Embed from Getty Images
Trevor Noah was a skype-in guest on the Jimmy Fallon: home edition show. This was the first of Jimmy’s at-home shows I’ve seen and he’s really leaning into the amateur-angle of it, which is cute. His daughters played keyboards and cowbell to open, they drew him a little sign, and he went into different areas of his house for segments, including a bizarre cowboy one that I fast forwarded through. His house is surprisingly rustic and parts of it are designed to look like a cabin.
Trevor was Jimmy’s first guest and he came across as somewhat arrogant at first. He said the shelter in place order was not an adjustment for him because he’s always been an indoor person and that he hasn’t been stressed out at all. To his credit, Trevor said he’s been stressed for other people and the effects the economic downturn will have on the poor especially. He passionately advocated for people living paycheck to paycheck and recommended we support No Kid Hungry. He also said he hasn’t been eating more and has been intermittent fasting. No shade on that, everyone responds to isolation differently and we all have different eating habits. I could definitely relate to Jimmy though, as he said he’s never eaten more after stocking up for the extended shelter in place.
Jimmy: I started [intermittent fasting] like two weeks ago and then, when this happened, I stocked up on so much food I’ve never eaten more in my life. I don’t want it to go to waste. I’m eating like six meals a day.
Trevor: I’ve done the complete opposite. I didn’t buy a bunch of stuff. I get panic buying, but living in NY has taught me not to panic. People don’t know what to buy in an emergency. When they people say there’s going to be a blizzard in NY… I’ve seen people buy all the bread. Bread is the worst thing to buy for a disaster. It doesn’t last. Now… people are buying toilet paper like [the virus] is going to cause you to go on a rampage in the bathroom or something. You don’t need that much toilet paper.
Trevor also recommended that you treat this like a zombie epidemic and stay in your homes like you’re scared of becoming a zombie. That’s smart and I like that analogy.
My friend Alnaaze on Twitter told me her theory about toilet paper panic buying, which I thought was so clever. It’s a dignity thing in that people associate toilet paper with dignity. As for panic buying bread, you can freeze bread! I bought one extra loaf of each of the kinds my son and I like and I froze it. I’m trying to only shop every week and a half and freezing things helps.
I have a theory about being hungry and you can tell me I’m full of sh-t. (I’ve come to expect this as part of my job.) When I first started feeling sick with something unlike anything I’ve ever had before, which has lingered longer than any illness I’ve ever had before, I got SO hungry. (I’m on the other side of it although I’m not back to normal.) I felt hungrier than I get during my period, but it felt similar to that in that it wasn’t normal stress or boredom eating, it was like I couldn’t be satisfied. I still have that although it comes and goes. Yes this could be an excuse I’m using to just eat all the things in isolation, but I think that hunger is a symptom of mild cases. It could also be related to not being able to smell or taste things like normal, which has definitely happened to me too. As we’ve discussed in our posts and on the podcast, we think that so many people have had this and that they’ve dismissed it. Experts are wondering about that too.
As to our weight gain, we’re all in this together. I have eaten so much stockpiled peanut butter. Maybe it helped me recover though. Also as Trevor mentioned please support your local food back and charities like Feeding America and No Kid Hungry because so many people are hungry and need help.
Trevor’s interview starts around minute 10. There’s also an interview with DJ DNice! Read Hecate’s story on the awesome remote dance parties he’s been throwing.
My eating habits are completely different since isolating. I want what I don’t have. So eating numerous meals, not snacks, a day of what I do have. Saw an advert for something last night and thought yuuum. Then realized I never eat that.
Sorry you’ve been sick. Take good care of yourself.
Same here! I am craving things like instant noodles since they seem to be sold out everywhere!!
I live on a farm. Looking and going outside its like nothing has changed. Its the same from where I am. It only hits home when I talk to my children who live in cities and see the empty cities on the news and see what is going on in the world. I am used to not leaving for long stretches at a time. Once a week to our village post office for mail but its always pretty quiet. I stock up on groceries about once a month.
Sounds nice. Peaceful.
