Staying Mentally and Physically Fit During Social Isolation

Well, March has been a real shit show. We thought January was a terrible month then March said, “Hold my Coronavirus.” The entire planet is supposed to be practicing social isolation so we don’t infect each other but most of our parents rotate between pulling their cash out of the bank like it’s 1945 and thinking this is all some hoax from the democrats.

The whole thing is kind of an introvert’s dream, but also I don’t like being told what to do. Either way, we seem to all be stuck being homebodies for the next few weeks.

I’m worried about our collective mental health. And just dying in general, but also our mental health. I think during times of worry and uncertainty having a goal goes a long way in keeping us physically and mentally healthy. It’s not good to sit on the couch and worry all day. But, it’s kind of hard not to worry.

Instead of letting our bodies slowly inflate as our physical activity drops off a cliff, here are some ways I’m staying in shape—both mentally and physically. I hope you consider doing one or two of them yourself.

Intermittent Fasting

I’ve really upped my intermittent fasting game since this whole social isolation thing started. The basic idea with intermittent fasting is to limit your eating window to only eight hours per day. That means consuming no calories for sixteen hours.

Side Note: You can start by doing a 12/12 split if that feels more attainable.

I started doing a more extreme version of this by limiting my eating window to only four hours. I eat from 5 pm to 9 pm and fast from 9 pm to 5 pm the next day. For me, that means nothing but black coffee and water until around dinner time.

I’m someone who historically always felt weak and shaky if I didn’t eat soon enough. The reason for this is I would eat a little bit which would get my hunger juices flowing. With intermittent fasting, I don’t eat anything and I’m able to go all day without food with very little difficulty.

I’m no more hungry at 2 pm than I was at 9 am.

There are a ton of physical and mental benefits of intermittent fasting.
  • Without calories, your body burns fat for fuel, so it’s great for your waistline. Wouldn’t it be fun to actually LOSE fat during this social isolation time?
  • It’s easier on your wallet. I’m eating less overall which is making our food supply last longer. During this time of financial uncertainty for a lot of people, this is one healthy way you can drastically lower your grocery bill.
  • You don’t have to be as strict with your diet, just strict with your eating window. 
  • Intermittent Fasting gives your digestive system a break.
  • When you do eat, you really REALLY enjoy the food. All-day I look forward to eating my meal. I’m leaning into the craving instead of running away from it.
  • It’s great stoicism training. Intermittent fasting is mostly a mental game. Your body doesn’t get hungrier and hungrier as the day progresses. Instead, there’s a baseline level of hunger that’s pretty easy to ignore.
  • Intermittent fasting makes the day go by quicker. This one’s counter-intuitive. You’d think not eating all day would make the day drag on but it doesn’t. Almost every day I’m surprised to look at the clock and see it’s already early afternoon.
  • Intermittent fasting during social isolation gives your brain something to think about other than how worried you are. Trading off worry about Covid-19 with daydreams about food is actually pretty nice.
  • It gives you a goal to concentrate on during social isolation. 
  • I have more energy during the day when I practice intermittent fasting. This one’s counter-intuitive too. You’d think you’d have zero energy if you’re not eating but that’s not true. I don’t get that post-meal sluggish feeling that normally comes after breakfast and lunch. I’ve actually cut down my coffee consumption because I just don’t need the extra cup.

If you’re interested in trying this for yourself read this article explaining the basics of intermittent fasting.

Move Your Body

Being locked up all day can start to make your mind go crazy and your body to feel lethargic. It’s super important to move around. If you’re able to go for neighborhood walks, do it. If you’re somewhere more urban and that’s not an option take a few minutes every hour and do some quick exercises.

One trick I like to implement is to focus on 10-second exercise sessions.

You don’t have to change your outfit and get into a whole workout mindset, just get down and do a few push-ups. Do some stretches while you’re watching a show. If you have a pull-up bar do a few pull-ups on your way to the fridge or the bathroom. Even just hanging on a pull-up bar feels great and stretches out your back and shoulders.

I think people should do this anyway in regular life, but it’s especially important to do micro-workouts when you can’t get to the gym.

Do a few rounds of Wim Hof Breathing

I’ve talked a lot about the benefits of doing a few rounds of Wim Hof breathing. This is actually a Wim Hof blog that occasionally hits on financial topics. I do this breathing protocol just about every day. It’s a great mood enhancer and anxiety reducer.

If I could get people to actually do one of the things in this article it would be to practice Wim Hof breathing.

