By now (hopefully) the majority of us have made the transition to what life looks like staying at home! Whilst it is so easy to let the "hard" things slip like routine, diet and exercise, these are now more important than ever. Here are few handy hints to keeping your health, happiness and immune system at is absolute peak during this time.
ROUTINE
How many times in the last week have you slept in past your normal alarm now that you have no reason to get up?
Sorry, but it's time to stop that and get yourself back on track.
If you automatically take the easy choice and sleep-in, you've already set yourself up to lose the day! By taking the easy option for your first decision of the day what else are you going to let slip? Maybe wearing your PJ's until lunch or all day? Maybe even a few 'snack'cidents and irregular eating habits? Oops there goes exercise for the day too!
It's a domino effect...
Start your day, how you want it to go! Don't leave things to chance.
Our reality is simply an accumulation of the thousands of tiny decisions you make every day. When given two options, take the toughest. Do hard things, then watch yourself grow and actually achieve the things you've always wanted but seem just out of reach. There's no "I don't enough time" excuse now, most of us have more time than ever.
Humans crave routine, try to keep your daily structure as close to normal as you can. Start your day by waking up at the same time as you normally would have a routine breakfast and then move! Set your day up for success from the start!
DIET
Just like routine it's easy to let your diet go out the window when faced with a huge twist to your daily life! But thats why having a set routine is so important.
Plan ahead and organise what your day/week of eating will look like by writing it down. Having a plan makes it a lot easier to stick to a healthy lifestyle rather than making it up as you go for each meal. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Handy Hint:
Try setting your meals aside in the fridge for the day ahead to avoid those 'snack'cidents by eliminating any choice you need to make. If it's there you'll eat it. Make good decisions ahead of time and stick to them.
As always it's best to maintain sticking to eating good whole foods, limiting sugar and alcohol as well as choosing foods that are nutrient dense (high in nutrients) rather than foods that are calorie dense (high in calories). Opt for a wide array of colours in your veggies and eliminate processed foods where you can.
Whilst it's probably not the best idea to go for a huge calorie deficit at this time as that may harm your immune system, that shouldn't give you a licence to binge. We should be looking at this time as a "Maintenance Phase" and giving our bodies and minds the rest and recovery that they may need. Sticking to the healthy option is always going to be your best option!
Use the extra time to learn how different foods affect you, learn how to track your calories/macros or spend a bit more time putting these a little higher on your list of priorities. Try cooking more of your own meals and give meal prepping a go!
EXERCISE
Exercise during this time is so important not just to maintain our physical health but also to support our mental health and immune system. While exercise is such an important part of our daily routine and a positive influencer on our overall health, it is often one of the first things thrown out the window when we face a shake up to our day to day life.
Maintaining regular moderate activity is shown to boost our immune system and help to clear our minds during this anxious time we are all facing. It is important though to remember to monitor your overall load and intensity as overtraining and prolonged high intensity exercise can place stress on your immune system and put you at higher risk of respiratory tract infections. If you aren't sure how to monitor this or feeling a little stressed about it, it's best to talk to your coach or health professional, it's what they do for a job and now more than ever they need the work.
If you want to read more about why daily activity is so important right now click this link:
Rather than worrying about smashing out 100s of home workouts or running countless Km's, while you don't have the opportunity to get in the gym, use the time to develop your skill set, improve your mobility, try different forms of exercise or focus on parts of your training that you might tend to avoid. You might not have access to heavy enough weight or a wide variety of machines and equipment but get creative with your training or ask your trainer/coach/gym to give you a hand. We are always here to help and still have many options for you to keep moving and improving while you're at home!
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Martin, S. A., Pence, B. D., & Woods, J. A. (2009). Exercise and respiratory tract viral infections.Exercise and sport sciences reviews,37(4), 157–164. https://doi.org/10.1097/JES.0b013e3181b7b57b
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