriously than someone of 25. I can control my exposure to a reasonable extent so I am happy to be in isolation.

Having studied the virus’s survival statistics and my own risk factors I know that the probability of being infected is 32% and the risk of death 2%. This is a higher risk of death than I have experienced in my life so far. Interested in your own statistics? Try this link to calculate yours.

Many of my risk factors, such as my age, are out of my control but one thing in particular is not – my body mass index or BMI. Information about the correlation between BMI and mortality is still coming in – this recent study from the Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium of 17,000 people admitted to hospital with the virus shows obesity is one of the biggest risk factors - Boris Johnson's weight is thought to have been an issue in his recent brush with coronavirus. Having a BMI within the normal range of 20-25 is proven to be a good thing. When the crisis began my BMI was 31 – it is now below 29 and reducing week by week with daily exercise and eating less.

Try this link to check your BMI.

So, no excuses for me. I use my inner control freak to give me the energy to tackle this issue. Also, it is great to get into those clothes I haven’t worn for a while!