An increasing number of us are spending more time at home, either working or isolating.
So, it’s important to get thinking about ways of staying active, eating healthy and maintaining good mental health.
Below are 5 top tips on how to best stay healthy whilst at home!
1. Be Active
Staying physically active is more important than ever right now, even if this is mostly done in comfort of your own home, there are plenty of ways you can still do this! To support you, we have provided some information on how active you need to remain, alongside some useful exercises for keeping you active in and around your home.
- Aim to complete some physical activity every day. Any activity is better than none.
- Aim to do some strengthening exercises which work all major muscles at least twice a week. Don’t panic if you don’t have any home weights, there are plenty of body weight exercises in the links below.
- Aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week.
- Reduce the time spent sitting or lying down, keep yourself moving and take active breaks.
Here are some useful links to a range of exercises, classes and so more much:
2. Be Social
Through this difficult time its important to stay social with family, friends and colleagues. Social interaction has a significant effect not only your mental health but your physical too! There are plenty of easy ways to stay socially active, and there’s a couple below.
- Staying connected with family, friends and colleagues during this time is vital for your mental health. This can be as simple as an email or text through to facetiming or calling. Although social distancing may stop us from meeting up don’t let it be an excuse to stop connecting with others.
- Elefriends is a supportive online community where you can be yourself. We all know what it’s like to struggle sometimes, but now there’s a safe place to listen, share and be heard.
3. Be Calm and Well
Many of us are more stressed than usual at this time of uncertainty so it’s more important than ever to engage in positive behaviours that support your wellbeing.
- Mind have created some useful information and support you manage your wellbeing.
- Make sure you continue engaging in things you enjoy as best you can, for example reading, listening to music, drawing, knitting and so on. These hobbies tend to relax the mind and help you cope with stressors.
4. Eat Well
Thinking about a balanced diet during this time is important! As we are spending more, likely sedentary, time at home we probably aren’t going to need the same calorie intake as normal. Below are some useful links to how you can track your calorie intake and how to stay on top of your nutrition.
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My Fitness Pal is a great way to track your daily calorie intake alongside your energy expenditure to ensure you stay on track to meet your goals! You can join for free and download the app straight to your phone, allowing you to scan foods and products easily, as well as find some recipes.
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The Eat Well Guide shows how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet. Take a look at the guide and try match your meals to this, to help you achieve the recommended guidelines.
5. Be Supportive and Help Others
Volunteering your time to support others in a time of need its great for the local community. This can be anything from helping family and friends to older neighbours in your street. A number of charities and food banks still need support, particular during this time, is there a way in which you can help?
If you are interested in supporting your community, or if you’re already offering support as an organisation and would like access to funding page sure you visit our website.
You can also contact the British Red Cross Community Reserve Volunteer scheme, as they will be acting as a central co-ordinating point via their website.