Everyone’s quarantine situation is different. I am quarantined by my college in my apartment because I didn’t see how this was going to go and tried to work while school was canceled for two weeks. Luckily, my roommates and dog have been great companions during this boring time.
During this 30-day quarantine that will really feel like six months, you might find yourself repeating the same tasks as usual — but they might have a higher level of annoyance when you’re stuck doing only them. For me, these things consisted of walking my dog, doing my dishes, checking my online classes and eating. Obviously these things are needed to live life — however, when you aren’t allowed to leave unless you need a doctor or food, you start to become stir crazy. My four-by-four bedroom apartment feels smaller and smaller every day I wake up. But thankfully, I have a balcony to give me Vitamin D. The struggle has been real and we’ve only scratched the surface of this epidemic.
One thing I know is that even when I’m not hungry, I’m still snacking. I can snack like there’s no tomorrow (and it’s kind of what life feels like right now). For me, food has always been a comfort area and in these times we need comfort the most. But once all this is said and done, and I come out of quarantine an unhealthy and lazy theater major, I will only have myself to be upset with.
So why not start now? I don’t force myself to not eat or not enjoy snacks, and no one should withhold food from themselves. But if you’re beginning to binge, these are some things I consider when I have already enjoyed a snack and would like to continue on down to whatever other sweets hide in my cabinet:
- Instead of a candy bar, why not some veggies and dip?
- Replace hunger with a cup of tea or drinking a glass of water.
- Hungry? Go for a walk, and if you’re still hungry after, eat what you WANT.
- Try cooking a meal that will fill you more than some snacks would.
These are some practices I have been trying to implicate into my diet and exercise. Especially seeing I have spent the last three days in bed soaking up my wonderful A.C. and my computer screen light. Changing it up, especially in quarantine, is needed for the brain muscles to continue on growing. Going from full-time college student with two jobs and a pup to raise to having no jobs and online school has affected me greatly, and I can only imagine how much worse others are in this pandemic’s climate.
Stay safe, wash your hands, and find something to do that you can while you’re stuck between four walls.