5 Top Tips for staying Healthy in Isolation!
We're all going through this together and we'll all get through this together. During these times it's more important than ever before to focus on our Health, Fitness and overall Mental Well-being.
Naturally, we as humans are social beings that thrive off authentic, meaningful connection with others and with absence of physical touch and the need to social distance it is normal for us to be feeling empty and unfulfilled.
Here are some tips for keeping positive and healthy during this time.
- Maintain Connections with the People you Love and care about.
Social distancing from one another doesn't mean no social contact. Person to Person, face to face conversations are always the best forms of communication but right now they are not possible. Next best form of reaching out and connecting is video chat. Whether that be Skype, Facetime or Zoom, being visual and seeing each other increases our emotional bond with our friends and family members.
- Keep your Schedule.
What time do you normally wake up to; exercise, go to work or to walk the dog? Make sure you continue with this regular routine; we are after all creatures of habit. Maintaining a normal routine is a great way to relieve and help manage our stress levels. One way we can do this is by ensuring our mealtimes are regular and planned out for the day. What time is Breakfast? When is your Lunch break? What time is dinner going to be ready for? Staying at home can also lead us to snacking out of boredom, so plan your daily nutrition like you would if you were heading into the office or out on the road.
- Keep Active!
I don't need to lecture you on the benefits of exercise to both our physical and mental health, you already know! But just ask yourself, how well do you "do"? To keep our mind and body healthy aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day. As with point number two above, plan your daily exercise! Book it in as if it is an important meeting with a client or your boss, this will highly increase the likelihood of it being completed! Seek out the services of a Personal Trainer if you need the extra accountability to ensure you are getting this done.
- Get enough quality Sleep!
A lack of quality sleep can negatively affect both our physical and mental health as well as reduce our immune system's ability to fight off infections. In general, adults should aim to get at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night. Stress brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic may have a negative impact our sleep. Therefore, we should try to priorities good sleeping habits and ensure we are getting enough.
Some tips to help you improve your sleep:
- Establish a regular sleep schedule (going to bed and getting up at set times), and keep it on weekends and when working from home
- Limit alcohol intake and do not smoke
- Avoid caffeine before bedtime
- Keeping your room quiet, dark and at a comfortable temperature
- Disconnect from electronics before going to bed
- Try relaxation techniques such as meditation
- Get your information from trustworthy sources! (Not that old school friend who shared a post on Facebook)
There is a lot of misinformation surrounding COVID-19 on the internet and social media. It is important we get our information from reliable and trustworthy sources, such as government websites or websites of trusted national or international organisations (e.g. WHO) not from your favourite Breakfast TV presenters. It is important to stay informed on the best practices to stay safe during this time. However, we should try to minimise watching Channel 7 and 9's "Corona Chaos" programs that causes us anxiety and is affecting our mental health.
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
