How to Stay Healthy in a Quarantined World

by Glow's Nutrition Team January 23, 2021

As we enter our 3rd lockdown season here in Lebanon after a severe increase in coronavirus cases, many of us are looking for ways to stay calm in the middle of this unprecedented extreme health crisis.

For this reason, we at The Glow Paradise have come together (while socially distancing of course) to bring you some of the most helpful tips and strategies for sheltering in place while remaining mentally and physically healthy at home.

“Mens Sana In Corpore Sano” – a saying that has never been so true. You may have heard it a few times, but this famous Latin proverb is now more relevant than ever, as it translates to: “a healthy mind in a health body”.

Here are 5 things to do to for better health and wellness in time of COVID-19:

Manage your expectations and goals

As we realize more and more with this time in isolation, remote work is its whole new monster and it’s not going away any time soon. For some people, quarantine has brought on unprecedented productivity. But unfortunately for others, it might have the opposite effect. By managing your personal expectations about how much you’re going to get done, you will have a lesser chance of ending up disappointed in yourself. So take it easy on yourself, will you?

Do not underestimate the mental effect that this forced isolation may have on your wellbeing. It is bad enough that we’ve never really felt in total control of our lives back when we were still able to lead normal ones. It is especially now that we have to give ourselves a break after reluctantly being put on this weird lifestyle trajectory where we need to avoid other humans at all costs. Evidently, difficulty concentrating and low motivation are to be expected. Nevertheless, we human beings are capable of adapting to almost any situation. It just takes a little time.

Build a routine

Establishing a routine is one of the most helpful things our can do to save yourself a world of trouble. Trust us on this one, it is a godsend. It has been scientifically proven over and over again that humans perform better and more efficiently when following a regular schedule. The thing is, it may feel fun at first to realize that you have so much free time. But then, the decisions you have to make about how to spend this time can cause stress and anxiety. Should I go to the grocery store or wait till tomorrow? Should I work out or watch TV? What time do I start working? When should I start thinking about cooking dinner? A routine will take the pressure off of decision-making anxiety, and sticking to it will boost your confidence and productivity levels, that way you will end up having exceeded your expectations of the day and feeling like a million bucks.

Start out by writing all the things you want or need to get done, and ranking them by priority. The key is to stay busy, yet still make time for self-care. We recommend that throughout your day, you keep on doing things the way you used to do them. For example if you’ve made it a habit to take a coffee break from work at 10:30, you can still have a cup at 10:30 except at home. It will make you feel normal. Getting the more difficult and tedious tasks over with in the beginning, as well as breaking down large ones into smaller ones will help you to actually get things done and will fill out your day.

However, the key here is to remain realistic about the things you will be accomplishing. If you try to do too much and fail, you may get discouraged and give up. It’s all about balance in the end.

Now more than ever, watch what you eat

So seeing as you’re stuck at home from now until humanity gets its act together, we bet you’ve stocked up on your favorite foods and snacks that are most probably not the healthiest. Don’t get us wrong; be certain we did that as well. We are human first and foremost. However, you probably shouldn’t live on salt & vinegar chips and candy bars while you’re self-isolating at home (no judgment if you do, we’re all just trying to do our best). As you may already know, the key to a healthy diet is to balance the amount of calories you consume during the day with how many you burn. And while many things are out of our control right now, what we eat is not one of them so might as well get a hold of that to have some sense of stability and wellbeing. On the plus side, your body will have built a better response should you get infected by the coronavirus!

Some of our favorite ways to trick ourselves into eating healthy without feeling like we’re sacrificing a whole lot include substituting carbs with whole wheat and high fiber food items, eating fatty fish for that good dose of omega-3 fatty acids that will lift your mood and increase your brain & heart function, and choosing yogurt with berries and mixed nuts over chocolate or any other dessert. Trust us when we say: all of this is way easier than it sounds. We know that in times of stress beyond limit, overeating can have a temporary calming effect (emphasis on the word temporary). But being mindful of what you’re eating is a good way to combat the urge to eat out of boredom, which is why we cannot recommend this enough: try to stock your fridge with as many healthy foods as possible, that way if you are tempted to snack you’ll be munching on immunity promoters and nutrient-filled ingredients.

Move yo’ body

Since the beginnings of this global pandemic, home workouts have been the go-to for those in countries where gyms are strictly closed, and for good reason! There is such a huge plethora of them at this point on the Internet that there’s bound to be one for every person on the planet. Even the laziest of lazies. Yoga and full body workouts have never reached such popularity on Youtube before. There are both free and paid classes for every level out there.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be a very strenuous workout. The main thing to keep in mind is to stay active to enhance your metabolism and immunity, which are of paramount importance especially at the moment. Worse comes to worst, you can always do a few sets of squats, burpees and jump rope. Try that and see if you don’t instantly feel better afterwards. We dare you.

Stay in contact with friends

Perhaps the one thing that can make or break your lockdown is how much socializing and human interaction you can get despite being house bound for weeks or months on end. Even though this pandemic has made a lot of people realize that they can be fine on their own, it has also allowed them to build meaningful relationships from a distance. With a significant rise in zoom calls, a lot of people have been reconnecting with friends by getting together on these video calls to discuss and share different thoughts and woes, like mental health and personal productivity levels now in comparison to before, as well as THE question that is leaving so many of us speechless: what on earth are we going to be doing when all of this is over?

By making an effort to virtually connect and reconnect, you will be surprised at how much closer you could grow to your friends in comparison to pre-COVID times. In the end, maybe the very thing that is meant to isolate us can bring us all together.