As a personal trainer, it is one of my biggest passions to help others to improve their health and fitness. I‘m not one to brag, but one thing I pride myself on is being realistic in terms of the advice I give my clients. I believe that it is unrealistic to expect people to eat ‘clean‘ and healthily 100% of the time, exercise every day, or enjoy the abovementioned, every single day. On that note, I have put together a list of simple, realistic and doable steps you can take to improve your health and overall wellbeing while trying to navigate through this lockdown period:

Step 1 – Acknowledge one unhealthy food that you feel you may be overeating.
Once you have recognised that food, try to reduce the amount of it you are consuming. For example, I have a chocolate bar every day. From now on, I will have a chocolate bar every second day. It‘s about reducing, not going cold turkey. What I find quite often with clients is that when they try and go cold turkey, they end up caving in and eating more than they ordinarily would. You do not want to feel deprived, because deprivation often leads to a big binge session.

Step 2 – Drink more water.
Quite often we mistake thirst for hunger and end up snacking more than we need to. If you make the effort to always carry a drink bottle in your vehicle or with you as you go about your day, you are more likely to drink more water, feel more hydrated, and have less of a need to constantly snack. You will also feel more alert, which is extremely important when you‘re pulling massive hours behind the wheel.

Step 3 – Eat more fruit and veges.
Make an effort to include more nutritious fruits and vegetables throughout your diet. If you‘re not that fond of some of them, there are many ways you can sneak fruits and vegetables into your day, such as smoothies, omelettes/frittatas or grated/ chopped finely into a stir-fry or salad. There are plenty of different fruits and vegetables, so you are bound to like some of them and loathe others. Obviously, don‘t force down foods that you dislike because you are never going to stick to it. For example, I absolutely hate olives and celery, which is why I do not include them in my diet. But I make up for it by eating plenty of other greens and good stuff.

Step 4 – Move your body.
This doesn‘t mean doing strenuous, high intensity workouts every day, it just means moving your body in some way at least four times a week. This can be anything from walking, biking, or dancing, to home workouts. Aiming for four days a week means you will have a rest day in between each of your sessions, which will give your body a chance to rest and recover. Mentally, it also gives you a break from that ‘daily grind‘ mentality. Sometimes, writing a rough plan or guide as to what exercise sessions you would like to get done through the week makes you more likely to achieve what you have set out to do – rather than just winging it. For example, Monday – 30-minute walk, Wednesday – 30-minute bike ride, Friday – home workout, Sunday – 30-minute walk.

Step 5 – Treat yourself.
Quite often we associate treats with food. But this doesn‘t always have to be the case. If we have been doing really well with our health and fitness or have achieved something amazing in our day-to-day lives, we don‘t always have to reach straight for food-based treats. It can be even more special and rewarding to treat yourself in a different and unique way, such as buying yourself a nice new tool or toy. For example, I ate really well and hit all my exercise goals for a month, so I treated myself to some new activewear. Quite often we build up how good something will taste, then when we finally have it – it isn‘t actually as good as we had imagined. Whereas, if you are gifting yourself with something small that you know you enjoy and appreciate, you can‘t go wrong. Whether you are an essential services worker or are at home during lockdown, I think it is important not to put too much pressure on yourself to eat perfectly, exercise like a beast, and achieve 3000 things every day. Everybody struggles and copes in different ways during lockdown and I think what is going to get us through this difficult and unsettling time is each other. Reach out to family and friends and let them know if you‘re not coping and talk things through. No one will judge you if you‘re struggling through this crazy time in history. Take care and keep on trucking!

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