The Stay At Home Survival Guide To COVID-19
Social Distancing, Quarantine, & Lockdown. These Are The Things You Need On Hand.
The World Health Organization and CDC officials agree: It’s not if we get the virus, it is a matter of when.
This is not to instill fear or hysteria.
It is to help you prepare for what is happening.
One of the best things we can do together is to be prepared. There is absolutely zero risk or downside to being overprepared — which will allow you to make sound decisions and not panic.
At this point, we all can agree that social distancing one of the best ways of reducing infection. Many of us are already staying at home either because of closures, homeschooling, or work restraints.
It might be the case that you, your community or town may be quarantined.
Here is a list of items to consider stocking up on in the near and intermediate future. I will continue to update it as required.
Food & Food Stuffs To Stock Up On
- Since you’re at home, eat & cook with lots of garlic. (If no one is around to smell your garlic breath, did it ever really happen? I posit no, so overload on it because it is great for your immune system).
- Cook with tumeric (the spice commonly found in Indian cooking, it is yellow in color and has many anti-inflammatory properties).
- Coffee beans or grounds
- Tea
- Filtered water
- Protein bars, protein powders
Stock up on frozen items like
- frozen vegetables
- frozen fruits
- freeze fresh meats
- freeze fresh breads
- freeze cheese blocks (or cut them into useable chunks so you defrost as you need to)
- frozen pizza and burgers
I have added frozen pizza to this list because my kids usually have “free Friday nights” which basically means they don’t have my totalitarian-style food rule. They get pizza & burgers to their belly’s content every Friday. We are trying to keep things as normal as possible for our kids so I felt this was important to include.
Nuts, seeds, and oils keep for a long time in your pantry and nuts are easily frozen. Here are a few ideas:
- flax seeds
- chia seeds
- pumpkin seeds
- brazil nuts
- pecans
- macadamia nuts
- almonds & cashews
- olive oil
- avocado oil
- coconut oil
- almond butters and any nut butters
Canned foods:
- chickpeas
- lentils
- kidney beans
- lima beans
- sardines
- sockeye salmon
- corn
- peas
- tomatoes (chopped, whole, pureed)
- beef jerky
Consider Bone Broth as a staple for your pantry to make soups and broths.
Personal Items To Consider Stocking Up On
- Shampoo & Conditioner
- OTC Medications
- Soaps & Body Wash
- Toothpaste
- Floss
- Pads / Tampons / Menstrual products
- Sunscreen
- Body Lotion
- Arnica
- Q-tips
- Razors
- Benadryl
- Bandaids
- Gauze & Bandages
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Burn Creams
- Essential Oils
- Polysporin
- Hairbands & hairclips (ladies will understand this one)
Consider asking your doctor for extended prescriptions to stockpile your medications at home.
Home Items To Stock Up On
- Laundry detergent or liquid
- Dishwasher pods/detergent
- Disinfecting Wipes
- Handsoap
- Vinegar for cleaning
- Essential oils
- Paper towels and toilet paper
Baby Supplies
- Diapers
- Breastmilk bags (if breastfeeding)
- Formula (if formula feeding)
- Bum Salve
- Baby Wipes
What You Can Do On The Daily
First, and I feel like Captain Obvious in stating this — it is better to not get COVID-19 than to get it. It buys time, and with time, more answers will emerge.
Hand washing, disinfecting anything and anyone that comes into your house.
Any Amazon packages we receive are being opened OUTSIDE and wiped down completely with disinfecting wipes before entering our home.
Meditate. It is important you keep your panic to a minimum. Mediation and breathwork have been shown to help keep you calm, and increase parasympathetic function. This is not a time to panic. Emily Fletcher discusses meditation in detail on this podcast episode of Better.
Vagus Nerve breathing. This is a special type of breathing that helps you relax — Inhale for 2 counts (1x1000, 2x1000) and exhale for 4. Then, inhale for 3 counts, exhale for 6. Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 8. That entire sequence can be repeated in the morning and in the evening.
Boundaries on COVID-19 information. Create a safe bubble where you can go to trusted sources for your information, and at planned times. Not all day.
Work on your health from home. Start yoga, start lifting weights, start eating better, start sleeping.
The weights can be the canned beans from your newly stocked pantry, or your full and heavy laundry detergent.
Something.
Anything.
Just start.
I am posting home exercise videos on my Instagram — follow me and try them out.
Commit to sleeping for 8 hours every night this week.
See how you can incorporate more green vegetables onto your plate.
Continue to practice time-restricted feeding. I am not recommending longer fasting (>24hours) at this time.
Supplements To Consider
I am encouraging everyone who has purchased supplements from my online stores (or where ever you buy your supplements) to ensure you have at least a 30-day supply should the postal service is no longer be able to deliver.
Immune supplementation does not have to be complicated or laborious. Just a few essentials to help encourage a healthy immune system.
Liposomal Vitamin C: minimum 1g / day
Omega 3: 2g/day
N-Acetyl Cysteine: 900mg daily
I want to be very clear there is no supplement that has been found to prevent or treat coronavirus specifically. This is for general recommendations only and does not replace the recommendations of your primary health provider.
Where To Stay Up To Date
I’ll be providing update on my Instagram, Facebook, and be sure to check out special podcast episodes we are releasing on Better on what we can be doing, experts discussions, and how to best serve you during this time.
I am releasing a podcast episode eminently on how to homeschool our children during this quarantine & social distancing.
Subscribe to the pod to get it first.
I will continue talking about exercise, weight loss, food, and hormones because it the key to healing yourself — coronavirus or not. For now and for always.
For updates from government officials, follow the CDC and WHO, and this tracker from John Hopkins University
I believe this is a wake-up call for us to take back our power, and be a beacon of health not only for ourselves, but as an example for our children, and our communities.
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” — Krishnamurti
I am wishing you love, and health. We are in this together.
Warmly,
Dr. Stephanie
