Nutrition Coming Out of Quarantine (Covid 19)

Quarantine has been quite difficult for everyone. What was once a normal, daily routine, was shut down just like the rest of the world. One important part of your life took a hit, and that was your nutrition and health.

Before quarantine, you had access to the gym, you went to the store more often, followed your daily habits, and you were less stressed. This all changed with the oncoming of Covid-19.

Many people are coming away from this having gained 15-20lbs of excess weight that was never a problem before. This can be extremely defeating for most and really dampen the spirits. However, it isn’t the end. The great thing about this is that you can make changes. You can get back to where you were, it just takes some work.

In this article, we’re going to list some ways in which you can re-dial your nutrition back to what it once was (or even better than it was).

Rebuild habits

The most important thing to focus on will be your habits. The tiny habits and behaviours that we engage in every day, are what make up our ability to follow a nutrition regimen. Without them, you may find yourself lost. With quarantine, a lot of these habits we had solidified started to slowly disintegrate. While you didn’t have a ton of control over this, it is tough.

Now is the time to start putting work into it again.

First, start with your morning routine. A great start to your day is something that is constant. It gives you something to look forward to and brings about some momentum for the day. Your morning routine may center around a healthy breakfast of eggs and oatmeal, followed by a cup of coffee. Perfect! Hold yourself to that routine and build that habit.

The next part involves stacking something on top of that. This could mean that you immediately begin prepping your lunch for the day. Having something prepared will help you avoid stopping for an unhealthy fast food meal.

Over time, add more to this sequence. You may start incorporating a morning jog with it, or a quick, high-intensity workout with some dumbbells. Regardless, habits are where everything starts.

You will need to get back to doing the small, mundane things to build a strong framework again.

Start small

As stated in that previous section, you need to focus on the small things. This means starting small too. It’s all too common for people to want to jump headfirst into things. They want to take it on all at once. Yet, this is a fast track to failure. You can only handle so much when it comes to lifestyle change. When you take on too much at one time, you end up overwhelmed and quit.

Pick one small task or change and focus there. Get really good at it again. For you, this may mean that you eat 3 servings of veggies a day or include protein at every meal. You become a master at this and follow up with something new after. Eventually, bit by bit, you rebuild the foundation that you had before all of this.

You don’t need a hard reset; you need to get started.

What should you be consuming?

This is a great topic now that we have seen what can happen. There is a need for people to take bigger strides within their health. This means eating more of the right stuff, exercising more, and just taking health seriously.

So, what should your post-quarantine nutrition look like?

For starters, you just need to focus on a balance. There are tons of fad diets out there, but none of those carry much weight. What does carry some impact is a whole food diet based around getting in protein, fruits, and vegetables. This is a sure-fire way to improve your health across the board.

There’s no need to focus on calorie counting, macro tracking, or any other more advanced techniques yet. Just be healthy and eat foods that haven’t been very processed.

Also, you need to be focused on consuming Vitamin C and Vitamin-D. These are two crucial vitamins in your body’s defence against any type of “invader.” Vitamin C can come from any type of citrus fruit or can even be supplemented. We can’t really get TOO much, so have some fun getting what you can in. Vitamin D is going to come from some shellfish, mushrooms, fatty fish, dairy, and eggs. You can also supplement for Vitamin D as well. However, the most effective way to get Vitamin D in would be to get some direct sunlight.

And always…

Stress less. It isn’t a nutrition concept, but it plays a huge role in actually being healthy. Higher levels of stress are associated with weight gain, especially in the midsection. The world has been and still is, in a high-stress state. So, it’s important to do what you can to lower this level of stress.

Some great activities include getting some exposure to nature, meditating, or practising breathwork techniques.

 

Conclusion

That’s really all you need to focus on as you come out of, or workaround Covid-19. This has been a crazy time, and it’s thrown your health out of whack. Now is your opportunity to put in the work and take it back.

Follow the steps above to get started. Start small, build your habits, eat a balanced diet, and stress less. That’s the recipe for success.