Greg Kelland is a Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach based at Auckland’s Next Gen Health and Lifestyle Club. Since 2015 he’s been helping people change what they see and feel when looking in a mirror. Greg’s clients learn the skills to stay healthy while living busy lives and without restrictive diets.
It’s official; we are moving to level two (well soon, anyway). And for a lot of us, we’ll still be working from home, the only commute being the one back and forward to the kitchen for some bored eating.
So without the regular movement and scheduled eating of our normal routine, how do we stay healthy?
Greg KellandMake exercise fun
Gyms are closed, the weather is crap, and there’s nowhere to go. For most of us, that means a massive decrease in our daily movement. We’re burning fewer calories and missing out on the mood-boosting effects of regular exercise.
So, what’s the most effective type of exercise do to during lockdown? The answer might surprise you.
For most of us, the goal for exercising during the lockdown should be to exercise during the lockdown. Getting off our butts, getting off our phones and getting it done. The easiest way to do that is to do a type of exercise that we enjoy!
Not only will doing what we enjoy will improve our consistency, but according to research, it may also stop us from overeating afterwards.
Change your environment
According to the book Atomic Habits, every habit, good or bad, starts with a trigger. I always use the example of Mrs Higgins, where that crafty oven blows the smell of freshly baked cookies down Queen Street, and we are powerless to resist.
The same goes at home, which is full of triggers. Our couches and TVs sit there inviting us to lie down and binge-watch Netflix. Our fridges buzz intermittently, reminding us that time not spent eating is time that could be spent eating.
We need to remove the bad triggers and make the good ones blatantly obvious. Replace processed food with fresh chopped up vegetables for easy consumption. Put our walking shoes in the lounge to encourage daily exercise. Swallow our phones, so we can’t check Instagram until we’ve hit our daily target (or not).
Treat yourself with kindness and compassion
As a coach, I know that choosing the right language can make or break the message that I’m trying to get across to a client. The standard advice to “just love yourself”, can be interpreted in many different ways.
So let’s try this, treat yourself like you would treat something you love, a dog, for example.
Would you let your beloved doggy sit inside for 24 hours with no movement or fresh air? Probably not. You would take them for a sniff around the neighbourhood at least once a day.
Would you let your fur baby eat low quality food for every meal? No, you would give him or her the quality nutrition they need to live a long and happy dog life. Choose your food with the same goal in mind.
Now imagine for a second, that canine COVID was taking over the world, and your dog was unable to ‘work’ or see their family and friends. Would you punish your dog for acting out? Hopefully, you would be understanding and give your pooch some compassion.
So, go easy on yourself. Enjoy that lazy day watching movies. Eat that cookie with no shame. But remember, fresh air, exercise, and good food will make all the difference. And if you end up peeing on the carpet, you’re on your own.
If you want to learn more about how to transform your body using simple daily habits, visit coachingwithgreg.com.
