Quarantine has presented many obstacles and challenges, unique to each of us. For for lots of us though, quarantine has meant staying comfortable in our favourite tracksuits and yoga pants – that is if you’ve chosen to wear pants at all. No denim jeans or figure hugging apparel. Our exercise routines and regular eating schedules have gone out the window, with comfort foods like ice cream and pizza taking centre stage and our gym memberships on pause.
If you’re coming out of quarantine you may find that perhaps your clothes are a little tighter then they felt before, or they just don’t sit the way they usually do or maybe you just feel sluggish and drained overall. The thought of returning to what once was everyday life
It can be really overwhelming stepping back into the world, but my best advice is to just take the plunge and slowly get back out there. Here are my key steps for bouncing back from quarantine.
1) Be Kind To Yourself.
If you find you may have put on some extra weight, don’t look at it as an entirely negative experience. After all those habits and routines helped keep you safe during a very turbulent and unknown period. The stress hormone cortisol is also responsible for our bodies holding on to extra fluid and fat.
My advice is change the way you look at the extra weight, after all it did have a purpose. Be thankful that you are safe are able to step into a new phase and return to the hustle and bustle of daily life.
By changing your mindset, you are setting yourself up to not only loose the weight easily but to also be more intuitive with your eating and nourish your body with wholesome foods. Creating a positive outlook will also lessen the amount of the stress hormone cortisol, which will help overall with improving your mindset as well as your waistline.
2) Get Physical.
For exercise to be effective it is commonly misconceived that the workouts have to be very sweaty, intense and high energy. These high energy workouts can also make you more prone to injury especially if you’re not used to them. Vigorous exercises can also trick your body into creating more cortisol which like I mentioned before will actually defeat the purpose as you will hold onto fat. Instead structuring your workouts around your individual needs will help you get moving and will also hep you to listen to your unique needs and requirements.
Try meeting up with a friend and walking for 30 minutes around your neighbourhood, or even giving the house a good clean can be good full body workout.
3) Drink More Water.
I’ve said it once, and i’ll say it again – staying hydrated is one of the most simple ways to stay healthy, enhance your immune system as well as fire up your metabolism. To make it easy – invest in a quality reusable water bottle (I love my frank green bottle ) and take it with you everywhere. You can also change it up by infusing you’re favourite fruits and herbs into the water for a refreshing taste. Tea’s, coffee and milk also count but be wary of high sugar and fat varieties.
On a side note carbonated waters are a great replacement for sugary soft drinks, but they can also cause bloating.
4) Eat Smart.
If you found yourself grazing all day long during quarantine and the chocolate bar slowly disappeared during the day, you’re not alone. Instead of restricting and depriving our body of foods, focus on fuelling up with foods to keep you energised throughout the day.
Fill your plate with high fibre foods such as vegetables like broccoli, carrot and sweet potato as well as dry roasted nuts and whole-grains to keep you feeling energised and satisfied between meals.
Don’t forget protein such as lean cuts of meats, seeds, beans and lentils as well as low fat yogurts, cheese and milks.
And healthy fat sources like avocado, fatty fish, eggs, chia seeds, olive oil and dark chocolate.
5) Create A Lifestyle You Enjoy.
One of the advantages of coming out of quarantine is it allows you restructure your life around the lifestyle that you want. By laying the foundations with a positive mindset, it’s easier to create goals and habits that align with our personal beliefs and values. You can do this by steering clear of packaged foods as much as possible, choosing water and filling your body with nourishing whole foods, keeping active and chaining our outlook to focus on the positives instead of negatives.
