How to stay healthy in lockdown
Lockdowns are a time of uncertainty, lack of routine, and isolation. This can make it really difficult to stay motivated and healthy - both mentally and physically. If you’re struggling during this time, we feel you, and we want to help.
It’s more important than ever to nourish your body and mind, to help you through these challenging times. So here are our top 7 tips to help you stay healthy and feel better during lockdown. We hope they provide a little bit of much-needed optimism and motivation to your day.
1. Get outside.
While of course we should all stay home as much as possible, it’s important to spend some time outdoors in the sunshine each day. Whether that’s simply sitting on your balcony for 20 minutes and enjoying some fresh air on your lunch break, taking a walk around your block, or booking in an outdoor 1 on 1 PT session with our incredible trainers in the park, it’s vital you make the effort to get out in nature. Not only does sunshine provide the most natural and potent source of Vitamin D, which plays a key role in regulating your mood and happiness, it can completely shift any negative vibes and moods, helping you feel more optimistic and revitalised.
Even if it’s chilly, make the effort to spend at least 20 minutes each day outdoors, and watch your mood and mental health change completely.
2. Connect with your loved ones.
This requires a little more effort than normal, but you can and must stay connected to your loved ones during lockdown.
As humans, it’s our innate nature to require connection and relationships to thrive and flourish. And just because you can’t physically see or hang out with your friends and family, doesn’t mean you need to let these connections and interactions slide.
Schedule at least one Zoom or Facetime call with a loved one each day. It doesn’t have to be super long, but during your call make the effort to be present. To purely focus on the person on the other side of the phone screen, and engage with what they’re saying. Check in with the people you care about - ask them how they’re doing, how you can support them, and ask them for help when you need it!
Connection is so essential for keeping you feeling positive and loved during this time, so make the effort to reach out. You’ll feel endlessly better for it.
3. Use your time to cook nourishing, warming meals.
That time you saved on your commute? Forget long skincare routines to fill the void, instead allocate any extra time you’ve gained from lockdown to cooking warming, comforting and healthy meals.
Think curries, stews, slow cooker meals, all packed with veggies, whole grains, nuts and seeds, protein and healthy fats. The more you can nourish your body through food during this time, the more you’re also supporting your brain and emotional wellbeing.
Fuelling your body so it’s happy and healthy supports both your physical and mental health, making it essential during lockdown.
4. Make sure you’re drinking enough water.
When you’re stuck at home, reaching for your water bottle on-the-go suddenly isn’t a thing. It can become too easy to forget your daily water needs, so it’s time to make this a priority once again! Staying hydrated is critical for your body and mind to function well. Plus, it supports your metabolism, immune system, digestion, sleep - the list is endless.
Aim for at least 2 L per day, no exceptions! And if you’re finding it difficult to get there, or struggling to drink water with the cold weather, here’s some good news for you: herbal teas count! Get those fluids up!
5. Swap the extra wines for water.
It seems like many people are pouring an extra glass of wine or two to “get them through” lockdown nights. While we absolutely understand, and in no way condemn a glass of wine, swap the extra glasses out for water or herbal teas.
Excessive alcohol intake makes you feel sluggish, unmotivated, and often more sad than before you began. Whereas water, as you now know, and hydrating your body is essential for good health, both now and always!
So treat yourself, but keep it in moderation.
6. Don’t work from the kitchen or couch!
It’s important to retain some separation between work and life, to help you switch off outside of work hours, and have some much-needed time for self care.
If you can, set up your workspace away from the kitchen, TV and your bedroom - even if it means facing your desk towards the wall so you’re not facing these spaces. Then, your brain will understand when you leave this space, it’s time to switch off from whatever work you were doing.
Avoiding working from the kitchen also helps prevent the endless snack attacks we all experience during lockdowns. Instead of eating mindlessly out of boredom, or simply because the food and snacks are staring you in the face all day, you’ll be more in tune with your hunger cues, and able to make better food decisions when you actually are hungry!
7. Keep moving!
Lacking motivation to stay moving and keep your fitness up during lockdown? We get it - it’s difficult without the routine and access to your favourite gym classes. But we’ve got a solution on this front too…
Hit up our expert trainers for some 1 on 1 personal training sessions, to keep you motivated and fit. They’ll tailor sessions to your goals, to help you feel your best even without your usual routine. Or, we’ve also uploaded a bunch of YouTube workouts for you to try whenever works with your schedule - they’ll keep your body moving, so you can feel fantastic and get those endorphins pumping right when you need it the most!
We hope these tips help bring just a bit of brightness to your day, team. Remember, we can get through this! Keep checking in with yourselves and your loved ones, and reach out if you need a helping hand.
In the meantime, hit us up for PT sessions - we miss you all, and can’t wait to see you to sweat it out together soon!