If there’s one thing that most of us have in common these days, it’s spending more time at home. Your home environment plays a huge role in your overall health–from your nutrition to your sleep to your stress levels and your exercise. 

Today, we continue our series on avoiding the Quarantine 15 with three tips for setting up your home environment for success.

Stock Up with Healthy Staples

More time at home means more meals and more snacks at home. As such, one of the best ways to set your home environment up for success is to fill your fridge with healthy foods. Here’s what to grab on your next trip to the store:

• Fruits
• Veggies
• Whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, whole grain bread, etc.)
• Lean proteins (chicken breast, tofu, lean beef, low-fat dairy, beans, high-quality protein powder, etc.)
• Healthy fats (nuts, seeds, olives, olive oil, etc.)

What if a box of cookies just falls into your cart? No biggie! However, most of the foods in your home should fall within the categories above. 

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Are you finding the snacks more tempting now that you’re working from home? Set up your workspace away from the kitchen! 

Observational studies suggest that proximity to snack foods is a key predictor of snacking behavior. 

In one study of 246 adults, about 70% of volunteers sitting 8 inches from a bowl of M&Ms snacked on the candies, compared to just 58% of volunteers who sat 2 1/3 feet from the bowl. These findings were similar to those in a study conducted at Google, which found that employees who used beverage stations closer to snack stations were more likely to snack (1, 2). 

But what if the kitchen is your best place to work? Store healthier foods, like fruits and vegetables in your line of sight. Stash highly palatable snack foods out of view (like chips and candy) in your cabinets. Studies suggest that this strategy can lower cravings for snack foods. 

Set Up a Time Out Corner

Raise your hand if you’ve hidden in the bathroom for peace and quiet in the past month (it can’t be just me). 

Whether you live alone or with others, it’s important to have a place you can put yourself in timeout. This space should be quiet, calm, away from high-traffic areas in your home, and (ideally) free from too much clutter. 

What does this have to do with the Quarantine 15? A dedicated space to decompress can help you to fend off stress eating. 

But what do you do in time out?  Whatever calms you down! Do some deep breathing, do a body scan, read a smutty escapist novel, knit…whatever works. It’s your corner!

Need More Guidance on Setting Up Your Home Environment for Success? 

We gotcha! Click here to book a free 15-minute nutrition consult. 

And stay tuned for our next tip for avoiding the Quarantine 15…limiting alcohol intake.