HEALTH & WELLNESS GUIDE DURING CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN
Health: "A state of complete physical, metal and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease."
(World Health Organisation, 1948)
According to several studies, the most common health problem in the world is depression. This condition is often displayed in the form of insomnia, stress, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, obesity, and heart disease.
Wellness is the quality or state of being in good health and is the cornerstone of quality of life. It determines how we ultimately look, feel, interact with others and thrive in life and work. When focusing on wellness we need to consider its six dimensions: emotional, occupational, physical, social, intellectual, and spiritual.
HOW THE SIX DIMENSIONS OF WELLNESS CAN HELP YOUR NUTRITION DURING LOCKDOWN.
EMOTIONAL
The emotional dimension recognises awareness and acceptance of your feelings. It’s about creating a healthy view of food and allowing you to look at food as a vital source required to nourish / fuel your body, and not as good / bad / clean / dirty / cheat meal etc. Teach yourself to develop and maintain a positive relationship with food.
It is better to be aware of and accept our feelings than to deny them, therefore tune into how you feel and don’t use food to numb your feelings. Work through those feelings by talking / facetiming a loved one or write your feelings down in the form of a journal / diary.
Record how you felt if you overate. Recording how you felt at this time can help you to recognise when those feelings begin to initiate in the future, in order to help you identify the point where you first felt like overeating and instead pick up the phone or focus on a hobby to help distract you from those negative feelings.
During Lockdown there are currently so many uncontrollable variables. Nutrition one area where you can maintain some degree of control. Plan ahead, choose mostly highly nutritious foods and try planning when to have your chocolate / crisps etc. If you are in control of your decisions in advance then you are less likely to overeat / binge.
OCCUPATIONAL
The occupational arm touches on the enrichment of life through work, and how that connects to living and playing. How much you earn, the environment you work in, the people you work with and the hours you work, for example shift work can play a part in the types of food you buy and consume. It looks at how you can improve your diet / health, and fit those changes into your budget / hours / shift pattern.
However, with so many people now working from home with changing job hours, changing roles, and for some job uncertainty, how does this affect your nutrition? Here are some tips to help you maintain Occupational Wellness:
Can you keep your eating habits the same if you are working from home or not working at all i.e. keep your break times the same as your usual working day?
If you are now not working can you take advantage of one of the free courses that have become available to improve your qualifications and to keep your mind occupied?
Can you work in another room instead of the kitchen? If not, can you set up your working space without a line of sight to the kitchen cupboards?
Plan all your meals and snacks in advance. If you are tempted to snack mindlessly, try putting your planned snacks in a bowl / lunchbox and it is then up to you when you eat them throughout the day.
If your shift pattern has changed think about what you can take from your previous eating habits and apply to your new pattern. It has been shown that people who work shifts such as nurses / night shift workers tend to have a poorer relationship with food and can find it more challenging to lose or maintain body weight. If you currently have to work nights think about how you might be able to continue eating to your circadian clock. This may include having your evening meal before you begin a night shift followed by an evening snack and then fasting until breakfast. After breakfast go to bed and then upon waking continue with your normal eating pattern throughout the day.
SOCIAL
The social dimension encourages you to contribute to your environment and your community. This part of the path encourages active living by using the surroundings you have available. Take your current lifestyle into consideration when setting any activity goals as many people are currently moving less than normal therefore you may need to reassess your calorie intake to match your expenditure. Aim to walk 10,000 steps a day, and whilst you cannot meet others for a walk, you can still get out into the fresh air and escape your four walls.
Social connection is also an important factor in overall wellness. Whilst this may be more challenging in the current climate, think about ways in which you can still connect with people. Can you plan a workout session with a friend from the gym? Can you join in with a virtual coffee morning or dinner date? Can you make time each day to phone / video call a friend or family member? Can you perform an act of kindness for someone living in isolation? If you are living at home with family or friends, make time to sit at the table to eat your meals and connect.
