Almost 9 months ago I was laid off from a job I had been in for 18 years. Continuing budget cuts has reduced staff at my old job by 60% over the last 7 years. I and a few others were downsized at the end of the fiscal year.
This time of unemployment has been one of the hardest experiences I've ever undergone. I'd never experienced anything like it before. Unless you've also experienced it, I doubt you can fully understand. The impact upon my family has been huge. And in unexpected ways my lengthy unemployment has effected my health (all of our health) in ways I didn't expect. Of course I had to drop my gym membership early on, I knew that would happen. I had to drop my wife's membership as well. But what I didn't expect was just how much weight my wife, kids and I all gained. We ate less than before, for obvious reasons. But what I didn't realize was the harmful effect of what we could do, would have on us. I continued a routine of walking 6 days a week, of at least 50 minutes a day. I also used the small dumb bells that I have for a pitiful weight training program. However, it didn't help. We had to give up things like fresh fruit, vegetables and things like yogurt. We would get fruit or vegetables when we could, which wasn't often. Unless you have experiened prolonged unemployment you won't understand this, so I'll tell you that at the end of the day unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food. At least that has been our experience.
As an aside, I realize that the health of the unemployed isn't exactly a sexy issue. After all, they can't afford to buy a FitBit anything. I was fortunate enough to have purchased a FitBit One a couple of years before the bottom fell out for me. However, now that I've been through this I wish people would pay more attention to the dispossessed. I know that it hurt me emotionally so much to have my family and I no longer be as healthy as we once were. Yeah, there will be no sales of FitBit anything to those unemployed for a long time, and certainly there are some who don't want to be healthy, but I'm sure there are several who do.
Back to the issue I'm asking about. My unemployment benefits ran out at the beginning of January. Our savings were running out. The job I took is the only job offer I've gotten since being laid off. I had to take whatever I could, so I took this job. It has the most horrendous commute I've ever had because the job is very far away from my home. I'll be away at work or commuting for a minimum of 14 hours a day, if I'm lucky. I wanted to try and get healthy again, but honestly this is going to be a really huge challenge. While I'm at work I am required to take a 1 hour lunch, what can I do?
