The social distancing protocols as a result of COVID-19 have led to a dramatic increase in the number of people working from home. If this is something that you’re not used to doing on a daily basis, it can really start to take its toll on your physical and mental well-being, unless you learn to adapt. This self-isolation means that our daily routines and the exercise we often don’t even count as exercise (like that short walk to work or the shops) just aren’t possible anymore. Instead, we have to spend the majority of our time at home, and this can be a shock to the system for someone who’s used to being out and about and commuting to the office every day.
Sure, it’s a novelty for the first week or so, but after that, it becomes apparent that you’re much less physically active than you used to be. And “normal” activities you took for granted, like walking or cycling to work, are now a no-go zone. In addition, it also leads to a more sedentary lifestyle of sitting around much more unless you make a concerted effort to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. This is when you start to realize that you do need a plan in place to navigate this new way of living and working so that you can maintain your overall health and fitness in the process.
So, when your usual physical activities are no longer an option, how do you replace them and what do you replace them with? And when you’re working from home all day with a fully stocked cupboard of yummy snacks, how do you stop yourself from abolishing a packet of biscuits in one go just because they’re there?
Meal Planning is Essential
What you need to remember about your diet when you work from home is that you can really only eat items that are in your cupboard. So if you don’t buy it, you can’t eat it. If discipline isn’t an issue, buy what you want and stock up for weeks ahead. But a lot of people just don’t have that kind of willpower. So only keep food in your place that’s healthy and nutritious, with a limited amount of “treats” to get tempted by. It’s wise to stock up on foods that will give you a slow release of energy throughout the day and keep you full, rather than stock up on sugary foods and drinks that lead to that inevitable slump within an hour after eating them.
What Does Your Body Need?
Think of your body and what it needs to work at its best; what can you feed your body to fuel it to help you be as productive as possible throughout the day? For example, starting your day with a breakfast of a chocolate bar and soda isn’t going to set your body up for a busy few hours of work.
The key here is planning. Schedule your meal times into your day the same way as you schedule the rest of your week. Decide what you’re going to eat each day and stick to it. Once you do that, you’ll be much less inclined to go for the closest available option when hunger sets in, i.e. polishing off that easter egg you’ve yet to finish instead of a proper dinner!
Bear in mind that even with meal planning, your dietary habits will change when you’re working from home. Adding supplements such as a digestive enzyme and advanced probiotic to your diet will help your digestive system to continue to work optimally in spite of those changes, by giving it the support it needs to properly absorb the nutrients you need from your diet.
Get Innovative About Exercise
A closed gym doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. And I guarantee you there are a vast number of people using this excuse who might have gone to the gym about twice a month previously anyway! Whilst it’s clearly very important to adhere to social distancing guidelines, exercise is vital in this time to help you maintain a positive outlook (can’t beat that serotonin rush!), maintain a healthy weight, and keep your immune system as strong as possible so you’re less susceptible to infection and find it easier to recover. Mental health deterioration and weight gain can creep up on you pretty fast before you’ve even realized it and it’s very important to be aware of this and put preventative measures in place.
The World Health Organization recommends that adults have at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensive or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, in addition to strength training activities at least twice a week. Lots of fitness professionals are now doing follow-along online workouts for free on mediums such as Instagram and this is a great way to engage with other people and improve your fitness in an interactive, fun environment right from your own home. A lot of these workouts involve strength training bodyweight movements, which don’t require any equipment and have been proven to be just as beneficial, if not more so, than aerobic exercise. The more active you are, the more energy you’ll have, and the more productive you’ll be.
These are trying times for everyone and this kind of lifestyle adaptation is absolutely essential in order to come out the other side without any further indirect consequences to your health and well-being.
Prioritize Wellness
You can stay on top of your health by adding an Advanced Probiotic to your diet for increased energy, clearer skin, reduced risk of infection, less bloating, and a better functioning digestive system!
We’re also giving all Terra Health Essentials readers a 30% discount on our Advanced Probiotic so you can see the results for yourself! To claim your 30% discount, use the code: workfromhome30 when placing your order.