6 Easy to Follow Tips for Staying Healthy at Home

Whether you’re home because of the quarantine, or because you have always worked from home, you need to stay fit and healthy. Not just to beat this pandemic but so you can have a healthier life.

Being at home means you lead a somewhat sedentary lifestyle. And if you’re not careful, the only time you get up is to go to the bathroom or the kitchen/fridge. That’s not good for your waistline or your blood circulation.

So, we need to plan for a healthy lifestyle while being home.

Here are a few tips that can get you started on building a healthy lifestyle habit that can last for years to come. These tips are focused on exercise and diet so we can take care of our bodies.

But before we get down to the details, we are going to look at what you need to do first before identifying ways to be healthy at home.

1.      Plan a routine

Establishing a routine is a great start to planning out your days. And as part of that routine, schedule in time for exercise and eating healthy.

When you schedule your exercise as part of your daily routine, you’re more likely to develop a habit of exercising. Plus, you’re keeping yourself accountable. The flexibility of being home means you can schedule your exercise at the most convenient times. Check your schedule of family, personal, and professional priorities and make yourself a priority also. Select your days and times for exercising, record it, and stick to the schedule.

2.      Meal prep

A proper diet is an essential part of staying healthy at home. Eating out, takeout and delivery are not the best options for maintaining a healthy diet. Of course, you could always order meals from a healthy food store. But this will get pretty expensive really quick.

Instead, start meal prepping.

And no, you don’t need the many fancy containers or a long list of ingredients and spend hours on end preparing meals. Instead, you can prepare ingredients to make cooking easier. Or select less time-intensive meal ideas that are quick to prep.

Preparing your meals or ingredients in advance ensures you can eat a healthy meal. For example, if you’re working from home, you can often forget to eat. Or because you have limited time, decide to just grab snacks or delivery. You can avoid that by being proactive with your meal prepping.

Make sure to add your meal prep time to your weekly schedule.

3.      Adjust your workstation

While exercise and diet are a great start to keeping healthy at home, you also need to consider your workstation.

You will be spending hours at a time in the space. So, it needs to be set up to meet your health needs.

For example, a standing desk is a great option to help you reduce shoulder and back pain and help you recover faster after a meal.

Or, when seated, you can try using an exercise ball instead of a traditional chair. It will force you to adopt a proper seated position, therefore, improving your posture while strengthening your thighs and core.

4.      Exercise at home

Exercise is a critical component of keeping healthy at home. According to the American Cancer Society, an adult should do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise weekly, or 75 minutes of high-intensity workout.

So, how to get going:

·       YouTube Workouts

There are many fitness experts, trainers, and coaches with exercise videos on YouTube. So, you can easily access video trainings to help you start getting into shape.

The main downside to this is that you have to decide which workouts to do and even that can lead to indecision and kill your exercise drive. Plus, you need to know what workouts to start with for your level of fitness.

·       Online Workout/Virtual Coaches

Some of us need that extra push and standardized activity to start exercising. Signing up for an online workout program or working with a virtual coach can give you a structure to follow.

A virtual fitness coach gives you accountability and motivation knowing that a real person is on the other end of the process pushing you along.

·       Planning your own exercise routine

You can start with something simple that’s easy to repeat. For example, you can grab a skipping rope on Amazon and start skipping for 15-20 minutes each morning. Or, do a 30 day squat and burpee challenge.

No matter what method you choose, just ensure you develop an at-home work out plan.

5.      Manage your diet

In addition to your exercise, what you eat is extremely important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. What and when you eat when you’re staying home impacts your overall health, and exercise alone cannot compensate for that.

Watch what you eat.

So, as we said earlier, meal prepping is a great way to manage your food intake. You can always plan out your snacks and meals to ensure you’re eating a balanced meal.

And if you’re following certain diets like Keto, Vegan or Paleo, it just makes it much easier to plan out your meals beforehand.

Drink water

We cannot emphasize enough how important your water intake is for the day. To keep yourself on track, you can order water bottles with measurements so you can know exactly how much water you’ve drunk on a given day. And no, coffee and juice are not considered water.

6.      Watch your mental health

Keep your mind active by reading books, doing puzzles, or listening to podcasts. Or, if you have a hobby, make time for it. It can help you unwind and relax for a peaceful mind and body.

Also, make sure you get enough sleep to rejuvenate your mind and body. And try as best as possible to reduce stress.

Final thoughts on keeping healthy at home

As you incorporate these tips into your daily life, track your progress. You can do this manually or with an app. Use your planners to keep track of your daily exercise and diet goals. Or use an app to track your exercise progress and meal intake.

You can see how well you’re doing, what you need to improve in the next weeks, and even be able to treat yourself knowing you’ve done a good job.