Ever since the rise of Covid-19, social distancing, SOPs, everything around has come to a standstill. Everything has paused – be it a graduation ceremony or a full fledge matrimonial of two human beings. Temporary halts and postponements are no longer rare.

All we want to do is curl up on a couch and binge watch something on Netflix or dive into a good book. While the latter is definitely better, both options give the same result, i.e. you are either super ripped or in dire need of a diet plan. Lockdown has been eased in quite a few countries around the world or in some specific cities. However, the gyms are still closed almost everywhere. Fitness freaks have no choice but to stay at home, sulk and dream about going back in shape.

There has been lots of fat everywhere. Some of us have gained fat around our cheeks, or around those glutes. And oh! The infamous belly fat which is, frankly speaking, a real trauma. There can be nothing worse than belly fat to shatter one’s self confidence. Pretty sure none of us wanted that to happen, but, alas, it has! However, here’s a silver lining. Staying in shape while being quarantined at home is not as impossible as it seems. Trust me, it is totally doable even without having access to gym equipment. All one needs is a small space in room or lounge and, of course, a water bottle to hydrate one’s self after burning those calories that won’t just leave us alone.

While the whole world and life seems to slip away from your control, opt for a healthy workout routine to give yourself a sense of normalcy. Begin with aiming for at least thirty minutes out workout. Shouldn’t be that difficult to take out 30 mins from a whopping 24 hours of a day, right? You will still have more than 23 hours to give to your favourite series. Moreover, try to limit sedentary lifestyle. It will do wonders. Regular exercise is very important for supporting good immunity (which will surely be a plus amidst the Covid-19 crisis) and in boosting one’s mood during this depressing global pandemic situation. Moreover, it will keep you away from hospital visits only if you try to follow your exercise regimen which should cover 5 parameters.

1. A warmup

2. Aerobic workout

3. Resistance training

4. Flexibility exercises

5. A cooldown.

What can I do at home?

Online streaming apps, internet and mobile phones are loaded with tons of free and low-at-cost workout videos through which you can engage your body in some fitness training.

• The fastest way to start at-home workout is to follow instructor-led videos filmed of duration ranging from 15 minutes beginner workout to 60 minutes full blown workout.

• Perform each exercise for about 10-12 times and then move on to the next one.

• Complete one to three rounds of all the moves with 30 seconds of jumping jacks, high knee, march in place in between each rounds.

• Include Squats, Reverse lunges, Modified kneeling push-ups, one arm row, Bicep curl, Triceps curl and Plank.

• If you are worrying about dumbbells and high-tech machinery, do not fret, dear human. You can use your water bottles or cans for weight.

• Popsugar Fitness, BeFit, Body Rock Workout Videos, Blogilates are some renown channels for guidance on how to work out at home

• Lastly engage your whole family. Why not make use of your session and have some meaningful bonding with your loved ones?

I strongly believe that the tips I have mentioned in my article would definitely help you and your family in staying fit and healthy throughout this situation. Hurry up! Gear up now because one is never too old or too young to develop healthy habits that should stick with you throughout your life.

Oh, woe to these times of quarantine! As much as we love staying up late till the sunrise and binging Netflix shows (using the subscription that your friend pays for) one after the other, there is no doubt of the harm it does to us. Let’s admit it, we have made is a routine to wake up at noon or even later than that (guilty as charged?). Such a routine leads to irregular bodily changes like hormone imbalance. And of course, we have fad diets and misguided tricks like “skipping breakfast” to lose weight magically. On the other hand, those of us with an apparent normal weight often think that we are doing enough when we clearly aren’t. It’s time we observe aspects of our lifestyle and reflect on each one with a simple question to ask ourselves, “Is this habit healthy? Is it contributing to make my lifestyle healthy or doing the opposite of that?”

