How to Eat Healthy During a Global Pandemic
We’re all bracing ourselves for another lockdown- and you can probably remember how the last one went. It’s dangerously easy to take COVID as an excuse to go to a diet of frozen buns, instant noodles and snacks. It’s also dangerously easy to gain a lot of unwanted weight and totally reverse any healthy living routine that you might have had. So let’s talk about preparing a healthy home nutrition plan that you can follow with or without restaurant regulations.
In our last article, we covered the need for three different aspects of your life to focus on in order to ensure that you remain happy, healthy and in control of your situation. Today, we’re going to cover how you can take care of your body while at home. That all starts with nutrition.
In regards to nutrition, this is a fantastic time to start a solid healthy cooking routine. The good news is that in the event of another lockdown, you’ll have a great deal of time on your hands to prepare some healthy food.
The most important thing you can do is limit eating processed foods as you can. That’ frozen buns and dumplings, canned meats like cha and pate, condensed milk, chips and other foods that come in a plastic bag or tin can. Since these last for a long time, you might be tempted to stock up, but we’d advise you to instead focus on fresh, whole foods that can be stored in a sealed container or frozen. Of course, we understand that you might have to eat some, but being aware is the most important.
Limiting your processed foods is a great start, but if you want to really get serious, this is a great time to create a long-term healthy meal plan for yourself. As you may know, we’ve got three different types of foods, or macronutrients, to focus on: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Here’s a breakdown of each:
Protein
You should be getting some sort of lean protein, like fish, chicken, low fat beef, eggs or tofu, with each meal. A little bit of pork isn’t going to hurt you, but we advise you to limit your intake as much as you can. Meats are all fine to put into the freezer, and will take up less space than dumplings and buns. Some other great options that will keep for a long time are beans, seeds, peanut butter and other nuts; just pair them with a whole grain carb to make it a complete protein. Just trust us, but you can also read more about complete proteins here: link for vietnamese / https://www.wikihow.com/Combine-Food-to-Make-Complete-Protein
Carbs
Make sure that you’re getting your carbs from the best sources. Brown rice, whole wheat pasta and bread, and sweet potato are all ideal sources, but common Vietnamese carbs like com tam, pho and bun are all acceptable options in moderation. However, as you’re likely not burning as many calories as you normally would, be advised to reduce the amount of carbs that you eat by about 30%, as any carbs that your body doesn’t use for movement will be stored as fat. Be careful!
Fats
You’ve got to be careful with fats as well, as a lot of the foods that you might be tempted to eat will be high in artificial trans-fats, all of which are the processed foods. However, your body needs fats, so make sure that you’re getting it from your protein sources, as well as from sources like nuts and seeds. Another tip is to replace your cooking oils with olive oil, or sunflower oil if you want the same flavor as vegetable oil, to give yourself a much healthier fat source.
Also, make sure to eat as many fresh veggies as your grocery situation will allow. It’s also a good idea to buy a good multivitamin to make sure that you get enough nutrients.
If you can follow these simple rules, you’re going to feel much better in your body and mind, which will make managing everything else in your life exponentially easier. Get started and leave us a comment if you need recipe recommendations or more personal guidance!
