exercise

Five Little Ways to Feel Good

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage, but the ‘stay at home’ rule in England has recently been lifted, meaning the official lockdown has ended, and people can start to leave the house more frequently. This should be a boost to the country’s collective mood, as things seem to be improving – but there are still difficult times ahead. It’s important to find ways to feel good and to improve your mood wherever you can. Here are five small things you can do to keep positive in these difficult times.

1. Get Moving

Exercising every day could have a huge impact on your mood. If you exercise strenuously enough to raise your heart rate, your body will release endorphins – happy hormones – that reduce stress levels and make you feel good.

Find a type of exercise you enjoy and do it regularly. It might be something as simple as lifting small weights, or doing some seated yoga while dinner is in the oven.

Adding a social element is another way to make yourself feel good, so meet up with friends when it’s safe to do so and do some exercise together.

2. Relax!

Exercising is all well and good, but it’s also super important to find time to relax and put your feet up. Life can be busy and stressful, so carve out some time for yourself every week in which you can just do nothing.

It’s not always easy to relax with so much going on, so you might need some extra help. Some people love doing yoga or meditating to help them relax, while others swear by CBD oil. You can buy CBD products at vapecbdworld.com if you want to try them out. See what works for you and find a way to wind down.

3. Phone a Friend

Chatting with loved ones is a great way to boost your mood. By now, a lot of people are sick of Zoom and video chats, so remember, there’s nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned phone call!

Phoning a friend or family member who has been shielding is a great way to show you’re there for them. Don’t worry if you don’t have much to say; even a quick five-minute hello will cheer someone else up, and this will make you feel good too.

4. Have Some Fun

A lot of people are feeling the need to be productive all the time at the moment, but it’s impossible to be forward-thinking all the time. A great way to make yourself feel good is to make an effort to have some fun.

Find any way you can to have fun at home – that might mean digging out some board games to play with the family, playing video games, or listening to podcasts.

Do something you enjoy and make the most of your time at home!

5. Plan Ahead

The restrictions we’re all facing won’t last forever, even if it feels like that sometimes. Use this time to make some plans for the future.

Book a ‘staycation’ somewhere in the UK for the summertime, so you have something to look forward to. This will get you through the moments when you feel low.

It’s more important than ever to look after your mental health and find ways to cheer yourself up. Find out what works for you and keep your spirits up!

This is a collaborative post you can read my Disclosure Policy here.

How to stay healthy while stuck at home

by Anne Sweet 4 Comments

Maintaining your physical and mental health while stuck in lockdown can seem challenging at first. Many of the things you can normally rely on to make you feel good – going to the gym, family holidays, or even nights out with friends – are no longer available. Thankfully there are plenty of tips and tricks out there to help you adjust.

Much of it comes back to retaining a sense of routine (or creating a new one). Read five quick tips on how to stay healthy at home below.

Stay Healthy with Daily exercise

There are lots of ways to stay fit without stepping foot in a gym or sports hall. Many personal trainers are now offering free workouts online for you to join in with at home. Or you could weigh up your finances and kit out a home gym.

But of course, exercising doesn’t always need to be so strenuous. Simply getting out for a short walk each day, especially if working or parenting full time, can be enough to clear your mind.

Maintain a healthy diet

Whether you’re stuck at home with nothing to do or rushed off your feet as a key worker, eating a healthy diet may be the last thing on your mind. But making sure you’re getting enough of the good stuff at regular intervals is vital in fuelling your day.

Lockdown could even be the perfect opportunity to hone your cooking skills. And by getting fresh, tasty produce delivered from local suppliers, you’ll be supporting your community too.

stay healthy with fresh food, a chopping board of fresh vegetables ready to cook.

Look after your mental wellbeing

Emotional wellbeing has gained increased focus in recent years as awareness of mental health issues continues to grow. There’s lots you can do to look after yours, from yoga, to meditation, and getting better sleep.

Research shows meditation is Britain’s most popular wellbeing therapy. There are plenty of apps out there to guide you through the process.

Read, read, read

With international travel on hold for now, your next adventure could lie in the pages of a good book. Reading is an excellent way to pass time while focusing your mind – and it could make it easier to doze off at night too.

If fiction isn’t your thing, see what reading material you can find to help learn a new skill.

Check in with friends and family

Isolation doesn’t have to be isolating, The video conferencing software Zoom was downloaded 2.13m times when the UK lockdown was announced, and seeing a familiar face over the internet can go some way to restoring your sense of social connection.

Arrange weekly catchups, host a virtual pub quiz, or take part in a cook-a-long. Whatever you decide on, you’ll feel better for talking to those you love.

What’s helped you feel better while stuck at home?

This is a collaborative post.

Four Things To Do On Your Lunch Break

by Anne Sweet 2 Comments

When you’re extremely busy at work and need every available hour of the day to get your work finished, it’s easy to slip into a bad habit during your lunch break. It’s not uncommon for many people to eat at their desks and power through the break to get ahead, but this habit is really not good for your health and can actually make you less productive during the remaining hours of the day. It’s important to give yourself a little headspace and step away from the computer screen during lunch. There are plenty of ways to re-energise yourself and get ready for the afternoon ahead. Be strict with yourself and ensure you make this a regular routine, and you’ll see the benefits for your concentration in no time.

Get Some Fresh Air

Remove yourself from the office to avoid work temptations and spend the lunch break enjoying some fresh air. Whether it’s sitting on a park bench eating some lunch, stretching your legs on a circular walk or indulging in some vaping from Ultimate Juice, use the time relieve some stress and catch some rays before heading back indoors. The change of scene will really break up the day and give you some much-needed motivation for the afternoon hours.

