We see the word wellbeing being bandied about during lockdown but what does it mean and what can we do to protect ours? The Oxford English dictionary defines wellbeing as ‘the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy.’. What’s important to appreciate is that wellbeing is not just about physical health, but emotional, mental and social as well. In today’s article, we will discuss how to best manage and support your wellbeing.

Physical wellbeing

Physical wellbeing also includes many facets, being physically well and free from disease but also including exercise.

During the coronavirus pandemic, we have spoken a lot about supporting your immune health through nutrition and supplements. For more information on this please click on these following 2 articles:

How to increase your intake of nutrients that support the immune system?

Healthy Lifestyle Techniques to Reduce Immune Risk

As a summary of these two articles, we discuss the benefits of nutrition to immune health. Within this, we find that there are certain nutrients that are more powerful than others in supporting our immune system’s strength. These include:

● Copper (Seafood, tofu, spinach, legumes and beans)
● Vitamin B9/ Folate (Green leafy vegetables, legumes, beans, yeast extract)
● Selenium (Brazil nuts, shellfish, meat, brown rice)
● Vitamin A (Sweet potatoes, dairy, red peppers, carrots, fish and seafood)
● Vitamin B12 (Seafood, fish, beef, fortified tofu and eggs)
● Vitamin C ( All fruits and vegetables)
● Vitamin D (Oily fish, mushrooms, fortified products and eggs)
● Zinc (Seafood, tofu, beef, legumes and beans)

Despite some food still being unavailable on our supermarket shelves you can still eat a well balanced and healthy diet to support your body and your immune system. Remember to include your 5+ a day fruits and vegetables as well as rich sources of protein and healthy fats at all meals. In addition so this you may like to try our immune health supplements which can be found on our website: ​LINK

Also, lockdown is a really great time to take up exercise. The benefits of physical numerous, including:

● Improved insulin sensitivity
● Better management of fuels in the body (carbohydrates and fats) Improved muscle tone
● Reduced risk of chronic disease
● Improved strength
● Can support weight loss when used in conjunction with a healthy diet
●Improved bone density.

Now is a really great time to take up exercise as we are moving less and have become more sedentary whilst off work. Here are some ways you can incorporate exercise into your day:

●  Access free youtube exercises classes online
●  Create a schedule for yourself and the family to get up and get moving.
●  Sign up to a gym that is holding online video classes
●  Exercise in your garden or local park
●  Run to the shops rather than driving
●  Incorporate a daily walk into your routine
●  Remember that exercise doesn’t have to just be sport, it can also include activitiesmaround the house and garden such as painting, decluttering and gardening.
●  Set yourself specific exercise goals that feel manageable and sustainable even after lockdown has lifted.
●  Incorporate small movements in your day, i.e exercising in the ad breaks of TV programmes, or doing squats while brushing your teeth.

Emotional & Mental Wellbeing

Never before in our lifetime have we seen such a shake-up of our routine combined with a restriction of our freedom. It’s understandable why some people may feel blue during this lockdown. Not to mention the overwhelming feeling of anxiety and worry around the global pandemic. As we know poor mental wellbeing can have an effect on all facets of life including sleep, mood, eating patterns, and activity. Therefore, it’s important to have the best management of mental and emotional wellbeing that you are capable of.

Here are some ideas of how to best take care of your emotional and mental wellbeing

●  Try to keep some form of routine in your day, meal times, bedtimes, wake times and planned activities.

●  Incorporate activities that make you happy, for example, baking, exercise, calling family members.

●  Write down all the things that you can control and all those that you cannot control. From those that you can’t control you may want to think about controlling your reaction to these. For example, not being able to control what the news reports. A more productive way of managing this is to have a trusted friend or family to update you of any changes you need to adhere to, but try to minimise watching and reading the news where possible.

●  Try to journal things that you are grateful for each day.

●  Try to minimise comfort eating by allowing yourself enough of your chosen foods to feel satisfied. However, if you are never reaching this bliss point you may want to move on from the food and find another source of emotional comfort.

●  Look for emotional comfort in activities- calling a friend or family member, watching your favourite film or having a pamper evening.

●  Keep in contact with your friends, family and work colleagues.

●  Seek support if you need it, you are not alone. You may want to try reaching out to support networks like Mind, Rethink or the Samaritans.

For more information on coronavirus please keep yourself well informed on the GOV.UK website:​https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

For further information or blogs that we have posted regarding COVID-19 please see the following links:

●  Social distancing and PPE - https://www.vytaliving.com/blogs/news/social-distancing-what-does-it-mean-for-you
●  Nutrition for Immune Health - https://www.vytaliving.com/blogs/news/how-to-increase-your-intake-of-nutrients-that-sup port-the-immune-system
●  Lifestyle factors and Nutrition for Immune Health https://www.vytaliving.com/blogs/news/immune-health

From everyone at Vytaliving, Keep safe and stay healthy!