During these uncertain times, we are all learning to adapt to a restrictive lifestyle. We need to ensure we avoid contact with the virus. Here are 5 ways to stay fit and healthy during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Keep Clean
Adopting good hygiene techniques is vital in the fight against coronavirus. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for around 30 seconds, ensuring you clean every part of your hands and fingernails. Hands should be washed after using the toilet, before and after preparing food, before eating, after changing a nappy, blowing your nose and coughing, and after touching pets, their food and bedding.
Clean down kitchen and bathroom surfaces on a regular basis with a clean cloth (preferably disposable) and a disinfectant that kills 99% of bacteria and viruses. Wear plastic disposable gloves to protect your skin from chemicals and to prevent the spread of germs.
Dispose of used tissues, wash clothes and bedding regularly and vacuum floors and upholstery as often as possible. Antibacterial wipes are useful for cleaning most surfaces as well as personal items such as phones and computers, which are in contact with hands and mouths.
When you are out in public, protect yourself and others by wearing a protective face mask, use antibacterial gels provided by shops and businesses to clean your hands and any baskets or shopping carts you need to use. Always keep a 2-meter distance between yourself and other people and do not venture outside if you have any symptoms of COVID-19 19.
Exercise
To keep your mind and body healthy, you must exercise. If permissible, go for a walk every day to get some exercise, fresh air, and sunshine. If you cannot go outdoors, devise different ways to exercise in your home.
Check out online exercise classes or YouTube channels. Purchase exercise DVDs or some gym equipment. If you cannot afford expensive equipment, hire some. You can even improvise and use tins of soup for hand weights or just do plenty of strenuous housework to get your body moving and your muscles working.
Playing games with your children will keep you and them healthy while maintaining family bonds. If you and your partner want to indulge in something a bit more adult, explore each other’s bodies, and have some energetic sex.
Stimulate Your Brain
Mental health is just as important as physical health. Keeping to a daily routine as if you were in a full-time job can help maintain good mental health.
Stimulating your brain is essential to ward off boredom and depression. If you are working from home, you will be concentrating on that but make sure you take regular breaks like you would in the workplace. You must stretch your legs and rest your eyes and brain frequently throughout the day.
If you don’t have a job, entertain your mind with crosswords, read a book, play board games with your family and keep up to date with newspapers of informative websites. You could even consider writing a novel, indulging in craft or painting. You could use this time in your house to declutter, decorate or do some gardening.
Eat Sensibly
To stay healthy during lockdown, you need to eat a balanced diet and not indulge in too many treats. If you eat too much and don’t get adequate exercise, you will emerge from lockdown twice the size!
Include plenty of fruit and vegetables in your diet as well as wholegrain cereals, lean meat, and dairy products. Drinking at least eight glasses of water a day will keep your mind and body in tip-top condition. It is probably beneficial to take some dietary supplements, especially some Vitamin D if you do not get sufficient sunlight each day.
Do not consume excess alcohol as it will act as a depressant and you may become dependent on it. Limit it to a glass or two at the weekend.
Stay in Touch
Staying in touch with friends and family is vital for everyone involved. Knowing that you are not alone during these strange times will make it easier to endure. Never isolate yourself. You can stay in touch with people via email, telephone, or online video calling.
Online apps such as Skype and Zoom make it easy to have face to face contact with people. Perhaps you could arrange regular get-togethers online with friends and family or host fun interactions. You could host a quiz night, have a virtual party, a disco, or a baking party.
If you are struggling with loneliness during lockdown, do not suffer in silence, some people can help, such as The Samaritans.
