It’s been around a year since lockdowns started to take place all over the world, and while the exact severity of measures tends to vary a lot from one area to another, there have been some noticeable common effects on the population. One of the most pronounced changes has been in the way people treat themselves. Initially, there was a common assumption that a situation like this might make most people reevaluate their approach to health and wellbeing, and motivate them to take better care of themselves.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the truth on a global scale, and many have been letting themselves go more and more. If you don’t want to be one of them – or feel like you’re already going down that road and want to stop while you can – there are various things you could do to lift your spirits and improve your situation.
Home Exercise
Let’s start with the basics. Even if you don’t have any training equipment at home, that doesn’t mean that you’re left with no options to keep your body in shape. Simple body-weight exercises can be quite a good start, and most of them don’t require any special gear to get started. Look into yoga and meditation as well. Even on their own, they are both great ways to improve your wellbeing on the inside and out, but if you combine them, they can be a really powerful force for changing your life for the better.
Bike Instead of Driving
If you still have to travel around a lot during the lockdown, you should reconsider how you’re doing this. Replacing your car with a bike is a great first step. Even if it’s an electric bike, that’s still a step up from driving around in a car all the time, which contributes nothing to your own health, and has a negative impact on the environment. Make sure to take care of the annoying legal aspects of this though – such as getting the right electric bike insurance right from the start. A company like Velosurance can help point you in the right direction if you don’t know where to start, and they can also give you various extra tips on choosing and maintaining your bike in general.
Experiment with New Diets
Another area you can direct your attention towards is the way you eat. Eating habits can be hard to change, especially during a difficult period like a major lockdown. But it’s also a great opportunity to make some changes in your life. Try out different diets, knowing that you’re not burdened with the constant requirement to meet people through the day. Some diets can have a major impact on your energy levels in their first few days, making them an unappealing option to those with otherwise active lives. But when you’re stuck at home all the time anyway, now might be a good opportunity to try out something new.
Fix Your Sleep Schedule
Another point to consider very carefully is your sleeping schedule. Lockdowns have proven to be a major detriment to those trying to get a good night’s sleep – even though you might expect the exact opposite from a situation where you don’t have to go out much. The thing is, having to get up at the same time every day, take a shower, and leave the house with a presentable appearance, can be a major motivator to keep yourself in shape. When you’ve lost that pressure, you may easily find yourself snoozing your alarm until the first virtual meeting that requires your presence. The only way to fix that problem is to take matters into your own hands, set a hard schedule, and stick to it. This will play a huge role in your wellbeing in the long run.
Use Every Opportunity to Socialize
Speaking of virtual meetings, don’t forget that you don’t have to feel isolated if you don’t want to. There are still plenty of options to maintain contact with those you care about (and even meet random new people!) without having to leave the house. Make sure that you take full advantage of those opportunities, because the feeling of isolation can creep up on you quite badly, and before you know it, you’ll be stuck in a hole that will seem impossible to climb out of. Start with little steps, and don’t be too pushy on others either, because you don’t know what they might be going through.
Keeping yourself healthy physically and mentally takes some extra effort, and that may be the last thing you want to hear in a situation like this. But in the end, everyone decides for themselves how they will cope with this situation, and if you don’t try to help yourself, you shouldn’t expect others to do it randomly all the time.