“Give me a wine and a straw, and I’m happy,” said Cindy.

During our mentoring session, she told me about the unhealthy habit she’d fallen into when the pandemic started, and she was upset that she couldn’t seem to break out of it. She had wine with dinner every evening, but we’re not talking about just one glass of wine.

Before the pandemic, Cindy drank every now and then. Now, she’s drinking all the time.

I recently read a news article by Allison Aubrey at NPR that reminded me of Cindy. Aubrey reports there was a hike spike in alcohol sales, a decline in physical activity, and collective weight gain due to working from home and comfort eating.

It wasn’t all bad. Some people used the pandemic to get physically fit, improve their cooking skills, and spend quality time together. But bad habits tend to stick, and many people have to find ways to escape the world’s uncertainty, intensity, and confusion.

We’re entering a new normal, but it’s still hard to break these unhealthy coping mechanisms.

For Cindy, it was wine. For others, it was downing cups of coffee for quick energy or Netflix binging for a constant distraction.

An update on Cindy-we came up with some helpful strategies for her to try, and when I checked in with her a few weeks later, she was so happy to be replacing her bad habits with new ones.

Watch today’s vlog and learn 3 ways to break unhealthy habits from the pandemic.