In a time of uncertainty, where it seems as though everything is out of our control, the one thing we can control is how we take care of ourselves. This means putting our physical and emotional health first and making ourselves a priority. Sometimes, however, between working from home, stressing out over the news, and trying to keep with everyone else in our lives during this crazy time, we put ourselves at the tail end of our priorities list.
Enter Sabrina Sarabella — this local clinical nutritionist, certified personal trainer, and all-around wellness exert is here to help us get back on track. Keep reading to find out how COVID-19 can, contrary to popular opinion, can help our self-care — here’s how to do it.
Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. Please consult your healthcare provider before making any health-related changes.
Eat Healthy Foods
During this stressful time, it is easy for us to want to turn to comfort food to make us feel better. However, this is a time in which we should be making an effort to fill up on healthy foods.
Focusing on eating whole foods not only keeps us healthy but will also help to keep us feeling energized and in a good mood.
Starting each day with a large glass of water with lemon helps to hydrate after a long night of sleep, and filling up on fruits and veggies is also a great way to pack in lots of vitamins and antioxidants throughout the day.
Additional top foods to throw in there to help kick-start your immune system are elderberries, dark chocolate, turmeric, wild salmon, ginger, garlic, spinach, broccoli, kale, matcha, and mushrooms.
See More: Fridge Food Essentials to Keep Up Your Wellness Goals While Staying Home
Take Vitamins
Keeping your body working at optimal levels is important to maintain great health and wellness right now.
So that vitamin regime that you have always said you were going to start, now’s the time to do it. Now is a great time to be vigilant about keeping your body in optimum health. Vitamins are an extra insurance policy for our body’s overall health.
Top vitamins to keep you healthy are vitamin C, vitamin D, Zinc, NAC, multi-vitamin, and omega 3 — start stocking up!
Get Moving
Daily exercise or movement is not only important to boost immunity and keep you physically healthy, but also mentally healthy too.
There are so many online workouts you can do from the comfort of your living room and home to keep the body moving and in tip-top shape. Also, lots of local fitness professionals and studios are doing online workouts which is a great opportunity for you to take advantage of.
Try getting outside {while still social distancing}and taking a solo leisure walk—trust us, it’s good for you.
Mediate, Do Breath-Work, and Say Positive Mantras
Breath-work, mediation, and positive mantras are all very important to do right now to keep us calm and grounded when we all may be feeling anxious and fearful.
Most of us are very stressed right now and because chronic psychological stress can lower your body’s immune system, this is a great time to practice self-care in the form of mediation or breath-work. Plus, taking a few moments throughout the day to just sit and find your breath can be very calming and relaxing.
Sit in a relaxed position and place your hand over your heart and just focus on your breath. While focusing on your breath you can repeat any positive affirmations that come up.
For example, “I am safe, I am healthy, I am loved,” or whatever feels comfortable for you to say.
Read More: Easy Immune System Self-Care Tips to Use Every Day
Pamper Yourself
What a great opportunity to take some time to pamper yourself. You know that face mask you have been meaning to try or that 10 step skincare regimen you never had time for, well now is the time to indulge.
Some other ideas would be to read that book you’ve been putting off, take that course, sleep in, and catch up on your rest. Whatever feels good for you to just relax, chill, and pamper yourself.
Sleep
Sleep is something that our body expects from us, we need it to survive. During the hours we are awake we are in a catabolic state, meaning we are breaking our body down.
When we sleep we are in an anabolic state, meaning that we are restoring and repairing our building or building it back up. During our deep sleep, we release all of our repairing hormones so that we can undo the damage we have done while we were awake.
The more well-rested you are, the more your body can be in optimal health and keep your immune system strong.
To get a great night’s sleep, about two hours before you are ready for bed, start to wind down. Do some relaxation, do your bedtime rituals and start to shut down your use of any electronic devices.
Studies have shown that being on your phone/computer within two hours of bed can cause melatonin levels to hit rock bottom. We want melatonin high at night because it helps us sleep.
If you do need to be on your phone or iPad/tablet at night, look into getting a flux screen {which can be found in your app store}. he app will adjust the color of your screen according to time to help reduce exposure to high-powered light that will interfere with melatonin production.
Finally, go to bed at a reasonable hour. Between the hours of 10:00PM and 2:00AM is when you are getting the most impact of your anabolic hormones {those that are repairing the body}. Always aim to go to bed earlier and get up earlier to get tasks completed.
Relax and Be Still
Letting your body just be still and giving it time to just relax so important for our health and well-being. Take this time to just let yourself chill. We are always running from activity to activity, work, gym, etc.— we are always doing something. This is your time to just be still and simply enjoy being.
What are some of your self-care tips to utilize during this time? Let us know in the comments!
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