Staying Fit at Home: From Workout Routines to Clean Eating

Staying Fit at Home: From Workout Routines to Clean Eating

In the “Before Times” before the “Now Times,” which are starting to feel more and more like the “End Times,” working out at the gym was my life—quite literally: I had only just opened my first in-person gym location, after several years of building a client base for personal training. I was up every morning well before the crack of dawn and planted myself squarely at the center of my gym as I prepared myself (or other trainers) for the day’s sessions; aside from prepping class content, I kept myself at the location for many hours, and almost every day, to leave my personal stamp on the decor, examine the state of cleanliness, and bolster a positive employee attitude that I felt elevated our company above our closest competitors. Of course, when the lockdown began, I understood the importance of shuttering our doors—perhaps better than most, as I have several beloved family members who are themselves severely immuno-compromised—until they could be safely opened again. I knew, too, that our business had developed enough to safely adapt to the situation well enough to offer exclusively online services; in the early years, after I first completed my personal training certifications, I conducted plenty of business almost exclusively online. In many ways, I’m probably more prepared for the current moment than others—but that still doesn’t make me feel much better than anyone else does about being stuck in one place for too long. 

The Dark I Know Well

Before my fitness journey, I suffered from disordered eating and an unaddressed depression. I know that isolation fosters these conditions in other people, so let me offer at-home fitness as an alternative to the void. Not everyone lives in a neighborhood that has fitness equipment built right in—like Cadence—but there are still plenty of methods to keep fit at home, including:

You Are What You Can Afford to Eat

Nutrition is going to be of the utmost importance at this moment because we simply can’t be moving as much as we usually would be outside of the restrictions of a lockdown. Purchase nutritious, fresh foods when you do go out: and, when you return, extend their freshness as much as possible using these methods: 

• Use produce bags that are scientifically designed to keep fruits and veggies fresher for longer
• Wash fresh produce right before you’re about to consume it
• Use the foil trick! Add a small piece of tin foil to the top of your banana bunch

That’s My Schedule, and I’m Sticking To It

Develop an eating schedule and stick to it: as someone who suffered from a severe eating disorder for years, I can’t stress enough how the lack of a consistent schedule in terms of activities can cause you to eat—or not eat, which is much worse—at odd intervals. This can affect much more than your physical fitness: in my case, disordered eating was inexorably linked to my mental health. As I worked with a therapist to attack the underlying issues buried deep beneath the disorder, I understood that I could change the behavior connected to depression; in that way, I could take back some semblance of control.

Call Them On a Line, Call Them Anytime

No truer words have ever reverberated through any musically-fantastical high school halls than these: we’re all in this together. It may be impractical, impossible, and terribly unwise to be in the same room—or at the very least, improperly distanced—from those with whom we’re not currently sharing space during the lockdown, but we’ve got the Internet now. We can be in contact with whomever we choose at the press of a button: especially since they’re probably as keenly bored with lockdown life as you are yourself. Have a virtual lunch together. Play virtual games together. And—if I might be so bold—enjoy virtual workouts together. There’s nothing that makes me happier than watching the friends that can’t stay together, slay together. If you’re interested, I’ve got just the program for you and yours to enjoy: let’s lock and load, and lock it in this lockdown, quaran-team.