Being stuck in quarantine has totally disturbed our routine. We prefer staying up late in night (binging one show after the other on Netflix) and waking up when the clock strikes 12 at noon. This leads to irregular bodily changes like imbalance in hormone levels and also to all the habits which can pave the way to unhealthy lifestyle. We live in delusional world with a thought that skipping of meals in the name of “DIET” would definitely help us to lessen our body fat. Most of us think that we do a fair job in maintaining our health with good (according to us) eating habits, whenever we manage to fit in but at the end of the day, ask yourself this question ‘AM I DOING ENOUGH FOR ME?’ ‘IS THIS HABIT HEALTHY FOR ME?’ Your mind will definitely go in haywire and you will tire yourself in the process.

This was bound to happen given our history of the past ten years or so. We follow the usual routine of going to bed early, rising up, attending school/college/university, doing a 9-5 job, getting back home when the sun sets down, having dinner, spending some time with family, getting done with assignments/home tasks/office work and sleep. The times have now changed. We no longer work like we used to do before, i.e. in a set pattern that coincides with the timings of the universe. Instead we have set our own timings for us and that, my friend, has disturbed our life both physically and mentally. We tend to become short-tempered, unusually sad, depressed, and anxious more than often and quite easily (might I add). Such negative emotions can lead to unhealthy habits that change us and our lifestyle drastically.

Healthy lifestyle covers all the parameters that makes the person healthy: physically, emotionally and mentally as well. Having a healthy lifestyle can help the person fight almost all diseases. This can be helpful in such crucial time where we have Covid-19 accompanying us on the same path. You might not realise but feeling good about one’s self and taking good care is important for self-esteem and self-image.

Now the question arises here, what should we do in order to bring the missing “quality” in our lifestyle.

Here I’ll be mentioning some tips (don’t fret, they won’t be too difficult to follow) for all of you as to how we can seek such a lifestyle.

Nutrition and food

• Have a balanced diet in your every meal that has Protein, healthy Carbohydrates, and a little bit of fats.
  • Always eat more than three meals. That is to ensure that
    you eat on schedule and get proper nutrients. Also, this prevents over eating when you actually eat at the time of lunch and dinner.
  • Include fruits and veggies.
    Fun (and lifesaving) Fact : Having fruits prior to your meal or after with a duration of around 30 minutes of your meal is an apt time as they can be digested properly.

Listen to your body
– Eat enough daily, so as to not deprive yourself from the proper nutrients.
– Sleep well. I cannot stress enough on how important a complete, uninterrupted 8-hour sleep is. Any amount less than that will make you feel hungry, mess up with your mood, and (the worst of all) affect brain activity. In short, you will be a Zombie in the world of human beings.

Another fun fact: During sleep there are many hormones that are released in the body and not getting enough sleep will definitely alter their levels; Hence, causing many major changes.

-Stay hydrated. Dehydration can make one feel tired and lazy. And here is the tip that can help you keep up with your hydration level. Always have a bottle of water with you. Have it all the time; during an online class, meeting a client online, watching movies/shows anything. Just follow this and you’re good to go!
Fact: if you want to lose weight and you are not ready to hit the gym or do workout, try drinking water that is at room temperature. Cold water can slow your metabolism hence food will take more time to get digested, whereas water at normal temperature fastens the metabolism (which ultimately helps in weight loss).

-Laugh aloud. Yes! You read it right. Laughing keeps you sane and grounded. The ongoing situation throughout the world is trying its best to drive us all crazy. Watch a sitcom, read comics, set up your routine of video calling your friends and share a good laugh. Laughing does no harm, trust me. Laugh more and laugh often.

• Meditate. Just do it. Schedule some me-time for yourself where you can sit in a quiet corner and meditate. If you are a newbie in this, YouTube is your saviour. Search up in the link bar and there you go.

That is all for now. Hope you guys liked the above mentioned tips and some facts sprinkled throughout. If you are going to give these tips a try, good luck! If not, then I hope you soon hop towards a healthy lifestyle.

Welcome aboard fellas!

A new birdie in the world of writing. I’m an undergrad student of Doctor of Physical Therapy. I’ll be putting up some content regarding health, fitness and life etc. Your support and positive criticism is always ALWAYS appreciated. Thank you for joining me in this journey.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton.