COVID-19
Surviving the Coronavirus, While Living in New York City
If anyone’s “self-quarantining” out here in New York City, you know the struggle is real. But, it could always be worse, right? Looking at the bigger picture, social distancing is not the worst thing that can happen to you. I’m not a medical professional or even an expert on surviving pandemics and crises, but my best advice to you is to stay positive and be prepared. That being said, there’s such a need for moderation right now, as so many people are flocking to grocery stores to stock up on hand sanitizer and toilet paper. Too many shoppers, or the section of the population that I like to call “Doomsday Hoarders,” have left grocery store shelves completely empty. Have you tried looking for sanitizing wipes or cleaning products lately? You do need to be prepared to be confined to your house for a few months, but it’s probably not necessary to clean out grocery stores and leave nothing behind for other families in need. Here’s my survival guide for self-quarantined New York City dwellers on how to stay positive, prepared, and live a “normal” life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melatonin
A few days ago, I read this article about the advantages of sleep, specifically during the spread of coronavirus. It reminded me of when I used to have trouble sleeping, so I temporarily took melatonin, until I was able to fall back into a normal sleeping pattern. I still do take melatonin to help me fall asleep at night from time to time, more so to keep me on my normal sleeping pattern. After some more research, I found this study published on FierceBiotech about using melatonin as a weapon against the spread of the novel coronavirus. It totally makes sense to me! Don’t take this so literally, but rather, the idea behind this research is that more sleep is better for the body and its immune system. Although melatonin is neither the cure nor a vaccine for the novel Coronavirus, it’s safe to say that being well-rested generally helps most individuals fight and beat common colds. Most of the times that I catch a cold have been when I’m run down and not well-rested. It won’t hurt to take some melatonin at a time like this, when everyone is fighting the spread of a virus, so just try it. The button below will take you to my favorite melatonin gummies that I order from Amazon. And in case you were wondering— No, we’re never too old to take gummy vitamins.
Vitamins & Supplements
Because your diet won’t be “the usual” right now, it’s important to ensure that your body is still getting the vitamins and nutrients it needs through supplements. Vitamin intake strictly in pill form may not be ideal, but it gets the job done for the time being.
I’ve been taking Care/of for a little over a year now and I really like the convenience of the pill packs, similar to the image on the right. And it’s good to have these fun facts on each daily vitamin packages for some mental floss. Aside from the vitamins, the wellness company launched their powders and quick sticks several months ago. Think of the quick sticks as healthy pixy sticks. They are just small packets of vitamins in a tasty powder form. As for the powders, I’ve been adding the chia-flax seeds to my smoothies to make sure I get some fiber in my diet. I often add the electrolyte and maca powders to my water. These are just a few Care/of offerings; there’s such a wide variety of protein powders and collagen supplements now. If you’re unsure what vitamins are right for you, start off with a sampler kit or talk to your doctor. It’s pretty easy to see what your body may be lacking in, if your last blood work report shows deficiencies in anything like Vitamin D or B-12, which are actually very common.
The button below will prompt you to take a basic health questionnaire to recommend the best vitamins and powders for your needs. Btw… Check out the button below! See what I did there? 😁
Food & Water
I recommend stocking up on canned, frozen, and non-perishable food items. I’ve stocked up on some Progresso canned soups, as well as Barilla pasta and jarred tomato sauces. I’m a huge fan of frozen fruit for smoothies, even though they may not contain as many vitamins as fresh fruit.
Again, please do not prepare for the Apocalypse. Stock up enough food to last you up to three months and save some for the rest of us! That being said, there are lots of Amazon products and links copied below for easy shopping. And because there are so many items out of stock, I figured the more the merrier. So if one product is sold out, try a different substitute on the list.
There are also other places besides Amazon to order food from, like Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Hungry Root, or Eat Clean Bro. For the single ladies, I recommend selecting a meal program that allows you to choose how many meals to receive, so Eat Clean Bro and Gobble might be the best bet. Check out some of the buttons below to try something new.
Aside from the fact that you need food, it might be fun to try some new recipes now that you’e home and have the time.
At the request of Modere, Inc., I have removed the Pure Vanilla Meal Replacement Shake product from this post because it is non-compliant with their Social Marketer policy. Please read more here. A new post featuring those meal replacement shakes will be available in August 2020. Stay tuned!
Updated June 5, 2020 at 4:16 am et.
Stay Active
Whether you were active before being stuck indoors or not, it’s important to go for a walk at the least, in order to maintain a somewhat active lifestyle. StyleCaster’s “living room workout” is awesome for a quick warm up, or while you’re catching up on Netflix and want to get in some exercise. If you were once an avid gym-goer or fitness junkie, then check out the live Instagram workouts.
Most of my favorite NYC fitness studios are all streaming live workouts completely free and/or advertising a suggested donation to help their instructor’s keep afloat during these financially challenging times. And it’s very generous of these fitness instructors to donate their own time to keep us healthy and happy by offering complimentary virtual workouts, keeping in mind that others are struggling financially as well. Here are the Instagram handles and websites for my usuals.
Check out the “Home Gym Workout” playlist I found on Amazon music.
Schedules have generally been posted on Sunday nights, so followers can plan accordingly. I’ve found this extremely helpful because there are just workouts all day everyday that fit right into my busy schedule. Box + Flow typically goes live at the same time as my lunch break. Ellie Eagle aka “The Original Sweaty Rockstar” kicks my @ss right after dinner. Kayley Watson, a spin instructor that I met at Swerve, leads a great weekend morning workout via Zoom. There are so many free virtual workouts for everyone to stay active.
Stay Social
Keep in touch with your friends and family! But make sure your interactions are virtual, to keep you and everyone else safe. Social distancing is currently the only tool that we have to fight the spread of the novel Coronavirus. And while many still have suspicions that this is all just a media hoax, our collective health will be better off for it. I’ve been calling friends and family members biweekly. At work, I host weekly virtual lunches and afternoon coffee breaks to keep things somewhat normal “around the office.” I’m always up for making new connections, so schedule a digital coffee meetup with me below. Outside of work hours, I’ve been virtually meeting up with friends and colleagues for coffee in the mornings and hosting virtual happy hours in the evening. Check out Paperless Posts for digital invitations for your next virtual happy hour and get creative with these Quarantini recipes.
Be Supportive
Remember all of our favorite restaurants, coffee shops, and fitness studios we used to go to? Well, all of those workers in the food and entertainment industry are now unemployed. And they need the financial help of their communities. If you have something extra that you can donate, please help out. While it may not be feasible for any of us to donate every penny we have, supporting your local baristas, waiters, hair dressers, barbers, etc. will be greatly appreciated.
Bottomline
This “social distancing,” “self-quarantining,” or “shelter-in-place”… (Or whatever you want to call it) is extremely important to keep everyone safe. As I stated before, social distancing is currently the only tool that we have to fight the spread of the novel Coronavirus, so please just take it seriously. I know that it seems like food and water is getting scarce and grocery store shelves are going bare. Thankfully, Amazon has such a wide variety of food, drink, and groceries to choose from. I’ve included tons of direct links below for convenient shopping on Amazon, but some of these items may be sold out, so just seek other substitutes or check out some of the other items below, including variety snack packs and new beverages to try out. And remember to be patient because Amazon is a day or two behind, so orders might ship out a bit later than expected.