How To Avoid Gaining Unintended Weight During Lockdown
As lockdown becomes part of our lifestyle, it’s easy for us to drift away from wanting to be fit since we’re home most of the time, making the sedentary lifestyle seem very favorable. As challenging as lockdown can be, I’m sure some of you still want to do your best to stay in shape. In fact, lockdown could possibly be the best time to get in shape or get fitter as we have more time to ourselves at home.
Here are some easy-to-follow tips that will help you get fitter while managing your weight during the lockdown.
Commit a small chunk of your day to workout. Putting aside an hour of your time to workout every other day is a good start if you have not been working out prior. Advanced trainees can aim for higher workout frequency as their ability to recover is greater. As for the workout itself, I would recommend resistance training or lifting weights if you have access to dumbbells or barbells. Otherwise, bodyweight workouts are good too. Whatever workouts that you choose, make sure that you’re learning and doing it with proper technique.
Avoid being stationary for too long. Working out is great but it is only an hour or maybe two out of a day. A better way to keep ourselves active and burn more calories is to move throughout the day. Try taking short breaks in between work or screen time to move around, even cleaning up the house, washing your car, walking your pets, etc. would help with avoiding a sedentary lifestyle.
Eat the right type and amount of food. If you’re serious about your health and fitness goals, then having the proper amount of nutrient-dense food will be on your priority list. Food such as fibrous and leafy greens, lean protein sources, non-refined carbs, and healthy fats. As for the amount, it varies from person to person. A better way to judge and estimate food intake without having to count calories is to estimate your food using your palm and fist size. Be mindful of what you’re eating and think about how it would benefit your health.
Keep yourself busy to prevent eating out of boredom. We tend to open the fridge and kitchen drawer when we’re bored and more often than not, we’d end up munching on food even though we’re not exactly hungry. To prevent ourselves from overeating, try doing something that would occupy us for a moment, say decluttering the house, plan your workout in advance, meal prepping for the next day, etc. The point being, aside from eating mindfully (point 3), it’s important to practice eating intuitively to avoid gaining unnecessary weight.
Get enough sleep. Set yourself a routine for sleep and avoid sleeping at random times. If your goal is to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night, try counting the hours backward from the time you want to be awake, say you’d like to wake up at 7 am, then you should be asleep by 11 pm. To make sure that you’re sleeping on the hour, try to unwind yourself an hour prior such as meditating, reading, journaling, avoiding screen time, etc.
These are some of the most basic yet effective practices that are often overlooked when it comes to getting in shape and healthier. These are also the same points that I will look at when a client comes to me for help and with the consistency of the above practices, many have achieved great results.
Hopefully, this short-read has given you a better insight and be of use to you. As always, looking forward to sharing more nuggets like these with you. Until then, take care and stay safe.
