Keeping healthy at home amid COVID-19 scare

ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEPH BRAVO

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. Schools and universities have adopted the study-from-home arrangement and many companies are allowing their employees to work from home.

Staying at home, however, does not mean we can now be complacent and unconcerned about keeping ourselves safe from this disease. Apart from doing remote work or studying from the safety of our living spaces, we should also use this time to boost our immune system and keep ourselves healthy.

Keep moving

We need not be parked the entire day on the couch in front of our laptops and live a sedentary life. Since social distancing is encouraged and the gym could be a crowded place, you can convert a corner of your home into your own mini gym. Here, you can have a yoga mat, a set of dumbbells, a kettlebell, exercise bench, a stepper or, if your space and wallet permit, a treadmill or stationary bike.

If you are on a budget, common furniture and household items can double as your gym equipment. Use a sturdy chair to do chair planks, triceps dip or different kinds of squats. Your heavy books can be used as weights. There are quite a number of exercises which we can do from the couch, our living area’s gateway to couch potato land: triceps dips, incline push-ups, single-leg lunges, leg raises and squats.

If you have a smartwatch, comply when it reminds you to stand, move or take deep breaths.

Eat healthy

Not having to leave home to beat the rush hour traffic and get to the office on time means you’ll have more time to plan your day, including what you’ll be eating for the day. You also have more time to prepare home-cooked, healthy and well-balanced meals. Stock up on fruits and veggies. Bananas, oranges, apples, grapefruit, kiwis, mangoes, grapes are better snack alternatives to salty and oily potato chips. Remember to drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated, too. We’re not only protecting ourselves from COVID-19 but the intense heat of the dry season.

Keep clean

Always practice cleanliness and proper hygiene. Wash your hands thoroughly with anti-bacterial soap after every trip to the bathroom. Clean your kitchen counters, tables and sinks with a safe household disinfectant. Frequently touched items such as mobile phones, gadgets and the TV remote need to be constantly disinfected as well. Also, being at home doesn’t mean you don’t need to observe good manners when it comes to coughing and sneezing. Remember to sneeze or cough into the crook of your elbow or the sleeve of your shirt, or cover your mouth and nose with tissue while coughing or sneezing, then throw this away in a covered trash can.

Medicard Philippines Inc. has a lifestyle blog, Medicard Lifestyle, with easy-to-follow recipes, health tips and simple workouts which can serve as your companion to strengthening your body and your immune system. There is definitely no excuse for all of us to be neglectful of our body and our surroundings, especially during these times.