The COVID-19 quarantine measures can quickly take a toll on your mental and physical health. Being stuck inside can feel lonely, and not being able to go to the gym can make you lose track with your fitness goals. Luckily, there are many ways to eat well, stay in shape, and work on your mental health without having to leave home. And as an added bonus, these techniques can even help you save money. Below, find out what you can do to keep looking and feeling your best during lockdown.
Practicing Self-Care
Self-care sometimes gets misconstrued as self-indulgence or selfishness, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The definition of self-care will vary depending on who you ask, but it generally includes anything you deliberately do to take care of your mental, physical, and emotional health.
Practicing good skincare and using beauty products is a component of many people’s self-care routines. If you are looking for new products to add to your routine, it’s easy to save money with coupons and promo codes for retailers like Walgreens.
Another major component of self-care is taking care of your physical health. Staying active indoors can be hard, but you sometimes just have to get creative. You don’t need to invest a fortune on home gym equipment. For example, buying just a yoga mat can make it much easier to work out at home. There are countless exercises you can do with just a mat and items you already have around the house.
Managing Your Emotional Health
Self-care goes hand-in-hand with tending to your mental and emotional health. Without a healthy outlet, you may start feeling overwhelmed with your thoughts and emotions when you’re stuck inside. Journaling or doing guided meditations can help you work through some of your thoughts and feel more in control.
While self-care can be effective, you shouldn’t resign to self-care if it’s just not working for you. Anxiety and depression are often more manageable with medication and can be easier to handle with the help of a professional. The cost of therapy shouldn’t prevent you from seeking help. In fact, there are many affordable therapy options.
Get Creative with Your Pantry
Eating well is one of the easiest ways to feel better when you’re stuck inside. It’s also another pillar of self-care. However, it’s hard to eat nutritious food and pay attention to portions when you have constant access to snacks in the pantry. Healthline suggests that if you’re struggling, it might be a good idea to remove temptation by keeping food out of sight or storing snacks in harder-to-reach cupboards.
Drinking more water can keep hunger at bay as well. Being well hydrated is also one of the best things you can do for your health overall, even if you’re not using it as a tactic to prevent snacking.
If you’re like most people, you probably also stocked up your pantry with a number of essentials when the pandemic started. It’s always smart to keep a reasonable stash of canned and boxed foods on hand, but these staples can quickly become boring when you’re eating them on a regular basis.
Looking for ways to spice up your pantry food will make you more excited about cooking at home. For example, whipping up a legume quesadilla or making empty-the-pantry soup will make your pantry foods more interesting.
In addition to meals, you can get creative by trying out different nutritious drinks that are packed with health benefits. Matcha tea powder, for example, can be effective for managing stress and keeping anxiety in check. Matcha tea can be used in many creative ways, making it one of the more versatile things to keep on hand. And because a little powder goes a long way, it’s a budget-friendly way to boost your health. Here are some top-notch organic ceremonial grade matcha teas that I'd recommend you try:
It takes a conscious effort to eat right and get in enough physical activity when you’re stuck at home. By staying mindful of your diet, mental health, and emotional well-being, you can keep feeling your best during quarantine.