The novel corona, also known as COVID-19, a disease that forced the world to change inside out, evolving humankind to a new normal and new sunshine to start living with, but also showed us a new hygienic and healthy way of living. The world heard the "COVID-19" or "novel coronavirus" roughly around Oct 2019, with its epicenter being Wuhan, China. From then, it has become the most searched word in history. Being a part of this epic history of times, the precautionary measures apart from social distancing, also included maintaining a good immunity system and increasing hygiene first-hand, as suggested by health officials.
The age of Coronavirus is a resilient one. The world hasn't experienced a pandemic like this since 1918. No one knows how to deal with this virus. You might be wondering, maintaining good hygiene and boosting our immune system, might need us to start from scratch and make amendments in our diet charts with fewer calories, start taking supplements for building immunity, and whatnot. If this thought has crossed your mind, then you are mistaken. It just means a timely intake of healthy, nutrient-rich food without any compromise in our daily meals cycle.
We all have realized if being at home with minimum social contact, somehow connected through the virtual world, for more than 5 months is possible, then we definitely can survive without junk food. The study of symptoms and types of infectious (from COVID-19 patients) states, despite the age group factor, each individual who has a strong immune system and does not generally get flu or fever, are above the danger line of getting prone to infection.
It is a time of overwhelming stressful conditions. As we are stuck at home and our normal eating habits are fully distorted. We do not eat regularly, we eat when we feel a craving. Before this epidemic, we were consistent with our workouts and utilized the food that we consumed. When we exercise, our food fats and carbs burn into low fats thus we gain energy, also regulate our body mechanisms.
“Emotional Eating” is not a medical term, but this term usually describes the phenomenon of eating in response to an emotional state or an un-appropriate manner, rather than hunger. However, emotional eating has become a brimming phrase. Research depicts that emotional eating is more common among those who do not eat enough. That’s right! Those who do not eat enough to complete their energy requirements may find food comparatively more rewarding and contributing to increased emotional eating as well as blind eating or Binge eating.
Creating a schedule plan while self-isolation can be challenging but using meals on a particular schedule guide can be helpful, but if you’re working on correcting your eating habits, aim to eat 5-6 times a day at a minimum. Let your body regulate itself. You need to follow a food plan or to develop a food strategy which is helpful for you and your health.
Which implies that, if we maintain a regular and healthy diet, along with keeping some time aside from our daily activities for self-care like exercise, meditation, and yoga, we can easily maintain our fitness and hygiene both at the same time, which will gradually lead to a stronger immune system.
But, it is easier said than done. With our homes being the new workplace/school and our beds/couches/study tables being the workstation/classroom/library, we all, no matter the age group or occupation do not get enough time for judiciously following these self-care routines or it could also be said that we can’t take time out for these activities.
Limit purchases of tempting foods such as; chips, sodas, cookies, and ice cream. They are high in empty calories and impart fat to the body. Also, their high use causes many-body problems.
Issues such as overeating, indigestion, obesity, so on and so forth start to take over as we slack on physical activities. The whole idea here is not to prevent anyone from following their daily set routines or impose any restrictions, but rather prioritize work-life balance, even if work and life are happening at home, along with social distancing, cleaning, and sanitization. We understand it is hard to sit at home and make these changes, and we definitely miss those morning walks and cricket sessions but there needs to be a shift in all our lifestyles, and the situation right now calls for a change immediately.
During this Covid-19 Pandemic, try to spend more time with loved ones, take good care of them, and show them the love they deserve.