School closures. Non-essential business closures. International travel strongly discouraged. Large and medium-sized gatherings postponed. These are the realities facing families around the world. Another reality facing many people is the struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle while staying home during this quarantine.
The coronavirus quarantine is placing people at risk of abandoning their healthy eating habits due to boredom, stress, and disruption of normal routines. This creates the perfect scenario for packing on pounds. Here are a few practical tips for beating the bulge during a quarantine:
Plan Physical Activities
Being unable to go to the gym or attend your favorite exercise class in person does not give you the green light to ditch the exercise. Turning on the music for a family dance party is a fun way to get everyone off the couch and moving! Other options include completing virtual workouts lead by your favorite celebrities and personal trainers. They are only a click away using YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram.
Maintain Your Regular Meal Schedule
Eating breakfast and lunch are a must to prevent overeating during the day. You are more likely to overeat and make poor food choices if you skip meals. Just because you are home and only steps away from a fully stocked kitchen you are not given permission to snack constantly.
Eat Proper Portions
Build a healthy and delicious plate by filling half of it with vegetables. A quarter of it should be a lean protein and the remainder should be a smart carb-like squash, roasted vegetables, or a baked sweet potato. This combination of fiber, protein, and carbohydrates in the proper portion sizes will fill you up while hitting the right flavor notes for your taste buds.
Clean Up the Menu
We naturally gravitate toward comforting foods during stressful situations. For many people these foods remind us of happier times and bring back a flood of positive memories. Favorites tend to be calorie dense staples like spaghetti, macaroni, and cheese, fried chicken, plus an endless assortment of bread, and desserts. Lighten things up a bit by using whole wheat macaroni, whole wheat spaghetti and ground turkey, oven frying chicken with panko breadcrumbs, and increasing the vegetables on the menu.
Snack Smart
This tip is for all the snackers out there. Snack smart by stocking the kitchen with healthy snacks. Reach for these whenever a snack is needed.
• Greek yogurt cups
• Popcorn
• Nuts and seeds
• Hummus and veggies for dipping
• Fresh or dried fruit
• Nut butters and whole wheat crackers
• Dark chocolate
During these challenging times, it is easy to cast your healthy habits to the side. You can totally avoid the dreaded weight gain by finding creative ways to remain physically active at home, cleaning up your meals, and snacking smart. For even more lifestyle tips join my online community and get your copy of The FAB Lifestyle Starter Kit here.