HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED AND ACTIVE DURING LOCKDOWN.

We are now in the third lockdown and many of us are struggling to stay fit and healthy. Parents are now having to home school their children whilst working a full time job and with gyms being shut many people are struggling to stay motivated and active. Sometimes, there are things in life we just can’t control, so we have to change and adapt to the situation. Some of us have adjusted to this unusual situation, whereas others might be feeling isolated or unmotivated.

However, all is not lost. Gyms are not essential to improve your fitness and health and now we have more time at home, we also have the opportunity to improve our daily habits and set some new goals.

Here’s a few ways to help keep you motivated and active during lockdown:

  1. Focusing our energy on the things that we can control, like our exercise routine, is a great way to help boost motivation and regain some sense of normality. Even if you didn’t have a big fitness goal like before the pandemic, setting a new goal and creating a plan of how to achieve it can help give you back a sense of drive. Create yourself a new weekly plan with a good mix of bodyweight workouts, strength, cardio and stretching to keep it interesting. Every time you exercise, you release endorphins which help to relieve stress and lift your mood.
  2. Keep thinking more positively. It’s easy to get ourselves into a negative mindset but you can always turn a negative situation into a positive. You get to spend more time with loved ones and you get to focus more on the things that you couldn’t do when you were working constantly. Try reading a book that’s going to improve your mindset or take up a new hobby to keep yourself busy.
  3. Create a daily schedule. Creating a schedule will help keep you active and you can always keep track of what needs to be done. Routine is something that is part of our daily lives and to suddenly have it stripped away can have negative impacts on your mindset.
  4. Self care is so important, whether that’s before or during the pandemic . Yoga, Stretching, meditation or just going for a walk can have a huge impact on your mindset and motivation. Maybe take an online course in happiness or mindfulness.
  5. Focus on building better habits. You have the time now, so don’t lie in bed until 10am every day. Get up and get moving. Try getting your workouts done early and if you have kids then get it done before they wake up. Set goals with your nutrition like prepping meals or cooking in bulk, cook healthy and fresh not processed rubbish all the time, drink more water and cut down on alcohol intake. Have healthy snacks ready for when you feel hungry so you don’t turn to junk food. If you’re working on the computer a lot, then try and get up and move around every 30-60mins. Also try and hit your steps each day, go out for long walks by yourself or with your family.
  6. Avoid weighing yourself all the time. A lot of us may gain a few pounds during lockdown but it doesn’t matter. Jumping on the scales every two seconds isn’t going to keep you motivated due to constant weight fluctuations.

My Final Thoughts:

These are difficult times we are in but we shouldn’t give up on our health and fitness. To keep yourself motivated, make sure you set yourself goals and focus on the things you can control. Always try to take positives from negative situations. Make sure you create a daily schedule to keep yourself busy and mentally focussed. You have the time now to learn new habits that will help improve your mindset and health, so set yourself some small things to work on each day.

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