What happened to our health plans during lockdown?

Boredom, stress, anxiety and tiredness - the main factors that saw our health plans derailed during lockdown, according to a new YouGov survey.

Source: Go figure: A healthy eating approach helps people be healthy - Harvard Health Blog

The British Nutrition Foundation commissioned the survey to get a country-wide snapshot of what affected our habits during lockdown, and not surprisingly these were the main reasons for not sticking to our healthy eating and exercise goals. 

While many of us did improve our diets, around a quarter struggled to eat healthily, and exercise took a back seat (or rather the sofa). Before we get too hard on ourselves, it looks like our motivation is returning as we re-emerge. A high percentage of people surveyed said they do want to improve their diet and fitness regimes going forward.

Here’s how the stats stacked up:

Eating habits

• 27 per cent have been eating less healthily

• 7 per cent are having more takeaways

• 55 per cent are eating around the same 

• 22 per cent have been eating more healthily

• 17 per cent of people said they’d been cooking more

• 19 per cent were have been using store cupboard ingredients better

• 23 per cent have been trying new recipes. 

Make a change for the better: find healthier recipes at deliciousmagazine.co.uk and healthy weekly diet plans at bbcgoodfood.co.uk.

Did you know By cutting just 3,500 calories a week you can lose 1lb. 

The survey showed activity levels  have plummeted by just under a third: 

• 32 per cent say they’ve been sitting down a lot more 

• 29 per cent say they’re less active than usual. 

• 25 per cent of respondents have started going for regular walk 

• 1 in 10 have taken up cycling and running.

Make a change Walking is a great fat burning activity if done at a brisk pace. An easy way to check if you’re achieving the right level is to use the Active 10 walking tracker app, which is free to download from nhs.co.uk. Or download the Couch to 5k if you want to start running.

Did you know A brisk walk can lower your risk of serious illnesses such as heart disease, depression, anxiety and type 2 diabetes as well as some cancers.

Resetting your goals

The BNF’s Science Director Sara Stanner says coronavirus has made it challenging to stay healthy, but that there were encouraging signs that we do plan to get healthy. Of those surveyed 43 per cent want to lose weight, 29 per cent want to eat more healthily and 47 per cent want to get more active.

Need motivation?

As part of its Healthy Eating Week @ Home week at the end of June, the BNF rolled out health challenges daily. Roy Ballam, managing director and head of education at BNF, says: ‘Each challenge builds on a different area of health, fitness and wellbeing. There are also cook-a-longs with ideas for putting together new healthy meals and snacks.’ 

Find free resources on the BNF website, nutrition.org.uk