Tips for Navigating This Weird New Normal

If you had told any of us at the beginning of the new year that we would find ourselves in this predicament by spring, who would have believed it. But here we are, limiting our trips out of the house to the grocery store and drug store, missing our friends and social connections, navigating how to accomplish our jobs from home and helping our kids learn through the computer. All of those things seem a bit overwhelming, let alone trying to figure out a way to stay motivated to workout or eat healthy as we walk past the pantry in our sweatpants 10000 times a day.....

It's just weird.

But it doesn't have to stay weird. Once we get past the first phases of resistance and annoyance at losing life as we knew it you can begin to find the great things and embrace what you can do to take back some control.

If you have not made it out of this furst phase yet, start by making a list of all the positives about being at home. Your list might look different than mine, but here are a few I came up with.

You probably get an hour or more of sleep because you don't need time for your commute.

It's easier to cook healthy lunch and dinners because you have more time to do so without sports and evening activities that have you running all around. And the biggest bonus for a lot of us, is more time with our families, pets and/or ourselves just to breathe, and enjoy each others company without all the noise that our overly scheduled lives were creating.

Starting to focus on the positives can help you shift your mental attitude about the whole situation and with a more postive attitude every day will seem just a little better or easier.

Here a some other tips to stay in a good mind space and not lose total control right now:

Make a Schedule: Whether you live alone or are juggling your work and kids schooling etc. just having a plan and writing it down can help everyone to feel more focused and help the time you spend trying to accomplish things be more effective. Don't forget to add in time for a workout, you are more likely to do it when you already had it in your head as something you intend to accomplish that day.

Set your Alarm Clock: You may not be on as much of a regimented schedule right now as you were before but keep the days feeling normal by setting your alarm and getting up at the same time each day.

Clean Yourself Up: Is it tempting to walk around with a ponytail in your jammies until 10am....yes! (*answering for myself here) But getting up and showered and dressed really does help shift your mood and attitude making you more effective right off the bat.

Meal Plan: I know, you are probably rolling your eyes that I found a way to fit that in here, but I am serious. Take stock of the food you have on hand, and write out as mony meals as you can come up with using those items. Since we are really trying to limit our trips out of the house we are trying make these meal plans for at least 2 weeks at a time in my house. Don't forget to include breakfast, snacks and lunch on your plan. Once you have your plan written down you can create your grocery list by filling in the missing items and that way you don't find yourself standing in the grocery store mindlessly filling your cart with pasta and frozen taquitos or whatever else reached out and tried to convince you it was the perfect food for a virus shutdown. (side note: for me the temptress on my last trip was frozen meatballs....it wasn't until my daughter saw me put two big bags of them in the cart and reminded me that I don't even like them, that I snapped out of this crazy grocery store shopper and put them back). But I digress, the point is, have a good solid list of what you need to minimize your time in the store and maximize the meals you can create.

Keep Moving: Make sure you keep some time for exercise on your schedule and do it! Moving your body is a great way to relieve stress, improve your mood and keep your joints and body from getting sore from sitting still. Fitting in a daily workout, walk, jog, yoga session etc is a great way to stay feeling stong, healthy and positive. In addition to a longer workout, don't forget to get up and move around throughout the day. Sometimes when you work from home, it's easy to get wrapped up in a task and sit in front of the computer for far too long without moving. Be sure you get up to stretch or get the blood flowing at least a few minuted each hour.

Breathe: when you need a second. Take it. These are trying times. We all have our own stresses and struggles. I know I almost chucked a laptop with my kids school work on it into the pool this week, but instead I stepped away, closed my eyes and allowed myself a minute to breathe. Honestly, I'm pretty sure a few minutes of mindful meditation each day is the only reason my children and I survived this week of online school. But whether it helps you through a stressful moment, eases some anxiety or simply helps you reecnter and focus on your blessings for a few minutes a day there is true power in brething and allowing yourself those few minutes of peace.

Try Something New: use this extra time to do something you have been putting off for lack of time. Learn some new recipes, make something, teach your kids to cook. Exercise your brain by giving something new to think about digest and figure out.

So, good luck friends! Stay connected with us- we are here for you. Reach out, e-mail, facebook us with questions or for support. Listen to our podcast Feel good Live Better and check out our you tube channel for some amazing workouts you can do at home. We miss all of your faces and hope some of these ideas help you navigate your way through this time.