03 Nov 10 Tips to Stay Healthy and Active During COVID-19

10 Tips to Stay Healthy and Active During COVID-19

Health insurance provides financial protection in the event of a severe accident and ensures that a medical provider is helping you to stay on top of your health. Unfortunately, even for those with health insurance who would typically be seeing their doctor periodically, these pandemic times have changed the way we interact with our physicians.

Many in-person appointments are indefinitely postponed, with video calls taking their place. Though these video calls serve a fundamental purpose and keep up the dialogue when we can’t talk to our doctors in person, it’s just not the same. For this reason and more, we must be doing what we can to stay healthy and appropriately active.

Good eating habits and physical activity are directly linked to better health outcomes. Check out our list of 10 things you can do to keep yourself as healthy and active as possible while maintaining social distance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Take a break for breakfast. If you aren’t a big breakfast eater, try some fresh fruit and grains. Your body needs some fuel after a night of sleep, and getting some calories in will help you start your day off right.
2. Increase your footsteps. Increase the number of footsteps that you walk each day. Regular walking can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, depression, and certain cancers. Try to get a minimum of 250 steps every hour that you are awake, and shoot for as close to 10,000 steps per day if you can.
3. Sweat a little. If your heart is relatively healthy and assuming you haven’t been told otherwise by your doctor, try to work up a sweat at least once per day. This might mean doing a few jumping jacks or burpees, dancing around the kitchen with your spouse, or jogging to the mailbox and back.
4. Snack light. Snacks here and there are actually good for you. But, be sure to make your snack count. An apple, some celery sticks with peanut butter, or even a few crackers in between meals can help you keep up your energy and keep that metabolism going.
5. Eat a variety of foods. When planning your meals, be sure to incorporate a variety of nutrients. Use the Food Pyramid to determine the correct number of servings, and track what you are eating on a fitness application or even on paper. Paying attention to what you eat and holding yourself accountable can be both informative and eye-opening.
6. Find an accountability friend and check-in once per day. When we can’t get together with our friends and family as we did before the pandemic, it can be easy to get out of touch. Find a friend with similar health goals to you and make a pact to connect once per day, if even for just five minutes. Share where you are struggling and where you are succeeding. Your accountability friend can help motivate you to stay on top of your plan. And, staying connected to family and friends, even remotely, is more critical than ever.
7. Explore a new hobby. With more time at home than we are used to (even if we’re retired, we are getting out less than we did before the pandemic), it is easy to become complacent. Identifying and pursuing a new hobby is good for your brain and soul.
8. Do a mind puzzle. Mind puzzles help to reinforce the connections between our brain cells. They also help to improve our mental speed and are a great way to improve short-term memory.
9. Meditate. These times are tough on all of us, and sometimes we don’t realize how much stress we are holding in. Even five minutes a day focused on deep-breathing and relaxation can help calm the nervous system, focus your energy, optimize your circulatory system, and boost your immune system.
10. Drink plenty of water. The United States National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine suggest that men’s daily water intake should be 15.5 cups and 11.5 cups for women.

Make Sure Your Health Insurance Covers Your Family’s Needs

No matter what we do to keep ourselves healthy, we will need to see the doctor from time to time. And sometimes, illnesses creep up beyond our control. For this reason, you must have the right level of health insurance to protect you. If you are looking for assistance with Pawleys Island insurance or want to ensure that you have ample coverage to protect you and your family, Laura Hibbits Insurance can help. Call us today at (843) 979-9204 or send us a message. We’re here to help.