Who will you be post-social isolation? Most people are going to go one of 2 possible ways during the months of home isolation we are facing.

They will use the time to keep fit, using a home gym or doing whatever they can to work out at home. They will come out looking great, healthy, toned and fit. Or they will spend the majority of their time on the couch feeling down and depressed, eating all of the comfort food they have stocked up on. They will come out feeling rotten and having put on lots of weight.

Which category are you going to be in once we are allowed out to socialise again???

One of the biggest issues with social isolation and having to spend so much time at home, is that it can have a profound effect on your mindset. This in turn impacts your health and your waist line because you are doing less and generally eating more calorie dense foods. The consequence of both poor mindset and gaining weight is that it can impact your immunity making you more susceptible to infections. Furthermore, any illnesses can then hit you harder than they otherwise might have.

The three key issues you need to consider to keep you healthy, fit and trim & terrific in ISO are:

1. Easy and constant access to the wrong food

In the past we were always told simply not to have bad food in the house. But when the hoarding began, it was generally the quick energy, lower nutrition and processed foods that people grabbed. This generally included pasta, noodles, biscuits, processed snacks and canned food. Having so many of these foods in the house provides a constant temptation at a time when your resolve is probably at its lowest.

Quick tip #1 – Plan your meals ahead.  Choose meals that use healthy fresh ingredients wherever you can, such as fruits and veg. If you don’t have to think about what you are going to have when it is meal time and you are already hungry, you are less likely to reach for the quick fix.

Quick tip #2 – If you just can’t help yourself with the snack food, decide ahead what you consider to be a healthy amount of snack food to consume in a day. Then use containers to create daily quota portions. Once your daily quota for the day is gone, that is it! Your next option is to eat an apple or carrot sticks.

2. Reduced motivation to exercise

When you fill your body with energy dense foods, this can spike your blood sugar up. This is always followed by a blood sugar low. Low blood sugar not only drives you to seek more energy dense food to bring the blood sugar back up again, but it will reduce your energy and motivation to exercise.

Quick tip #1 – Getting up and starting to exercise is always the hardest part. Once you start exercising you will start feeling better straight away. Schedule a time that you will set aside to exercise and have any equipment and work out clothes out and ready to go. At the time, just get started. Even if you tell yourself “I can stop in 10 minutes if I need”. Once you’ve started, you’re more likely to keep going.

Quick tip #2 –  Get in as much incidental exercise as you can. For example, do your housework with vigour, do some squats while waiting for the kettle to boil or jog on the spot during the advert breaks on tv.

3. Lack of accountability

Research has shown that those people who are regularly accountable to someone will lose far more weight than someone who is accountable to no-body or only now and then.  This is probably one of the most important aspects of weight loss. During social isolation many people are living alone and therefore not being accountable to anyone.

Quick tip #1 – Set yourself up an accountability buddy. Tell them what you plan to do each day in terms of exercise or diet and how much weight you want to lose each week and check in with them at least weekly (if not daily) to boast how well you’ve done or confess what you just haven’t managed to do.

Quick tip #2 – Even better, take your health online. set yourself up on a program making you accountable to a professional who is completely on your side and knows how to keep you motivated and can provide professional advice and tips to keep you on track.

So, the 3 things you need to really watch for are: Be aware of what food you are making accessible to yourself and make sure you have plenty of healthy options available; find ways to get any exercise in where ever you can and make a plan for your daily physical activity; make yourself regularly accountable to someone who can keep you honest, motivated and on track.

By the way, if social isolation is turning you into a comfort food eating couch potato and your frustrated by not being able to go to the gym, missing the peer support and accountability of your friends and personal trainer and don’t know where to start with keeping fit and health at home then the ‘TeleHealth to Trim and Terrific’™ Online Mini-Program will be perfect for you.