During this pandemic, your schedule and lifestyle have likely been turned upside down. When that happens, one of the first good habits people often let slide is healthy eating. Here are four tips you can follow to help you take care of yourself and get your nutrition right for 2020 during quarantine.
- Keep Your Kitchen Stocked
One of the easiest ways to keep your healthy diet on track is to keep your kitchen and pantry stocked with good food. This is especially important during a public health crisis when you are not able to go to the grocery store as often. Even when you do venture out to the market, it may not have the items you need on the shelves. Go back to the pantry staple basics you learned when you were stocking your kitchen for the first time. Make sure you buy things that can be kept frozen or are shelf stable so that they don’t go bad before you can use them. To ensure you have adequate protein sources available, you can freeze raw meat and buy canned goods such as tuna, chicken and beans. Keep a variety of grains on hand, and stock up on frozen or canned fruits and vegetables. Even milk can be bought in shelf-stable form or frozen from fresh, helping it last longer.
- Boost Benefits With Supplements
If you are worried that you are not getting enough nutrients from the restrictions that quarantine puts on your diet, it’s smart to take a few supplements. A daily multivitamin gives you a well-rounded nutritional boost.
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If you tend to be anemic, you may also need to take an iron supplement, particularly if you are eating fewer meals that contain meat or leafy greens. Vitamin C with B12 fortifies your immune system, enabling you to fight off infection and illness more effectively. According to lectin shield reviews, a prebiotic improves your gut bacteria, making digestion not only easier but better able to assist with nutrient absorption. Talk to your doctor during your next telehealth appointment to discuss the particular supplements that are right for you.
- Set Meal Times
Going from an office setting to working from home is a big adjustment. You may find yourself allowing the line between work and leisure to get blurred, and this can affect your eating schedule. Breakfast becomes brunch, lunch becomes a decadent late afternoon snack, and before you know it, you’re eating dinner standing up in the kitchen at 10:00 p.m. While there is a certain freedom that comes with being able to do this, it derails your healthy eating goals if it becomes a daily habit.
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To avoid this slide into nutritional chaos, treat each workday as if you are actually going into the office. Nutrition starts with preparing breakfast foods that are easy to eat on the go (or while you’re logging in to your home office computer), saving the more extravagant brunch meals for the weekends or days off. Pack your lunch so that it’s quick to prepare when you take a midday break. Contrary to popular belief, you can eat after 8:00 at night in a healthy way; you just have to plan ahead so that you don’t engage in emotional eating, which tends to be more prevalent during quarantine.
- Vary Your Diet
Even if your kitchen is stocked with tried-and-true staples your family loves, you may get tired of eating the same meals after a while. It’s important to keep variety in your nutrition to avoid falling into bad habits. Choose one night a week to order curbside pickup or delivery from one of your favorite local restaurants. Search online for new recipes you can make from the ingredients you already have. A virtual recipe swap helps you get new meal ideas and some social connection at the same time. Trying new things is a great way to keep your diet interesting.
Just because your lifestyle has changed, that doesn’t mean your healthy eating goals are doomed. These tips can help you boost your nutrition and stay on track, even during quarantine.
