How to Stay Healthy While Staying at Home

It feels like forever since our gym has been open. Once the social distancing started, I figured that it would only be for a couple of weeks. It was just a year ago we were in Cali, and we were supposed to be going back this season.

Mike and I were fortunate that we had just gone to the grocery store, so we actually were pretty well stocked up before things got crazy at the stores.

I sometimes do home workouts if I am unable to go to the gym, if we are traveling, or I just want a change of pace. But, I haven't gone this long with solely doing home workouts since the year that I graduated from college and was living at the Cape. I wasn't sure when I would be moving, so I didn't want to purchase a full gym membership. So, I bought some bands, cables, a yoga mat, and did home workouts for a couple of months. They can be a great way to maintain strength, work on balance, and increase flexibility. I can get bored if I do the same type of workout for a long time, so I don't mind adding in some home workouts to my routine.

Typically, I work out between 5-6 days a week. I like to do mostly strength training with weights. But, I also love adding in HIIT one day a week, and maybe a run on the weekend (when the weather is nice of course!). I also like to throw in some yoga for both mental and physical wellbeing. I find that it's a really nice Sunday morning workout for me because it's much more zen and chill and helps combat my stress. I also got into kickboxing, which is such an amazing workout, not to mention stress reliever!

BUT, now that we are all at home, I've taken to mixing up my workouts. I'm doing a lot more body-weight exercises and focusing a lot more on core strength. We are in the process of building a home gym in our basement, which I am thrilled about. While I'm writing this blog post, we are waiting on our barbell that we just ordered a couple of days ago. Mike is going to build us a squat rack and we are going to purchase a bench. I really want to get a punching bag to continue kickboxing, since I can't go to the class right now.

Here are some ways that I'm contining to be healthy at home

Staying Active

I think the best thing to do right now is just to stay active, which can be really hard. I noticed that when I moved to Plymouth, I was so much less active than when I lived in Boston. I went from walking everywhere to staying in my home and taking my car to most places.

Now that we are confined to basically not leaving our home at all, I've been taking Kona on a 2-mile walk each day. This keeps him happy and active, and also gets me to take a break and move a bit throughout the day.

Mike and I also are avid hikers. We love taking a day on the weekend to go up to the White Mountains to do a long hike.

Here's a roundup of my favorite workout clothes

Taking My Vitamins!

I've shared before some of the supplements that I take daily. Even though I eat a lot of micronutrients, some of the vitamins are elements that you don't get by eating those foods, like ashwagandha. I love Mary Ruths Organic vitamins because they are vegan and cruelty-free! I also love Organifi's juice blends, and have been hooked on their green juice lately! It helps with immune health and also vegan, gluten and cruelty-free. Their proteins are also amazing, and I highly recommend them.

Save 10% on Organify by using my promo code "Hannaho"

Continuing to Eat Healthily

I love food. You guys know that. My family has stories from over the years with my love of food

starting as a wee little baby. Over the years, I've definitely shifted the way that I eat to be more "healthy" and I love the foods that I eat. A typical day for me would be a post-work protein smoothie with Organifi protein and an oatmeal bowl loaded with fruits and nuts. For lunch, I love making nourish bowls, with some kind of protein and carb, along with a fusion of veggies, seeds, and olive oil dressing. I'll have a snack which is usually a homemade baked good like muffins, chia seed pudding, cookies, etc. Then, for dinner, I'll whip up something like lentil pasta or tacos or something along those lines. I don't track any of my meals, but I do have a general idea of about how many macros (protein, carbs, and fats) that I should be eating each day depending on my activity level (I'm usually eating around 2500 calories a day, unless I go on a long hike or run, then it'll be more). Just because I'm at home, doesn't mean that I'm going to change the way that I eat! Obviously I love my ice cream and chocolate, but I'm not eating excessive amounts of junk food. It's all about just balancing what you're eating, not restricting what you're eating, but simply being mindful.

Here's a post I did on some of my favorite homemade snacks!

Stop Snacking So Much

I know for myself, it was hard to stop snacking when I first started working from home. Not only am I a HUGE lover of food, but I also love my snacks. I'm 100% a boredom snacker, as well as a stressed snacker. When I was initially working from home, I found it hard to contain myself from going into the cupboards to get a little something-something. Over time, that novelty wears off, and I was able to go back to my regularly scheduled meals (Just a figure of speech, I don't actually schedule my meals haha)

Utilizing My Sit/Stand Desk

Another tip that I have is to get or build a sit/stand desk. It's a lot simpler than you might think! Back when I was working at an architecture firm, my back troubles (I had a back injury from college crew) came back. It was because I was sitting for prolonged periods of time and my body was getting really stiff. Before the firm ordered those mechanical sit/stand desks, Mike whipped up a tabletop to go on my desk. It's just about 12" high, and I could rest my laptop on top of it. So, I switch one hour sitting to one-hour standing and it makes such a huge difference. While sitting, you typically burn about 60-130 calories per hour, depending on your age, weight, metabolism, etc. For standing, you burn about 100-200 calories per hour. It's not a huge difference, but it's a little something, and it'll also help with shoulder and back pain.

If you don't have access to a sit to stand desk, you can always just stack up some books on your desk, or use a dresser.

Not Being Too Hard on Myself

It's okay to take this time as a little break and give your body some rest. I know that I was getting to the point of exhaustion and being run down. Lately, I've been sleeping more than ever, drinking less caffeine (shocker!), and actually been less stressed. Muscle memory is a thing. Once I go back to strength training, my body can rebuild that muscle in fractions of the time that it did initially. So, even if you're body starts to change over the course of the next few weeks, don't let that get you down! Your body will bounce back very soon.

Treat Yo Self

Resting More

I sometimes do home workouts if I am unable to go to the gym if we are traveling, or I just want a change of pace. But, I haven't gone this long with solely doing home workouts since the year that I graduated from college and was living at the Cape. I wasn't sure when I would be moving, so I didn't want to purchase a full gym membership. So, I bought some bands, cables, a yoga mat, and did home workouts for a couple of months. They can be a great way to maintain strength, work on balance, and increase flexibility. I can get bored if I do the same type of workout for a long time, so I don't mind adding in some home workouts to my routine.

Let me know the ways that you are staying healthy!

-Han

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