With the summer fast approaching, leading Merseyside developer Barratt Homes has partnered with a local personal trainer in light of Nutrition and Hydration Week (14th – 20th June).
With the nation going lockdown for the first time in spring 2020, Sport England saw an increase in walking, cycling, and running, as well as working out at home to remain active. When compared with spring 2021 and the re-opening of sports facilities, retail, and hospitality, there has been a noticeable decline in the number of people working out from home.[1]
Michaela Lancaster, Sales Director at Barratt Homes Manchester, said: “Many of us are still working home, so it’s important we form good habits before returning to the workplace. As the UK’s leading housebuilder, we want to encourage the community to stay healthy and hydrated as the warmer weather approaches.”
With this in mind, Barratt Homes has teamed up with local coach to put together some tips for those looking to keep active while working from home. Gethin Ellis, who spends his time ensuring that people across Merseyside are living a healthy lifestyle, and his tips are as follows:
Transform your space
Sports facilities may have re-opened in the spring, but one location that will always be available to workout in is your home. Couples looking for their ideal home could consider a three bedroom home as opposed to something smaller, or even a three storey townhouse.
Barratt’s townhouses at Pinewood Park in Formby come with a number of rooms that can be transformed to suit the owner’s needs. While the floorplan may label a room as a lounge or bedroom, they have the opportunity to be adapted into a yoga room or home gym so that people can stay active without even leaving the house.
Michaela added: “Buyers can design their own perfect three storey townhouse when visiting www.barratthomes.co.uk/create-your-perfect-house and use Barratt’s unique, interactive doll’s house to imagine what their workout space might look like.”
Stay hydrated
Whether you’re working out from home, or just working, you might not drink as much as when you’re gathering around the office water cooler to chat to your colleagues, and unbeknownst to you, you’re starting to get dehydrated.
Gethin, a nutrition expert, said: “It’s important to stay hydrated throughout the year, but in the warmer weather especially, for the body to maintain its proper temperature and to replenish lost fluids through heat or humid conditions.”
When it’s time to take a break for lunch, go the extra mile and take a stroll around your local area. But don’t forget to take a water bottle with you. Gethin added: “A handy tip I use with clients who struggle to drink enough water, is to write times down the side of a bottle with a marker and to try and hit them throughout the day.”
Stay healthy
Working from home has changed people’s eating habits massively, with comfort eating becoming the norm during lockdown. However, now might be the time to get closely acquainted with the kitchen in your new home.
Gethin said: “Good nutrition comes with a feel-good factor that makes you you feel energetic and full. The best way to start is by evaluating your nutrition as a whole and see where you can improve, but make sure any changes are sustainable because everyone’s diet is different.
“Not everyone will have time to cook dinner every night or make lunch, so if you order food, remember: there’s no such thing as cheat meals. It’s ordering a take away – there’s no need to be greedy and overdo it.”
Set a goal
Staying healthy and hydrated can be hard work, and it might seem that setting a savings goal for a new home is easier than setting a lifestyle goal. But while a savings goal comes with the reward of a brand new home, a lifestyle goal comes with health benefits, and can make you feel better physically and mentally.
Gethin added: “Have a goal and a time frame, but also enjoy life! Don’t be super restrictive, because if you can’t see yourself still doing it in five years, it’s probably not the diet for you. Enjoy yourself and be sensible, don’t over complicate the process and just enjoy it.”
Nutrition and Hydration week began in 2012 and usually runs in March, but was rescheduled this year due to the pandemic. Put together by a team of experts, the week aims to educate people on the value of a healthy lifestyle.
For more information about Gethin Ellis and the services he offers, visit www.facebook.com/GethinEllisCoaching or www.instagram.com/GethinEllisCoaching.
Barratt Homes is currently building homes in Merseyside at Imagine Place in Speke, and Pinewood Park in Formby.
For more information about Barratt Homes, please call the sales team on 0333 355 8474 or visit www.barratthomes.co.uk.
[1] https://www.sportengland.org/know-your-audience/demographic-knowledge/coronavirus?section=research