Give or take, we’ve probably been in the lockdown phase for around 3 months now. If you need a gentle reminder, the reason we are is because of the COVID-19 outbreak which caused the world to witness a global pandemic and have us locked up in our homes to stay safe.
During this time we’ve had to adapt and resort to measures that we’ve been unfamiliar with, including working from home rather than the office. For some, this may have been a smooth transition to cope with as for a lot of us we have this option as part of our working contract. For others however, it’s been something to get used to.
Without the use of gyms and getting out and about as often, we may have found that heading to the snack draw during a break has become a familiar, but unhealthy site. Even now, we’re probably still well aware of the habit.
With social distancing measures likely to be present for a while, working from home will be the norm for a while. If so, it’s never too late to keep your nutrition levels high during these difficult times. If you’re thinking about this in a similar way, here are some tips to keep your nutrition up to scratch.
Change where you work (if you’re near the kitchen)
If your regular working space is one that’s near the kitchen, is there another space that you could utilise to do your work? Vacating yourself near the kitchen makes it relatively easy to take a few steps towards the kitchen and rummage around the snack draw. So, try to see if there’s another room in the house that’s far away from the kitchen and prevents you from grabbing a snack.
Plan your meal times
If you haven’t done so already, you should be planning your meal and snack times. If you know what you’re going to eat and when you’re going to eat it it can be far easier to stick to your schedule and keep your eating consistent in your diet.
Treat your eating times the same way you’d treat them at work. Irregular eating can be unhealthy for your body and have you put on weight in places that you didn’t even imagine.
Meal prep
This can sometimes be a tedious task when you’re working during the day with work. However, what you prep today will benefit you for tomorrow. It can also help with saving time during your lunch break, and give you more time to relax and switch off from work rather than take up most of it making your meal.
It doesn’t even need to be a fancy meal. Something light, but filling and easy to make would be perfect for your lunch time meal. Prepare your meals the same way you would when you’re physically going to work. Your body needs all the right nutritional content that you can get whilst you’re home, so even if you can’t get these through your normal diet, you can always gain these through probiotic supplements or magnesium tablets.
Keep hydrated
Have you found that when you work you have regular headaches or feel fatigued as the day goes on? This is probably because you’re becoming dehydrated which can seriously affect your work ethic and productivity. This is the last thing you need when you’re trying to complete your tasks for the day.
The same way you probably go to the water cooler at work every other half an hour, keep a glass of water at your workstation and fill it up when you need to. With the kitchen tap in close vicinity, you have no excuse to feel dehydrated.
Eat right even when you’re at home
It’s never been more important to keep up healthy nutrition levels, particularly as you’re at home and probably not engaging in the kind of physical activity that you’re used to. Taking these steps into consideration, if you haven’t done so already, it can lead towards a healthier lifestyle that will also benefit you when you eventually come out of lockdown completely.