Read a Book

If you struggle to take your mind off work and need a good distraction when you leave your desk, why not get stuck into the latest gripping novel for the time you have available. Reading is the perfect activity to put down and pick up throughout the story, which is perfect when you only have a limited break. It will also draw you away from your colleagues for a short spell, who no doubt love to talk about office politics during lunch. Absorb yourself in your Amazon Kindle and avoid getting involved in the latest gossip, it’s the best way to really get a break from work during the day.

book open on white background with glasses and coffee

Catch Up With Friends

If you work in a location close to some of your friends, your lunch break is an ideal time to schedule in a meetup and catch up with their latest news. As everyone is so busy these days, with work and family commitments, this is a great way to keep in touch on a regular basis without eating into your precious weekend hours. Grab a quick coffee down the road from your office or sit in the park on a sunny spring day, just remember to keep an eye on the time and don’t be late back to the office.

Exercise

So many people struggle to fit exercise into their daily lives but spend their lunch break scrolling on their phones or twiddling their thumbs, so why not use the time more wisely and do some exercise before eating lunch. There are plenty of exercise classes that are short enough to fit into a lunch break or why not follow CrossFit HQ on YouTube, 15 minutes is all you really need giving you plenty of time to refresh yourself before needing to be back at your desk. It’s important to move your body when you’ve been sat at your desk all day, and the exercise will give you a much-needed energy boost for the afternoon.

How do you spend your lunch break?

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post

These Shoes Were Made For Walking

by Anne Sweet Leave a Comment

I’d love to be able to run, I’d practice every day and enter marathons when I could. What a great way to keep fit and healthy. However, running is not for me, and a lot of other exercise are ruled out too, but there is one thing that I do really well and that is walk. I recently decided to increase my walking to make sure I was doing 10,000 steps every day and I’m pretty much there five days a week. You can see my tips for walking in my post, I Would Walk 10000 Steps.

It’s important to have the right footware when walking (or running if you are lucky enough to be able to.) There is nothing worse than painful feet, and bad footwear is sure to hamper your efforts.

Fila Prompt

These are running shoes, but they are great for walking too. I love the spongy soul which is great for combating foot fatigue. I love the neon pink too, I think they look great.

I love walking as exercise. Of course I do a lot of my daily walking doing the school run, but it’s after I’ve dropped the kids off at school that I can get down to some serious walking. I like to spend around 30 minutes walking each day, it has so many benefits.

Walking is a cardio-vascular exercise that keeps you fit and can also help you lose weight.
Walking is low impact so it doesn’t carry the same potential risk of injury as running.
It strengthens bones and helps maintains healthy joints.
It energises you by boosting your circulation and increasing oxygen in your cells, stopping you feeling sluggish.
Walking releasing endorphins which help to keep you happy and reduce stress and anxiety.
If done properly, thinking about your posture while walking you can also help slim your waist and arms, so it’s a good all round exercise.

Whether you are a walker or a runner you can find a wide range of trainers at JD Sports, with a great range of style and brands to choose from there is something to suit everyone.

I Would Walk 10,000 Steps

by Anne Sweet Leave a Comment

Just over three weeks ago you may remember me going on about how I wanted to lose some weight? Well, I’ll be honest, I’ve not lost much, just a couple of pounds. I’m not good at dieting, although I am able to cut out the bad stuff, I really don’t like to feel hungry at all. I’m also not good at exercise, especially with my dodgy joints. One thing I do like is walking so I’ve been looking into how I can use this to help me get a little fitter.
I have been reviewing an Ozeri Pedometer for the last week. I have found that on average I walk about 5000 steps a day at about 6 miles per hour. To keep fit it is recommended to walk around 10 000 steps a day. So I have to double my amount of walking.

Some tips for increasing your walking are:

get off bus early and walk rest of way home or to work.
walk to the station instead of catching bus or taking car
shop locally if you can
walk the children to school
walk the dog.

Making walking more fun will help you too,

find a walking partner to chat to while you walk
get an mp3 Player
plan interesting walks
join a group of ramblers

Finally,some tips to help you get the most out of your walking,

walk regularly
build up the time you spend walking
Make sure your shoes are comfortable
walk at your regular pace
walk 30 to 90 minutes a day
keep your back straight and look ahead of you to release your chest and shoulders
tense your abdominal muscles to train them, too.

Taking what I can from this advice I plan to be walking 10000 steps every day very soon. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Pedometers are useful because they record your steps. To start you need to record your steps every day for a week, total them up and divide them by seven to get your average daily amount of steps.

The Ozeri 4×3 motion digital pocket 3D pedometer is a neat little pedometer which fits neatly into any pocket or purse. It even has a back light so that you can see it in the dark. The 3D tri axis sensor supplies accuracy in any position. It has many features like being able to tell you how far you have walked, how many calories you have burned, how many miles per hour you walk and how long you have been walking for. It also has a built in clock, sports timer and and calendar.

To set up the pedometer you have to measure how far you travel in ten steps and divide it by 10 to get your average step distance. This means that this is an incredibly accurate pedometer. Once set up it is really easy to use and so useful in tracking your steps, distance and calories burned.

It comes with a battery and a little screwdriver for when you need to change the battery. It also has a strap but I have found I like putting mine in my pocket, it is so slim and light I just don’t notice it.

The Ozeri Pedometer is currently £15.95 (was £39.99) and is available from Amazon.

I received an Ozeri Pedometer for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and so is my flab but I’m willing to share that if you want some 😉