Easy Ways to Stay Healthy While Working From Home
Not sure what day of the week it is? Me too.
For some, staying indoors all day is a dream come true (Netflix, anyone?). For others, the monotony of life in lock down is starting to wear thin. As tragic as the circumstances are, you can also view this time as an opportunity to focus on yourself and your health needs. Try these 6 simple ways to improve your health at home.
1.Write Down What You Eat
Research demonstrates that writing down what you eat can improve your health. Why? It’s been shown that behaviors that increase our awareness of daily actions and give us a sense of accountability motivate us to make changes.
In a similar way that writing down your ‘to do’ list in your phone or on paper spurs you into action, writing down your intake prompts you to take notice. Writing down how you feel after each meal, can also help identify food intolerance. And it doesn’t have to take long - one study in the journal, Obesity, found that participants who lost the most weight, spent only 15 minutes a day recording their intake. Keeping track has never been easier. My Fitness Pal, Lose It! and FatSecret are great apps that allow you to quickly self-record. Alternatively, do it old school and keep a log using a weekly food diary.
2. Get Cooking
Spending more time at home does have its perks. Instead of dining out or ordering take away, cook some healthy, homemade dishes.
Make Half Your Plate Vegetables: Veggies add color, flavor and texture, plus vitamins, minerals and fiber to your plate. Make 2 1⁄2 cups of non-starchy vegetables your daily goal
Cut Back on Added Salt: Instead of free pouring salt while you cook, add just a pinch before serving
Grill, bake, broil or steam your food, rather than fry
Get to Know Food Labels: Reading the nutrition facts panel can help you shop and eat or drink smarter
Boost Your Vitamin D: Long periods inside can reduce the Vitamin D that your skin makes from the sun. Include a portion of salmon, cremini mushrooms, eggs, milk, fortified tofu or ricotta cheese to increase your level
Don’t shop hungry! Plan meals beforehand and make a list of the food you need in advance
3. Try frozen
Frozen foods are often associated with an unhealthy diet. That doesn’t have to be the case. On the contrary, some frozen food, such as fruit and vegetables can be higher in antioxidants than in their fresh forms. Nutrient lose begins when fruits and vegetables are picked. Produce is typically frozen when they are fully ripe. This helps to lock in vitamins and minerals that would otherwise be lost while the food sits in the grocery store or your fridge. Food often travels long distances to get to consumers which also reduces their nutritional value.
Fruit and veggies that are versatile and freeze well include: broccoli, corn, spinach, peas, cauliflower, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.
4. Keep a consistent schedule
Do you feel like your daily routine is all over the place? Working from home can mess with your usual schedule. This can also impact when and what we eat and sleep pattern. Try some of these tips to keep things on track:
Wake up at the same time each day. It will strengthen your internal biological clock
Don’t skip breakfast. Your metabolism will thank you
Eat every 2-3 hours. Keep your blood sugar levels stable and avoid sugar cravings
Wait at least 3 hours after dinner before going to sleep. Your body will have more time to fully digest your food
A further note on sleep…
Setting a regular bedtime will ensure you get enough sleep. Research tells us that sleeping less than 5 hours a night on a regular basis doubles your risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke. There is also a link between reduced sleep time and poor weight management, insulin resistance and diabetes. The National Sleep Foundation recommends an average of eight hours of sleep per night for people ages 14 and up. Try limiting daytime naps to 15-20 minutes to avoid disrupting your sleep natural sleep rhythms.
5. Lift weights
Even though we’ve been told to stay at home, it is important to try and get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. You can do this in your home or outside - just remember to stay at least 6 feet away from others when outside. A key principle of weight management is doing consistent, structured exercise. Lifting weights is something that’s easy to do at home – it also builds up lean muscle, a tissue type that burns a lot of calories. If you don’t have hand weights available, use other heavy objects (canned food, perhaps?). Remember to warm up first, start with low weights and multiple repetitions, scaling up to heavier weights and more reps.
6. Write down your health goals (and review them regularly)
Just like writing down what you eat can help improve your diet, making a list of your health goals will remind you of what you’re working towards. Start by choosing one long term goal that motivates you, for instance, “I would like to lose 15 pounds”. Then drill down into the short-term goals that will get you there. For instance, in order to lose 15 pounds I will…
1. Do cardio and weight training at the gym four times a week
2. Reduce my consumption of soda to 1 drink per day
3. Increase my servings of vegetables to 4 per day
Adding measurable criteria to your short-term goals will help you measure progress. Similarly, setting a specific deadline for when you will accomplish your goal is a useful way to keep you on track. And remember: your goal should be ambitious, but also realistic and attainable.
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What are you doing to stay healthy during the lock down?
Please share below!