The pandemic has transformed every aspect of our lives from family and health to work, social life and fitness. With yet another national lockdown it seems that the disruption is set to continue as we move into the new year. It’s so important, more than ever to make sure you look after your health and wellbeing.
During the first lockdown we found it way to easy to let our healthy habits slides as social distancing and further restrictions forced us to stay at home. So if you're not feeling your best, you're not alone. The most important thing to remember is to try and be kind to yourself and not give yourself a hard time with those slip ups from time to time. But it is so easy to fall into that rabbit hole of allowing those bad choices to continue and become very bad habits. Fortunately, there are plenty of easy ways to get healthy and back on track whether you're feeling that you want to venture into the world for an hour, or prefer to stay at home.
1. Make Plans & Set Goals
When you're trying to make better choice and get back on track with a healthy lifestyle, it can be difficult to know where to begin. The best place to start is always with making plans and setting out goals. I'm girl who strives on making list, plans or goals. They are the best way to keep me motivated and encourage me to stay focus and I really feel I have accomplished something as I make my way through the list and finally achieve those goals.
Just bare in mind when setting plans or goals make sure that you're setting realistic and achievable goals. There is nothing more deflating than setting yourself goals, feeling motivated and not achieving them. So keep your goals small and realistic. No one is going to be able to loose three stone in a month or run a 10k marathon in a month.
2. Follow a Routine
With most of us having to isolate, work from or become our children's teacher for weeks on end - establishing a routine is key. It's important, more than ever, to create a routine to give your day structure. We have tried to keep our routine as 'normal' as much as we possibly can. It has been pretty easy to stick to our normal routine as my husband is a key worker and will of course go to work everyday. The only thing that has changed for us really is the fact that I have to homeschool our daughter everyday, but we have somehow found our feet and implementing this changes into our routine.
So try and get up and go to bed the same time everyday, ensuring that you are getting your eight hours of beauty sleep.
Sleep is important. So make a conscious effort to set alarms so you don't miss the day and make sure you go to bed at a reasonable time and sleep for at least eight hours, if you can. Whether you're working from home or have to become a teacher for the day always take regular breaks. For one it can really help break up the day but it is always good for your mental health, wellbeing and eyes (if you're staring at a screen most of the day). Break time does mean snacks! Does anyone else's child eat about 50 snacks a day? But don't grab for bad snacks like crisps, chocolate or biscuits choose fruit, veggie sticks or a yoghurt.
3. Eat well
Eating well is good for both the body and mental wellbeing. But if the last year is anything to go by it is soooo easy to get stuck in a rut when it comes to making meal choices. Cooking the same meals all the time is easy, convenient and quick. But if you want to pack your diet with fresh and healthy variety of foods you may have to make some changes and learn so new recipes.
So for the first time we have decided to set ourselves a new challenge and join the Veganuary challenge. It is a something that more and more of us are trying and we cannot wait to get started. However, for those that don't know Veganuary is a month long diet challenge to Veganism. It was launched to introduce people to Veganism in a bid to change the way we feel about food and help the planet, without judgement. I'm not enirely sure how this plan will go down in our household but it is going to give us a kick start to getting back on track with our healthy lifestyle.
4. Keep hydrated
Most of us could probably drink more water as it helps our bodies and minds function properly - so we will be making it a priority as we try and get back on track with our healthy lifestyle. It can be surprisingly tricky, however, to remember to drink enough water. There are all kinds of things you can do to try and get more water into your body such as infusing fruits or herbs, adding a fizz or you could use naturally flavoured ice cubes to your drinks. It sounds obvious, but make it a habit to drink a glass of water with every main meal. Extra points are given when drinking alongside a high water content meal!
So we always make sure that we have a bottle near us at all times. Our favourites the Ion8 Leakproof Steel Water Bottle in Rose. The ridged cap opens with just one twist, and the wide mouth makes adding ice cubes a breeze. It keeps your drink at the perfect temperature, hot or cold. Keeps drinks hot for up to 12 hours, or keeps water chilly cold for up to 24 hours.
5. Get fit, the fun way.
When you're just starting off your pursuit to being fit, your stamina doesn't tend to be tip top. I know this only too well. It takes some getting there. But let's face it exercise can be boring and repetitive. However there are lots of ways to make exercise fun, whether you have five minutes or five hours to spare. With lockdown we join in with Joe Wicks and his lives. Love him or hate him he has got many of us on our feet doing pikachus and powerballs.
Whether you’re running, weight training or squatting, you want to feel comfortable when you’re exercising so that you can give your workouts your all. And there’s nothing more uncomfortable than having to pull your leggings up every few minutes. But thankfully, Love Leggings came along and changed the working out game. Not only are they flattering, they are great quality and keep everything in place not matter what kind of work out you're doing - yay, no more baggy knees. We have these Full Focus Length Mulberry Sport Leggings that have been designed to minimise distraction and maximise flexibility and deliver absolute comfort.
6. Switch Off
While it’s important to stay informed, try not to constantly refresh the news if you find it makes you feel anxious, angry or stressed. You might also find it helpful to spend some time away from social media. This might be especially true if you’re in a local lockdown, but many of your friends aren’t. Taking some slow deep breaths can help reduce anxiety levels and help you reset. Try breathing in for four counts, hold your breath for four counts and breathe out for five counts.
7. Stay in Touch
We are being encouraged to stay at home as much as possible in order to help stop the spread, avoid meeting up with family and friends and homeschooling our children. While these steps are for everyone's safety, it does bring some other challenges too - staying connected.
It's hard to believe that we are nearly a year into this pandemic and heading into lockdown 3.0. But once again we must stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives. We must pull together to try and protect ourselves from the bloody awful virus and it fills me with so much fear, often leaving me anxious. There are so many of us who are feeling like this so stay connected to one another.
Keep in touch with your friends and family, by telephone, email or social media, or contact a helpline for emotional support. By maintaining healthy consistent relationships with your family and friends is so important when it comes to your mental wellbeing. It’s reassuring to know at this time that it can be easy to communicate with loved one from far and wide. But if you’re feeling really alone, the Samaritans provide a 24-hour listening service: 116 123 and there are many other sources of support available. Never hesitate to pick up the phone. You are not alone.
It's so important to look after your health and wellbeing. It has been too easy let our healthy habits slide as social distancing and further restriction forced us to all stay at home. The most important thing to remember is not to be too hard on yourself as we all have those slips ups from time to time. But to dust yourself off, make a plan and get back on track.
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