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Progress > Perfection:
If you’re a perfectionistic, a black-and-white or all-or-nothing thinker when it comes to nutrition and movement, the disruption to routine and anxiety caused by COVID-19 is going to be tough. Even more so if you had a big nutrition and/or fitness goal beforehand. Use this time to focus on what you can do, and don’t feel like you need to do it all. How can you make progress? Can you add an extra serve of vegetables, or do that backyard work out?
Don’t forget to focus on the positives – what have you done well this week? There is ALWAYS something!
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Move your body – for your mood:
Funnily enough, the closure of gyms and advice to stay inside might have been the kick up the bum some of us needed to stop training to maintain a certain weight or so we could eat certain foods – and instead exercise for the mood benefits that movement brings. Use this time to work out what feels good – is it a solo run, weights in the backyard, an at home HITT workout or a YouTube yoga class. We know movement makes us feel good, but if you’re not up for it at the moment, then that’s okay too – don’t beat yourself up.
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Move your body – for your muscles:
Regular resistance exercise is an effective measure against muscle loss (which can occur when very inactive). You probably don’t even need to do that much, it all counts! This might be as simple as body weight exercises in the lounge room, up to a fully-fledged home gym set-up. If you’re not sure where to start, there’s a lot of free resources out there – we have personally used the ‘Nike’ app, ‘Yoga with Adriene’ via YouTube, and if you need help, can recommend several qualified local individuals who are now offering online services!
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Eat your protein:
Ensuring a quality source of protein at all meals, and distributing this across the day is going to be optimal for retention of muscle mass, especially if your activity level has dropped. It’s also going to ensure you are feeling full – which is important if you’re struggling with emotional eating as a result of COVID-19 associated anxiety or boredom. Not sure where to find protein? Go for fish, chicken, meat, legumes, tofu, yoghurt, cheese, milk, nuts and seeds.
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Get creative in the kitchen – and ask for help if you need it:
One of the main factors affecting food intake at the moment is access, as a result of the COVID-19 associated hoarding. Luckily, we have found most items have been available on our trips to the supermarket, or have been able to sub something in if an item hasn’t been available. This can be hard if you are quite structured with your intake, or don’t have a lot of experience in the kitchen. If you need some help reach out to us, we’re more than happy to help you work out how to combine what you have if you’re struggling – and it might help others too! Our best advice.. don’t be afraid to combine foods you normally wouldn’t!
If you’d like more free info and support around your nutrition and health, especially during this uncertain time, come and join our Facebook group! We’d love to see you there 🙂