INTELLECTUAL
An important aspect of travelling along a wellness path is exploring issues related to problem solving, creativity, and learning. Think about how you are using your time in lockdown. Are you taking the time to learn and develop your current skills or learn new skills? Are you listening to blogs and podcasts in an area that interests you, or could you listen to some which relate to health, fitness and nutrition to improve your knowledge and increase motivation.
Use the new information you have obtained to make informed decisions. Make some new habit changes so you can set yourself up for long term success after Lockdown rather than going for quick-fix options that may leave you back where you started.
PHYSICAL
Most people recognise the need for regular physical activity and may want to consider losing weight to bring their body weight into a healthy range to promote health and wellness. Improving your nutrition could also be a focus for you if you want to look a certain way, for example if you want to look better on the beach, at a wedding or just in general day to day life.
Setting a goal can be encouraging, however decide if this the right time to put pressure on yourself to achieve this goal. Think about how it would make you feel if you don’t reach your goal. If you're not forced to set yourself a specific time frame, try not to rush and enjoy the process in order to set yourself up for success.
Lockdown could be a really good time to learn a lot about yourself and how you eat. Perhaps teach yourself how to eat at maintenance, how to cook from scratch and how to create your favourite restaurant meal takeaway. You could try to make your food choices healthier by substituting some of the higher calorie ingredients for lower calorie ones.
Overall, remember not to punish yourself if you have days where your eating isn’t going to plan, as this is a strange time for everyone and we all have different ways of coping.
SPIRITUAL
The spiritual side of wellness encourages us to be consistent and true to our own values and beliefs rather than force ourselves to comply with others beliefs and values. During this time should you acknowledge your hunger and address it with nutritious food.
Try not to use food as a way of controlling your emotions. It may be that instead of dieting and being restrictive with food you could try relaxing some restritions within your previous eating and routine. Enjoy cooking and baking with the family, learning new recipes and enjoy sitting with your family after making the food to appreciate the taste, smell and look of your food. Maybe following a more relaxed approach will help to reduce the stress in other areas of this strange and unique time.
MINDFUL EATING
Here are some useful tips to help with mindful eating during Lockdown...
ASK
Am I hungry / thirsty or looking for something to do.
FOCUS
Remove any distractions whilst eating. This means no technology, social media, T.V. etc when eating and try putting your cutlery down between every mouthful to help focus on your chewing.
ENJOY
Think about the taste, texture and smell of what you are eating and take time to enjoy / appreciate them.
LEARN YOUR OWN HUNGER CUES
Rate your hunger out of 10 each time before you eat. If in the low numbers ask yourself why you are eating, and identify if it could be for other reasons such as boredom or not focusing your attention on eating during your last meal / snack.
STOP EATING BEFORE YOU GET FULL –
Be mindful of your hunger whilst eating (as well as when deciding if you are actually hungry in between meals / snacks). Stop when you are full even if there is some food left on the plate.
MOVE
Move each day! That could look different for everyone especially in the current times where you are unlikely to be able to go about your usual day to day. You may be stuck in the house all day trying to entertain the children whilst juggling work and housekeeping. Try to think of these aspects as positives by using them as ways to increase your NEAT (unplanned activity).
Set yourself a step target during your daily walk or hoover / clean the car / do some gardening; anything to get up and move. Take part in the home workouts with your local gym and get out in the fresh air. In addition, improve the wellness in your household by encouraging your family / partner to get involved!
ONE MORE THING FOR YOUR WELLBEING...
Advice on how to cope with Lockdown has overtaken all of our social media feeds. If you find that they are providing additional stress at this time try not to pay too much attention to the content or even unfollow the sources causing stress. This strange and unsettling time is unique to us all - you have to figure out what works best for you and that will come with some degree of trial and error.
If you are finding this tough and you are feeling down please reach out to us at Aristos - we can help provide some direction with regards to your nutrition and training. We can connect with you, support you without judgment and help you through this challenging time.
To find out more information about our Personal Nutrition Service please click here.