What To Eat During A Coronavirus Crisis — If You Can… | Living Healthy

Unless you are living under a rock somewhere cut off from the world (which I think we all wish we were right now!) you would know that we are somewhat at the beginning of a worldwide coronavirus crisis.

There is not really any other way to describe it. It IS a crisis and things seem to be going downhill pretty fast in some countries and its getting tough out there for some, but we really need to try and stay calm, look after each other and ourselves as best we can.

With regard to eating, many of you will know there are panic buyers and also some plain A-Holes out there trying to stockpile food for their own reasons and getting some of your usual foods is just not going to happen, so what are you supposed to do in this situation?

If you have been doing Keto, or have just been on a low-carb diet for sometime, you are probably realizing that you are going to have to buy things like bread, crackers, biscuits, pasta or other higher carb foods, which are not Keto-friendly foods, simply because you just don’t have the choice anymore and you need to take what you can get or you can’t eat or feed your family.

Be Positive

Unfortunately, we cannot really change this situation, so we just have to roll with it to try and turn things into a positive situation, as best you can.

Although our worlds seem to be turning upside-down at this point and we are really unsure of how to deal with it, we just need to stay calm, take one day at a time and focus on some short-term goals.

If you are fortunate enough to still be working, then you need to keep focused on that and supporting yourself and your own family and possibly your community, if you can, however, I wanted to focus on some things you could do in regard to your diet and health during this period.

What Can You DO?

Many people, whether sick or not, will be spending more time at home for long periods of time but you really need to think about what you can achieve with this time, rather than what you can’t.

If you have previously set yourself some weight loss goals, then you really need to stay focused on them, even if that means you have to break your Keto diet and eat noodles and pasta. You can still lose weight eating carbs, you just need to make changes in other areas.

A good way to offset eating a high amount of carbs is by intermittent or extended fasting and there are many ways that this can be done, depending on your situation.

Many people are probably going to be forced into a situation where you simply have no food and I really feel for you and hope that you can get some help, especially if you have children, but for those of you that are healthy enough to do so, fasting can be beneficial to your physical and mental health.

Fasting could possibly give you back some sense of control in a time when things seem to be so OUT of control. If you have set yourself some reasonable fasting goals, then you will not be as dependent on making sure that you have food on the table, you can just make sure that you have some clean water to drink and something to do to pass the time, if you are in self-isolation.

This could be a great time to gain some mental focus and clarity in a time of uncertainty. Many people do not realize how much we base our daily routine around meals and when you take that away, you realize you have plenty of time to focus on things you want to do, uninterrupted by preparing and eating our meals or snacks. It can be quite a productive time, given the chance.

I won’t go too much into how to fast, as I have written quite a lot about it in other posts, but one of the other good aspects of fasting during this crisis, is that your food stocks will last much longer and it will cost you less money in the long run, which can be more sustainable for you.

So What If Fasting Is Not For You?

If fasting seems like something that is bit too extreme for you then it could be an option to look at tracking your calorie intake and just focus on trying to maintain adequate vitamins and minerals from fruit and veg, so that you don’t feel depleted or lacking in energy.

Spend your self-isolation period on educating yourself about nutrition and health and try and better yourself in other areas of your life. This will help with some perspective on your own health and give you some guidance on how best to manage your diet in the long-term.

It doesn’t matter where you are in the world today, I believe that we are all going to be affected by this crisis for a number of months, so we just need to try and do as best as we can with a bit of knowledge and control.

Tough Times Pass

As much as I really would like to use this post to rant on about the people out there that are literally using this crisis as a time to profit from the less fortunate, I would much prefer to focus on the good that we can do for the people around us.

The fact alone that you are reading this post, is probably a good enough example of how much better you are in your situation, than some others, so be grateful for that.

All I can say is, try to look out for your friends, family and the most vulnerable in your community and help out where you can. This is the time that we need to work together to get through this. We are all in the same boat and we are all responsible for keeping it afloat.

Maintain your integrity and your morals, but at the same time, do not let yourself drown. Be positive. Be Safe. And stay true to yourself.

Originally published at https://thelivinghealthyblog.com on March 20, 2020.