Although many working on the front lines are working more hours than ever, there are plenty Americans feeling at home. Feeling trapped can take a mental and physical toll, and as we know, stress can greatly affect digestive health. Today, we are sharing more tips for staying healthy during quarantine.
Be mindful while eating and track food:
If you had not been feeling your best before quarantine, you are definitely not alone. If you recently lost your job, were furloughed, or were informed of a drastic pay cut, it will most likely take a toll on you physically even more so than before this chaos.
Applying to jobs, can take hours or even days on end. The process is difficult on joints as hunching over a computer or laptop is not exactly proper posture. Now, add in unhealthy snacking or even skipping meals, and you have got yourself a recipe for digestive issues.
Be sure in this tough time to be mindful of what you are putting into your body to increase energy and improve your mood. Visit last week’s article if you did not already get a chance to do so. We share how important it is to be mindful and alert while eating.
When people are checked out or in la-la land, it is easy to overeat. Pop onto the app store and check out free health apps which make it very easy to track your food diary. As we have discussed in past blogs, track the food and drinks consumed throughout to accurately show your gastro doctor what a normal day looks like for you and what a bad day looks like.
More specifically track any symptoms such as cramping, bloating, acid reflux, or diarrhea. Tracking food makes it easier to be mindful of the times you are actually eating and drinking as well. During these times, people are reporting an increase in drinking alcoholic beverages.
If the goal of this quarantine is to avoid COVID-19, drinking will only weaken the immune system’s potential to fight it off. With that being said, it is safe to say, drinking alcoholic beverages can help relax and benefit the heart in small quantities. Discuss what this looks like for you with your gastroenterologist and nutritionist.
Make time for healthy self-soothing time:
Once we feel great from eating healthier and at ideal times, it is time to plan healthy self-soothing sessions. When working from home, it is difficult to be strict drawing a line between work and down time. It is in your best interest to work normal work hours.
So you may not have to wake up at 6 a.m. anymore, but it is a good idea to work the same amount of hours. Maybe wake up a few hours later than usual, if you have this option, but do not attempt to crunch your normal work load into a shorter time frame.
Simply put, do not attempt to smush a normal workload into a five hour window. You will have an increase in stress. As we have said before, stress is not good for health. Do not feel guilty about scheduling “me time”. This may look different for everyone.
Your spouse may choose to go for a run with their free time while you may choose to calmly sit on a bench in the backyard and aboard some sun. Relieving stress in healthy ways is necessary for your body to recoup from the stress toll.
While for some, this may look like calming activities such as yoga, meditation, reading, or watching a movie, it may be more high energy like deep cleaning the entire house in three hours. Choose your medicine. Next time, we will share more helpful tips for staying healthy during quarantine.
Staff Writer