Staying safe and healthy is important 365 days a year, but it’s even more critical now that there’s a worldwide pandemic threatening to infect us all. Hopefully, you’ve maintained a healthy lifestyle in the months leading up to this crisis and have a strong immune system that can reduce your risk of illness. If not, there’s no time like the present! Read through this list of seven things you can do to stay safe and healthy today, and every day.
Keep Your Hands Clean
The number one way that germs are spread is by making contacting with bacteria, then touching your face with your hands. This allows harmful pathogens to enter our respiratory system via nose or mouth. Therefore, you should stock up on bulk hand sanitizer to keep hands clean anytime they contact a dirty surface.
This is very important at the grocery store and public spaces, but you can also bring bacteria into the house despite your best sanitation efforts. It’s smart to wipe down frequently touched surfaces in your home to kill whatever the kids might have brought back from school.
And always, always wash your hands following best hygiene practices!
Cover Your Mouth
To prevent spreading germs from your hands to your mouth, a face mask is very useful because it stands in the way any time you might subconsciously make contact—which is a natural habit that happens a lot, you’ll begin to notice. Covering your mouth also helps keep others safe and healthy as well as yourself, because you could be a carrier of the disease and not even know it.
Maintain A Six-Foot Distance
When you have to go out in public during the coronavirus pandemic, try to keep at least a six-foot distance from the people around you. This can be harder to do in densely populated metropolises, but the further you can stand from your neighbor, the better.
Stay At Home
Your best bet to stay safe is to just remain at home with your family as much as possible. Everyone might feel a little stir crazy, but breakout the boardgames and try to stay patient while medical experts work on a vaccine. A little loss in sanity at the present is well worth warding off a life-threatening illness in the future.
Take Care Of Your Mental Health
On that note, it’s important to take care of your mental health just as much as your physical well-being. Everyone has their favorite methods of self-care, from journaling to relaxing coloring books, meditation to yoga.
Another option that the whole family can enjoy is to adopt a dog! There are amazing mental health benefits of owning a dog; they’re great friends, promote responsibility, and help keep you present, to name just a few. There are so many animals in need of help at the Humane Society, so you can pick up a quarantine companion without spending a ton of money at a breeder—and save a life at the same time!
Remain Active To Stay Fit
Health is wealth, which we’re beginning to fully appreciate due to the spread of coronavirus after taking it for granted for so many years. Exercise plays a large roll in our overall well-being—both physically and mentally—so make it a priority to stay in shape. Otherwise, you could risk developing heart conditions, diabetes, and other weight-related medical conditions.
If you’re stuck at home and can’t get to the gym, watch some workout videos online or add a light jog to your morning routine. Even 15 minutes of cardio is better than none, so run around with the kids in the backyard or do some calisthenics while catching up on your favorite show.
Eat A Nutritious Diet
We’re big advocates of healthy nutrition. A clean diet filled with leafy greens will provide your body with the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants it needs to support a strong immune system. If your diet needs a little cleaning up, you can start by switching to plant-based protein, exploring alternative forms of dairy, and cutting out processed sugars. You can also take pre- and probiotic supplements to introduce good bacteria for improved gut health.
How are you staying safe and healthy? Let us know in the comments below.
Leave a Reply