How to Stay Healthy During Lockdown, According to a Pilates Instructor

For many of us here in Sydney, the latest lockdown has really thrown a spanner in the works.

Keeping ourselves and each other safe by staying home has meant missing out on time with friends and family, time off from our usual hobbies and routines and, overall, a general disruption of our lives.

And while we’ve talked about ways you can keep in good spirits throughout this latest disruption, something that’s of equal importance is keeping healthy.

Thankfully, there is so much we can do to stay healthy and happy from home during the lockdown. We caught up with Tori Clapham, founder of Peaches Pilates and health aficionado, to get some advice on how to stay on top of our health and wellbeing until our lives get back to normal.

How to Stay Healthy in Lockdown: The Top Tips

You might think that a fitness professional like Tori would have some complicated advice for staying in shape while locked down. But, Tori’s number one tip is refreshingly simple. “Move your body every day and eat real food made from real ingredients,” she suggests. And we couldn’t agree more.

Getting up to stretch your legs, take some fresh air or get the blood pumping for a couple of minutes can be a great way to break up the different parts of your workday and give yourself a chance to mentally recalibrate.

“You don’t have to overdo it,” she emphasises. “Moving your body can simply be a 20-minute workout or a nice long walk if you’re allowed outside.”

No matter what your circumstances, the trick isn’t to be the best, but to simply get it done. “You don’t need to smash out a 60-minute workout every day. The important thing is to make sure you’re not spending the whole day on the couch or at a desk and that you get up often and move.”

Just like in normal times, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference. “The same principles apply whether you’re in lockdown or not,” Tori reminds us. Sticking to your goals now, or establishing better ones while in lockdown will benefit you in the long run.

How Can We Stay Fit When We’re Stuck at Home?

For all the regular gym-goers out there, this lockdown probably represents a big disruption to your normal fitness routine.

But there are plenty of ways to keep in good shape by exercising at home.

“Pilates is a fantastic way to stay fit when you don’t have your usual gym facilities,” Tori advises. “It is strength training at its simplest and there are plenty of options to get your heart rate up as well.”

And thankfully, Peaches Pilates Online has us covered on this one. “Our app has over 350 workouts that can all be done in your living room or wherever you are,” Tori explains.

Of course, it can be hard to stay motivated to exercise at home, especially without the accountability of a gym membership and group classes to keep you on track.

A surefire way to remedy this, Tory explains, “is to get yourself a virtual workout buddy to keep you accountable”.

This way, you can motivate one another and let your daily workout be a momentary break from the isolation of lockdown. “You can video call each other and do the same workout together,” Tori suggests. “If somebody else is holding you accountable then you’re much less likely to push exercise to the side.”

How About Eating Well and Keeping a Healthy Routine?

With stressful and uncertain times upon us this lockdown period, it can be hard or even impossible to stick to our usual routines.

This is especially true when it comes to eating well. “Stress eating is a real thing and so is boredom eating,” Tori explains. “We’re all guilty of it and it’s so easy to do in lockdown.”

Giving your body good nutrition is such an important factor in maintaining your physical and mental health, but it can be difficult to resist our favourite less-than-healthy comfort foods.

Thankfully, we don’t always have to!

As Tori explains, “a balanced approach to nutrition is so much more sustainable in the long term and allows you to create ongoing healthy habits.”

So a little indulgence here and there is not the end of the world, and might even help you to keep happy and comfortable through these hard times.

What’s important, Tori emphasises, is finding the right balance. Her suggestion is to “allow yourself the treats, but make sure at least 80% of your diet is healthy food made from real, natural produce.”

On top of maintaining good eating habits, it’s also important that we help ourselves to properly adjust to the new normal of telework.

In getting used to working from home, Tori suggests to “keep some of your normal routine and structure to your week.”

I'm sure by now that most of us working from home are familiar with the feeling of not knowing what day of the week it is.

And while I’ve personally found this a somewhat refreshing experience, I have to agree that “working from home for an extended period can feel like each week just blends into the next.” Who else relates?

To punctuate your days, “get dressed in the morning, put the laptop down in the evening,” Tori advises. “Treat your working week as you normally would and you’ll find it so much easier to maintain that balance.”

Lockdown is Tough: Should We Ease Up on Fitness in Favour of Mental Health?

For all of us dealing with the uncertainty of the lockdown—adjusting to new rules, or coming to grips with even more time apart from our loved ones—these are stressful times, to say the least.

An important part of keeping good physical and mental health in the face of such stress is to “be kind to yourself,” Tori emphasises. “Keeping your body moving is so important for mental health, and the key is to make it something you enjoy.”

And we absolutely agree. Going through the pandemic has put more than enough on everyone’s plate, and the added guilt of breaking your usual fitness routine is completely unnecessary and harmful.

Just as with maintaining a balanced, healthy diet, it’s important to “allow yourself those occasional moments of weakness, enjoy them,” Tori explains. “Exercise shouldn't be a punishment,” she adds, “find ways to enjoy the healthy stuff too.

What’s One Healthy Habit that Everyone Should Pick Up Over Lockdown?

With so much time spent at home, now is possibly the best time to work on developing healthy daily habits. Tori’s parting wisdom on this question is delightfully simple: “Cook! The absolute best way to eat healthy is to cook your food from scratch so you know what’s in it.”

We love it! And whether you’re a veteran home cook, or lost in the kitchen, “Peaches Online has around 100 healthy delicious recipes” for you to explore and get inspired.

Follow these tips and there’s a good chance your lockdown will be a much happier, healthier time. And who knows, maybe the skills and good habits you develop along the way will stay with you well into the future.

If you want access to the huge library of workout programmes, weekly fitness planners, health advice and heaps more available at Peaches Online, sign up here.

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