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May 1

How To Shop, Eat And Survive During Coronavirus Outbreak – Medical Daily

Diet Comments Off on How To Shop, Eat And Survive During Coronavirus Outbreak – Medical Daily

Dieting is easier said than done. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, it has become more challenging to follow for many of us.

Sticking to a dietary plan on quarantine may seem simple, with planned lunch/dinner dates canceled, less time to go to the grocery store and more time to cook healthy meals at home. However, without a proper structure, you will find it hard to stay on track and avoid unhealthy quarantine snacks over time.

"We establish routines and systems in our lives that allow us to either improve our health or develop bad habits," Emmie Satrazemis, registered dietitian and nutrition director at Trifecta Nutrition, said via Muscle & Fitness. "The second we change that - and this would be a massive change for a lot of people - it gets really hard to restructure those routines and figure out how to basically re-systemize your diet for your benefit."

It is undeniable that precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19 have affected your planned dietary strategies, whether you are new to meal planning or have been aware of your calorie/carbohydrate/fat intake for years. With this in mind, Satrazemis has shared these tips to help you shop, eat and survive while following your dietary plan on home quarantine:

How To Shop

Plan out your groceries before, not after

Rather than stocking up and thinking about it later, it is best to plan things out before your next grocery trip. At the very least, you have a good idea of what perishables and non-perishables you will need for the week.

"You should have some sort of plan for the food that you're buying and how you're going to ration it out for you and everybody in your household throughout the week," Satrazemis said. "Then you don't get into a place where you're either wasting food or eating everything three days after you buy it."

Including everything from meals to snacks in your plan is a good strategy if you find that you are eating everything (healthy or unhealthy) at home just because they are there.

Satrazemis advised doing away with unhealthy quarantine snacks if you are serious about eating healthy during lockdown. At some point, you are going to eat them if they are in your home.

Stock on healthy basics

Though healthy food is hard to find in the supermarket at the moment, there are some that not only are healthy, but also last at least for a while when you do not find it easy to the grocery store.

For your protein needs, canned fish should do the job. Whether it is tuna, salmon or any other fish variety, it won't go bad anytime soon. Other healthy options to add to your pantry include any type of grain (from rice to quinoa), boxed plant-based milks, meat jerky (one that is not full of additives and sugars) and other protein-rich snacks and nut and nut butters.

According to Satrazemis, getting meals and ingredients delivered also helps if you are too scared to go outside and do grocery shopping.

How To Eat

Keep your strategy simple

Satrazemis made it clear that planning out your meals does not have to be perfect.

"It doesn't have to mean that you're hitting a specific calorie and macro goal or weighing your food," she said. "If you're new to the concept, I would say just sit down, write out a weekly calendar, put it on the fridge even and say, 'Heres what I'm planning on eating for dinner throughout the week. Here's what I think sounds good for lunch, here's my breakfast, here's my snacks.'"

Rather than stressing over your dietary plan, use it as a guide on your next visit to the supermarket and try your best to stick to that plan.

Avoid/lessen snacking

Excessive boredom-fueled snacking can be an obstacle even among those who religiously follow planned meal times and regularly go to the gym, and doing something else helps you avoid it. Satrazemis suggested going for a walk outside, reading a book and other activities that do not involve food consumption.

If you find snacking unavoidable, choose low-calorie foods that take time and effort to eat. Some of Sartazemis' top picks include air-popped popcorn; peeled and pitted fruits like mandarin oranges and clementines; and nuts such as peanuts and pistachios that take longer to shell.

"When you actually have to actively open it up with each bite, you think about it a little bit more and you're less likely to eat as much versus something thats unwrapped," she explained.

Protein bars that are mostly healthy are also good choices if you have a sweet tooth.

Choose a diet plan that suits you

Satrazemissuggested smaller changes to get the best results with a new diet strategy. However, if you are set on following trendy dietary plans such as the paleo and keto diets, choose one that makes sense for your food taste.

"We get caught up in wondering what the best option is, when really the best option for you is the one that you're going to enjoy doing," Satrazemis said. "Because if you don't, there's just no way that you're going to stick to it."

How To Survive

Plan out your daily routine

In quarantine, you are stuck at home with the groceries you bought. Over time, this can lead to unhealthy binge eating.

So what should you do to stop that from happening? "Sit down and create a plan for yourself, and then really spend some time establishing routines for your new norm,"Satrazemis suggested. "So things that are as simple as getting up, making the bed, putting on real clothes, establishing actual eating times and getting a little bit of structure into your day."

By creating a specific time for meals, workouts, or taking breaks from telecommuting, you can form new habits and stick to the diet plan you are struggling to follow.

"Habits are everything when it comes to sticking to a healthy diet,"Satrazemis explained. "We can make one choice pretty easily, but to repeatedly make that choice, we really have to set ourselves up with systems and routines to allow us to do that effectively."

Have realistic goals

Having goals in mind is good if you are planning something new, but overthinking about these goals can lead to disappointment.

"A lot of times when we're getting into something new and we're highly motivated, we tend to over-commit to something,"Satrazemis said. She suggested starting simple -- Greek yogurt and apple should suffice as your inter-meal snacks. What is important is that having a great plan is a good start, and making that plan complicated will make it hard for you to follow.

Another thing to be realistic about, Satrazemis pointed out, is your calorie intake. With gyms closed for the time being, it is a good idea to re-evaluate the calories you are consuming and adjust it to reflect on those changes if you have switched from daily lifting workouts to a simple jogging exercise.

Remember the benefits of good nutrition

There is no need to be reminded that a healthy diet will help you feel better, but it is important to remember its benefits whenever your motivation is low.

"Getting good, healthy fats and paying attention to your overall macro balance is actually super beneficial in terms of your mood and energy levels day to day, so you want to have a good balance of protein, fat and carbs," Satrazemis said. "We've all had those days where we've eaten nothing but carbohydrates and we just don't feel that great, and then we've had those days where maybe we didn't eat enough carbohydrates and we feel like we're starving or hungry, or mood is a little bit out of whack as well."

Satrazemis suggested focusing on a balance of macronutrients while not being overly restrictive. These can help you create a plan that you can stick to and feel good about.

Be motivated

Social isolation is difficult for all of us and motivation to eat healthy or exercise is extremely low at the moment. Joining a fitness or diet challenge that comes with a plan may be a good way to feel motivated while stuck at home.

"Doing it on your own is much harder than when you have something to actually follow and inspire you," Satrazemis said. "And you have the plan laid out right there for you. So I would recommend looking for opportunities like that because they definitely exist."

A healthy diet leads to a healthy mind. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

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How To Shop, Eat And Survive During Coronavirus Outbreak - Medical Daily

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