How to feel like a functional human from the comfort of your home
Okay, I won’t claim to be experts at actual quarantine life but as a serious homebody who works from home a lot of the time I feel I do know how to refresh and recharge when you aren’t leaving the house.
- Home Workouts
- Vitamins and Smoothies
- Fancy Candles
- Healthy Snacks
- Clean and Organize
Home Workouts
Honestly I grew up RELIGIOUSLY watching home workout videos, namely- Paula Abdul “Get up and Dance” and “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” with Richard Simmons HAHA (I’ve aged myself here). Anyways, access to online workouts have reeeally evolved and I personally have a Peloton bike which I think is worth every penny when you think about the convenience factor, time saved, parking and transit costs to get there, and the cost of spin classes in general. The app has guided runs, strength workouts at a variety of levels with no equipment required, and yoga classes- and the app is only $13 a month if you don’t have the bike! I also am thinking about trying P.Volve and DanceBody for home streaming and have been following along @alessiasculpt for at home workouts
Vitamins
These are always a good idea, but especially now when we need to keep our immune systems up. Here is my own personal breakdown of vitamins that keep my system up and running (I too, am shocked at how long this list is when I write it all down)
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- A good, female specific probiotic (to prevent UTIs, which I am super prone to)
- Cranberry (to also help prevent UTIs)
- Garlic (okay I had an uber driver once who used to be a doctor in Egypt and he MADE me promise to buy these, and I swear, I get sick significantly less after bringing them into my rotation)
- Vitamin E (I also poke holes in the liquid capsules and put it directly on any scratches I have or blemishes that are healing)
- Ginger
- B12
*I also swear by Evening Primrose Oil if I am having hormonal acne (which is around my chin/mouth) and it really seems to help, but it does give me stomach cramps so I have to use moderately.
Fancy Soy Candles
Okay I never really got the expensive/soy/organic candle craze into I looked into a little bit more and learned how bad cheap candles are. I tried to find more science into it and apparently there is nothing overly conclusive, however, it does burn cleaner, longer and also soybean is a renewable resource as opposed to paraffin (which is what cheaper candles are made from) which is petroleum based. I didn’t realise how bad the toxins/chemicals were in cheaper candles so definitely look into that if you love to burn them when you’re home like I do… so treat yourself on some aesthetic, soy, essential oil based candles and enjoy the zen it brings. Lately, my favourite ones are this set from Brooklinen (all smell amazing and are sustainably made)
Healthy snacks
I say this as a plow through a family sized pack of mini eggs BUT I do try to force myself to only have healthy snacks on hand. My go to’s, if I AM going to be snacking are:
- Carrots/crackers/hummus (specifically whole, real carrots, not baby carrots which are always alarmingly slimy to me)
- Veggie straws
- Yogurt, granola and berries – honestly so many ways to make this exciting. Sometimes I put warm peanut butter and chocolate chips in there. Sometimes I add cinnamon. Sometimes I put pomegranate, or raisins. Or I make it a smoothie/parfait. The FUN never ends!
- Popcorn kernels- can be pretty healthy when you make the popcorn yourself. I love to add truffle oil and a bit of thyme for a tasty snack.
- Frozen banana with chocolate drizzle (ok I basically out chocolate on every snack) Basically just cut the banana up, place on baking tray after drizzling or dipping half of each piece in chocolate chip/coconut oil blend and freeze for a few hours. YUM
Clean and Organize
Okay we all know there is nothing as satisfying as getting something organized, or re organized. I love to marie kon my life as much as anyone but sometimes I just like to hyper focus on one area to not get overwhelmed. My fave things to reorganize that aren’t completely overwhelming:
- Bathroom/toiletries
- Underwear/drawers
- My desktop/dropbox
- My iphone (deleting apps/photos)
- My pantry/fridge
For inspo, I love just searching on Pinterest “closet organization” or “pantry organization” and you will immediately want to hit up a container store. I also follow a few good organization Instagram accounts- @TidyMoose (for a local Toronto organizer) @thehomeedit and @abowlfulloflemons