The eating thing its tricky. We are stuck indoors so we can’t even burn off those calories that easily. I think Brits have an interesting dilemma with the food stockpiling. It’s my understanding that Americans are more used to doing big shops and buying bulk but Brit’s tend to do smaller shops. Maybe a big weekly shop and 2 or 3 smaller shops. We just don’t have the storage space for a lot of food. Yet people have gone crazy on the panic buying and I suspect a lot of being wasted, which is sad.
I love Jimmy Fallon’s shows from home. He seems more real and much funnier when he’s left to do his own thing more.
I am working on a paper right now about toilet paper panic. Rather than dignity (which I think is an interesting interpretation), I see toilet paper symbolic of comfort. When we regress into “Survival mode”, we aren’t thinking clearly. In this crisis, toilet paper has taken on the role of an essential comfort for us, and the thought of being out of it starts to panic people. Truly, we could survive without it; millions of people around the world already survive without it. When I was in Russia in my college years, I saw how to live without it (their answer were books, mostly college level math books that were perched on a shelf to use to wipe yourself — I shit you not). But even though we could survive without it, we want it because it’s a comfort, a way of life. We may be eating weird foods from our pantries and drinking tap water, but at least we have the comfort of double ply toilet paper. There are plenty of other things we associate with comfort, but due to the panic buying, shortages, and then the publicization of panic buying and shortages, toilet paper has taken on a more symbolic role.
My great grandparents were in San Francisco in 1906, during the great earthquake. They had to flee their home because of broken gas lines and the very real threat of fires. When they fled, they brought their stove with them. Their stove is what they saved; that was the symbol of survival and comfort for them. My mom has a picture of them standing outside their row house, feet perched on that stove, the day of the earthquake.
My eating habits are a little messed up, I used to often grab breakfast on the way to work, and that’s not happening now. I’ve gone out a few times to get takeout to try to support my local small restaurants, and getting several meals each time to last a couple of days. Wiping down all the bags and containers of course.
I really want Doritos, which I almost never eat!
I’m hoping by the time I NEED to go out things are calmer and better stocked, but who knows. NJ is hard hit.
Doritos! That was my first real craving since this started. Husband came home from his last day of work with a few extra non-perishable groceries and a bag of doritos and the crunchy cheetohs. I’ve never been so happy to see those chips in my life.
If you’re living in a more secluded area or tend to be a homebody, I don’t think it’s a huge change. For me, it’s really mentally draining because I’m used to working sixty hours a week, on my feet, seven days a week, and now I’m…sitting at home helping people remotely. The difference in activity levels is crazy. I don’t mind being at home alone, but I miss the more productive schedule and structure.
Definitely noticing I’m snacking more. I’m fortunate to have exercise equipment around. I may not lose any weight, but I’m not going to let myself gain any, either.
It is a huge change for people who are used to being out and about. We work many hours a day too but outside and not around anyone. Nearest neighbours are 2 miles away and I do very much miss seeing my kids and grandkids in person but that is the biggest change for us. Thankful for ways of communication
I live alone and have a lot of solitary hobbies, so I’m good with that part, but the working is a bit of a struggle. I would occasionally WFM, but it’s usually just an hour or 2 here or there, and making myself sit here for 8 hours a day is a challenge, especially since I’d rather be doing stuff around the house or watching TV. But I remind myself often I’m lucky to have a job at the moment and to keep going!
Somehow I’m snacking a little bit less? I’m looking at the snackies and thinking “but what if you can’t get any more for awhile?” And then I can walk away. I know, I can’t believe it either.😆 The best part of that episode was Trevor’s reaction to Jimmy’s house interior- “Have you been kidnapped?”
I’m having to substitute random meats into all my recipes because apparently everybody in Florida immediately bought up all the ground beef and chicken. Bison meat has been delicious but it’s $9/lb! Kudos to the amazing and dedicated truckers and grocery store workers and everyone else in the supply chain who is working hard even though I know they’re worried too.
O you’re good! Able to walk away. I’ll try your strategy.
I’m the same! I’m hunkered down with my parents and sister and very mindful of the amount of food we have for 4 people so we do not have to do multiple trips to the grocery store. I think it would be different if I were living alone. So I only eat what I ABSOLUTELY need to and I’ve ended up losing 4 pounds since being quarantined which has been a pleasant surprise. If I end up losing a few more because of this I won’t be mad.
