Hello again!
Sadly, the Coronavirus pandemic is still going strong in the UK. Everything has changed for us – the way we work, the way we relax and also the ways we keep fit! As boredom kicks in for many of us, there’s one way to kill the time – eat. As I’ve heard so many people complain that their bad habits are becoming more and more prevalent, I thought I’d write a little post on how to keep fit during the Coronavirus pandemic.
I am not claiming to be an expert, by the way. I am not super slim or really fit – I’ve just done plenty of research and compiled things I found into one place to make it a little easier to comprehend!
Cook More Homemade Meals
The ratatouille GIF was literally me when I thought about cooking for lockdown as I’m more of a baker but I’ve actually made some lovely dishes! My current favourite to bake are these cocoa & vanilla flapjacks – they’re dairy free, gluten free and vegan. I really wanted to include this lovely recipe as it reminds me of Graze, but beware that the measurements were in a mixture of cups, grams & tablespoons which was a little too hard for my brain to handle (I suggest you use a conversion tool as I did!)
I do like to cook when I can as it’s good to know exactly what’s going in to what you’re eating – many shop bought items have so many ingredients in that I’ve never even heard of! This is also a good method make tastier dishes, and although you can buy “low calorie” meals, it’s never as nice as homemade.
Set Realistic Goals
It’s all well and good to tell ourselves that we’re going to lose a tonne of weight in a month or get really fit, but when we set ourselves these unrealistic expectations, we feel worse than we did to start with when we don’t achieve them.
It is tricky to tell what sort of diet we need to abide by and the amount of exercise we need to do to stay fit and healthy. I found this great weight loss goal calculator which actually tells you how much exercise and dieting you would need to do to reach your ideal weight. This is a great way to set goals and to see if they are doable for you before you start.
Help Each Other Out
I don’t really like walking on my own, but if I’m walking with a friend or my partner and we’re chatting away, I barely even notice how far I had walked! If you’re unsure how much you should be doing, there are some great resources on the internet like this one that can estimate how much you’d have burned off the type of exercise you’ve been doing. Granted, as we’re in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic you can only exercise with people in your household right now which could be tricky for some of us. However, you could always go on Facetime and have a bit of fun doing some exercise together at home.
Don’t Tempt Yourself
If I see food – I want to eat it. So the best method for me not to snack on rubbish is not buying it! Recently my partner and I have tried to do a shopping list and completely stick to that so we don’t have too much junk food in the house and it does work!
Hydrate
This is one of my favourite points as not only is it so important to keep yourself hydrated in this lovely weather we’re having here in the UK, but it makes you feel less hungry in between meals. My partner religiously drinks green tea in the morning (I haven’t quite got there yet) as it is said to speed up your metabolism and make you feel less hungry. Simple Loose Leaf did a great post on all of the fab benefits to green tea which I do recommend giving a read if you’re going to try this method.
Don’t Compare Yourself
A body fat calculator can be really helpful to assess your current situation and work out what you’d like your weight/fitness goals to be. However, we are all different heights and weights – somebody heavier than you could look super fit and your ‘perfect weight’. It’s all about your own dimensions, so any comparison will only make you feel demoralised. (so much easier said than done, I know)
Treat Yourself In Other Ways
Unhealthy food was always (and still is, really) such a treat for me! So now I’m trying to steer clear of that, I try to treat myself in different ways. We are all working extra hard while times are a bit rubbish so we all deserve something nice! Before, I would’ve finished work and bought myself a big cake (or made this one) but now I’d try and maybe buy myself a little gift for the same price. (which ended up being some moisturiser)
Record Progress
Recording your progress is so important; even if you don’t think you’ve come very far, you’ve probably made more progress than you think without even realising. You can do this by using a diary and writing down your weight each week (can work for weight loss or building muscle this way) or writing down your measurements to see them going down (or up if you want muscles!).
If you don’t fancy making a note, you can always take photos every so often and put them into a folder on your phone/laptop to have a more visual understanding of the progress you’ve made.
Sleep
We all loooovveee sleep but most of us don’t get enough of it (guilty). Shape.com claims that sleep is the most important thing for a better body as lack of this makes us crave food and damages our cells. You can read more in their article here.
All In Moderation…
I once tried to go cold turkey into dieting and completely failed because I just felt my body craving everything all the sugar that I’d recently been eating. Obviously I’m not saying let’s go and stuff ourselves but I think it’s really important to remember to enjoy things ‘in moderation’. It is a bit of a cliche but I think it’s a really good incentive to eat well if we can treat ourselves to our favourite foods just occasionally!
That completes this post on how to keep fit during the Coronavirus pandemic. I hope you’re all staying safe during this scary time and try to be kind to yourself whatever your goals are! 🙂
Lifestyle Blogger based in Devon.
I like to write, drink tea and read great books.
PR – admin@diagonalstripes.co.uk