The basic gist is you take thirty deep breaths (should take about one minute to do thirty breaths), and breathe out all the way on your last one. Then, you hold for as long as you can without air in your lungs. Once you need to breathe you inhale and hold for another twenty seconds. That’s one round. Do 3-5 rounds and you’ll feel all Zen and fantastic.

At first, you might only be able to go thirty seconds before you need to inhale. After your lungs warm up your time will increase.

My record for breath-holding without air in my lungs is just over three minutes. Weeee.

Wim Hof breathing is a great precursor to meditation.

If you feel too fidgety to meditate, a few Wim Hof rounds will calm those fidgets right down. Meditating during this time would also be a great mental health exercise.

Here’s a video explaining how to do the breathing from the very charismatic Wim Hof himself.

Take a Cold Shower

The second arm of the one-two Wim Hof punch is cold exposure. I’ve talked about the benefits of cold exposure before, but man, cold showers are a life-battery rejuvenator. If you’re starting to feel depressed or melancholy about being locked up a cold shower is an amazing remedy.

You can just hop right in and take the cold on if you’re brave enough. But it’s okay to start with a warm shower if that makes it more likely you’ll try a few seconds of cold.

Take a warm shower and once you’re nice and comfortable turn the water to cold. Just stand there for as long as you can. You’ll start to notice your body quickly reaches its max amount of cold and it becomes a mental game to stay in the stream of water.

It’s not very fun while you’re doing it, but as soon as you turn the water off you’ll feel like shouting from the rooftops. Even 10-seconds of cold exposure will help your mood.

One disclaimer: If you’re currently feeling sick don’t do cold exposure. If you’re healthy, but just locked up, jump in.

One additional note: If you do the breathing before the cold shower you won’t feel the cold nearly as much. Breathe. Meditate. Shower. Amen.

Educate Yourself with Youtube Videos

Keeping your mind sharp is just as important or more as keeping your body sharp. I know I’m not alone in finding it hard to concentrate and be productive.

I find writing really cathartic but I know a lot of people feel unable to concentrate long enough to write. If that’s you, might I suggest watching YouTube?

Watching show after show on Netflix gets old fast and leaves me feeling depressed. If you’re like this, take some time to look up educational videos on Youtube.

The Kurzgesagt YouTube channel is full of really great, educational videos. They use cartoons and a smart-sounding narrator. I like it when people explain things to me like I’m five. These guys do that, but you feel smart listening to it because the guy has a British accent.

This one’s a breakdown of the Coronavirus.

Those are just some quick tips and tricks I’m using to help get through this time of social isolation. I think the big key is to have something to look forward to each day and think about that as much as possible. This is not a fun time in any of our lives, but by keeping up hope we can get through this.

What things are you guys doing to keep from becoming a depressed nutcase during this time of social isolation?

If you enjoyed this article please share. But, maybe share it remotely. Don’t print it out and then walk over to your neighbor’s house and hand it to them. 

Here are some articles I wrote back when we could just buy toilet paper.

How to Live Life One Old Kodak Slide at a Time

Choosing Family Over Finances Part IV- Montana Bound

PSA: Don’t Stop for Pedestrians in the Middle of the Goddamn Highway

Author: MrBurritoBowl

Mr. Burrito Bowl is a 34-year-old man from Whitefish, Montana who likes to draw stick figures and say things that sometimes relate to finances, but not always.

3 thoughts on “Staying Mentally and Physically Fit During Social Isolation”

  1. I have been WFH for about 2 weeks now. While I do have more time in my day now that I don’t have the commute, it has been swallowed up pretty quickly with things that I already was trying to fit in. I am mowing my lawn very consistently at the appropriate seasonal height, which is only making it healthier. I have been making all of my planned runs, I have even been doing impromptu yoga sessions (about 40min) just from what I can remember from classes. Plus, I have finally come around to picking up a few books that have been on my bookshelf forever. I have read 3 so far. I have also fit in 3 YouTube guided meditation sessions. Laundry and dishes have not been falling behind. That being said, there are still a plethora of tasks that I have yet to get around to, and they are now competing with the start of growing season. The bumble bees are calling my name! It might actually be hard to go back to an office after this.

  2. Well nifty. I haven’t done any fasting yet but my brother has and raves about it. I do know that when I hydrate better I dont become ugly hangry. I enjoyed the Covid19 video, fun graphics and very informative. Cheers!

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