Many aspects of our daily routines have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic—whether it’s staying closer to home or spending more time online for school, work and play. As many of us set New Year’s resolutions to prioritize our health, it’s important to stay flexible and find creative ways to stay active and eat well.
There are so many ways to stay active—whether it’s planning a hike, enjoying a walk in the community or doing chair yoga—and physical activity is shown to help boost energy levels, improve your sleep and reduce stress. I especially enjoy getting outside during the winter months, with hockey at the top of my list. Healthy eating is also an important part of healthy living, and Canada’s Food Guide (external link) is a great resource to help you start incorporating healthy food choices into your everyday life.
Here are a few other simple things you can choose to do every day:
- Take short active breaks throughout the day. If you work at a desk, get up and stretch on a regular basis.
- Make water your drink of choice.
- Schedule time for physical activity, such as online or physically distanced fitness classes or skating at local arenas or outdoors.
- Eat vegetables, fruit and whole grains daily and limit highly processed foods.
I encourage you to access some of the Region’s health and social service programs to help support a healthy lifestyle. Whether you are looking for support to stop smoking, need help finding a family doctor or want to read more about how to build healthy habits into your daily routine, you can find online resources to support your goals by visiting halton.ca or follow @RegionofHalton (external link) on social media.
By ensuring our community has access to information and resources on health and well-being, we can keep Halton a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Please check back in January to learn about our supports for mental health—you can also visit our Mental Health page on halton.ca.