Tips on how to stay healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic

By Justin Seward

Commentator/Courier

Tips to a healthy lifestyle have stayed similar for the last seven months during the COVID 19 pandemic.
“I don’t think anything really has changed because maintaining a healthy lifestyle is kind of the same recipe. It hasn’t changed just because of the pandemic,” said Kayla Repas, physical literacy programmer at Medicine Hat College’s Be Fit for Life Centre.
“So kind of eating a variety of minimally processed whole foods would be the best. When I say minimally processed, like the whole version of it, instead of processed stuff. If you’re going shopping in the grocery store, you’re staying around the outside of the grocery store and so maybe going in the aisles with the processed foods.
Repas wants to encourage people to eat fresh lean protein-about one to two palms per meal- and that could include fish, eggs, egg whites, chicken, turkey, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese.
It is also encouraged to have one to two fists of rainbow vegetables on a plate in the colour categories of red, orange, yellow, purple, green and white.
One to two cupped handfuls of healthy carbohydrates as well as healthy fats (one to two thumbs per meal) and drinking lots of fluids (8x 8oz glasses) lead to a healthy lifestyle.
“Eating the variety of minimally processed foods is going to give your body the best advantage, just staying healthy as they can,” she said.
Repas said when the pandemic shut all the fitness centres and wellness facilities down, it kind of disrupted everyone’s daily routines.
“Some people maybe had a harder time finding those outlets, whether it’s stress release or healthy living in general,” she said.
“I also think the pandemic has been a great opportunity for people maybe having more time at home to start focusing on creating a healthier routine.”
At-home routines include:
-Make Time – schedule time for YOU (nutrition, physical activity etc.) just like any other appointment and commit
-Take Action – often motivation comes from action not the other way around – what is a 5 minute action – you can spare five minutes to work on you that will bring you closer to your goal.
Other non-nutritional factors people should manage are getting enough sleep, moving regularly and managing stress.
The centre has moved a lot of their service online and can be viewed at https://www.mhc.ab.ca/Services/HealthandWellness/BFFL.

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