How to avoid the mistakes linked to confinement: COVID-19, at home and healthy

Dear reader, 

As you may have guessed from the title of this blog, I live in France and where I live, the virus has already lead to strong governmental measures. Confinement is one of them. As my boyfriend is a security guard, I tend to spend long hours alone (not really, I can take care of my wonderful cat) at home (when I do not have to go to work myself as I work in a supermarket so you guessed it, working form home is not technically possible). Since the beginning of the little chaos brought by the virus, I have started to notice some behaviors I do my best to avoid. Today, I want to share with you the five biggest mistakes we all could make in that very peculiar situation, as well as the ways we could avoid them all. Let’s get started!

Move your body

In my eyes, it might be the most important one. Even those of us who do not usually practice sport should start now. You might think “Oh, I never gained too much weight before while doing no sport, it’ll be fine” but no. You were doing sport on  a daily basis whether you noticed it or not: you walked, you took the stairs, you squatted to pick up the keys which had just fallen. Now, all these things are over. You do 0 sport.

Thus, here are the main risks if you do not start doing sport:

1. You may gain weight you do not want to gain; if there is a time you really do not want to feel bad in your body, it is that time so be careful.
2. You may feel gross no matter what.
3. You may have troubles falling asleep. That is not cool at all and if you have experienced insomnia before, you know what I mean by “not cool”…

Here is what I do everyday since the beginning of this governmental measure:

• 1h cardio
• 30 minutes weight lifting
• 30 minutes yoga
• 30 minutes self-defense

You obviously do not have to do as much and should adapt that program to whatever your wants, needs, and duties are. However, I think you should at least do one of these four. I am beyond lucky to have a little “gym” in my apartment, but if you don’t, do not worry. Youtube provides you with hundreds of videos of exercises you can do with nothing more than the sole weight of your body. Go on Blogilates or Yoga with Adriene and get started!

Fresh air

Open the windows and let the fresh morning air get into your house. We often tend to neglect the importance of air as we go out very often and breath it in without paying attention to it. However, if you do not open your windows on a regular basis, you will probably soon feel air-deprived. You will thus risk headaches and bad mood, something you do not want in your life, right?

Keep a form of “routine”

Of course, confinement can be a “time to rest” and I have nothing against that optimistic view, but you do not want this “rest” time to have a negative impact on yourself in the long run. If you “rest” too much, you will probably end up feeling like a giant potato. Thus, I would recommend a descent amount of sleep and waking up rather early. You probably think you will get bored if you stay up too long, but it is our duty to be creative with our time. Do not wake up at one a.m because you are afraid of boredom, go to bed at a descent time (which will be easier if you have practiced sport earlier in the day) and wake up when your body asks you to do so. 

Do not watch too much info

Believe me, in such times, you will know what is essential. I mean, I have received a text message (yes, a TEXT MESSAGE) from government this morning to remind me of last night’s presidential speech. I watched it, obviously, as it is very important, but since the speech, I have not opened the news. You need to choose what information go into your brain or you risk psychosis. Being stuck at home and overly anxious at the same time feels terrible, so take great care of your brain and thoughts: do not let any unnecessary information ruin your mood.

Use that time to invest in projects you seem to never “have time” for

I will publish a post tomorrow and this latter will give you ways to make the best out of these troubled times. Here, I simply want to hint at the idea that you can actually do something with that unexpected time at home. For instance, you can invest in your knowledge by reading lots of books, you can start a blog or a Youtube channel. Use that time to start something that always scared you. Start the thing you “do not have time” for. It is your time and now, you have time. 

I hope these tips have contributed to motivate you and have sparkled a little something in you. 

Take great care, 

TABOULOT Camille