I have both my college kids home now so I had to buy a ton more food than I had been buying as of late and we are all generally eating about the same amount as non-pandemic times.
Even though I have the time, I’m not making anything fancy or different. We’re sticking to basics like grilled chicken, fish and roasted veggies. I offered to make chili but no one wanted it. Some of our breakfasts are bigger than usual, actually, because my kids are used to their dining hall breakfasts of eggs, pancakes and hash browns. We’re lucky to have everything we need.
I completely understand the impulse to eat when getting sick, I do the same thing. I also do it when I haven’t had enough sleep. It would be interesting to know if it helps stave off worse illness.
Esmom, eating more personally helps me with colds and flus. If I feel like I’m coming down with something, like I’m way more tired than usual, I eat an extra large and protein rich dinner. I also drink a bunch of water and go to bed early. Usually I wake up the next morning feeling a lot better. Luckily, my immune system is pretty strong and I don’t get full blown sick very often.
I’ve worked from home for years and this just feels like the kids are on summer break already. No rush to get up in the morning and bedtimes have all been pushed back.
We have a mix of comfort food and stuff for salads. Carbs and leafy greens for the win.
About the toilet paper. Costco toilet paper is just a physically big item. So whenever someone buys 1 pack, it doesnt take long before the pallet seems empty.
So, I heard that, somewhere in a Costco, when news of coronavirus was starting to get serious but wasnt at peak, the guys working at costco hadn’t replenished the pallets of toilet paper yet. It so happened that by complete coincidence someone associated the emptiness of the pallet with the virus, thought it was getting rare and just started panic buying everything that was left. And the toilet paper hoarding urban legend started from there, apparently. It could
Be as stupid as that. Wouldn’t even surprise me.
Maybe in the US but I promise you where I live it isn’t the case. The hoarding in Switzerland happened before it started in the US, and the packs are much smaller, as are the supermarkets in general. People just freaked out and bought toilet paper. It’s insane. I have a friend in Geneva who has gone to the supermarket on 4 separate occasions (quick jumps, she’s home otherwise) in the last week to try and get some (she was down to her last roll!) and finally got some today. It’s bonkers.
I’ve been cooking more “gourmet” type stuff instead of just throwing a chicken in the oven and cooking rice and making salad. Like last night was bouillabaisse with shrimp, clams and muscles. The night before it was a chicken tajine with olives, preserved lemons and middle eastern spices. I’m trying to keep myself from getting anxious (although I do wake up around 3:00AM after bad dreams and can’t get back to sleep) and cooking helps me deal with it. Mr. Jaded is very happy with this outcome.
I work remotely normally and I’m a bit of a homebody, so it’s not a huge change for me. Still, I find myself wanting food I don’t usually eat, I guess because of stress and the need for some comfort (I usually don’t snack much at all, but I bought Tastykakes — I’m trying to conserve them and not overeat!).
The thing that has been hard for me is eating HEALTHY. I’m not much of a cook and hate cooking meat — I usually only get that when dining out. So I’m a temporary vegetarian, I guess. And because I’m getting my groceries delivered, it’s hard good produce and stuff for salad (I’m been relying on bagged salads and stuff instead of making my own, which has worked okay). My saving grace has been eggs. Great protein, a food I love, healthy, and great for curbing hunger.
I have found myself snacking less and generally eating smaller portions because I don’t want to run out of stuff. I know it isn’t as easy as it used to be to get things. Also I have a 12 month old and there are certain things he just LOVES (ie bananas) so when we start to get low on them I save them all for him. I am still on parental leave but “return” to work April 6 – from home of course, with a then 13 month old to mind. Luckily hubby (who works an essential job) works nights so can pick up a lot of the parenting work during the day.
I have been keeping sane by going for either a walk or run each morning with my son. We stay far away from other people (we are in a mid sized ONTARIO Canada city). That combined with snacking less may result in a few pounds lost. I wouldn’t be mad. I am still about 10-15lb from my goal weight from pre pregnancy. But I know I can do it. I kept off 100lbs prior to getting pregnant.
Today I ran with him to our neighbourhood bakery and got some bread for the freezer. I felt better after that because he LOVES bread, esp naan bread.
Everyone stay healthy out there.