Love Yourself In Lockdown

I don't know about anybody else, but I've spent a good portion of lockdown looking and feeling pretty lacklustre! (Okay, I think I do know, and I'm sure I'm not alone on that!). Whilst it's the easiest thing in the world to let the days roll by and barely shift out of your pyjamas, it can actually make you feel pretty rubbish, can't it? On the days where I'm spending day after day chucking on the same baggy t-shirt, I definitely don't feel my best! It took me a little while, but after I realised that even though I may not be out and about and seeing different people, I still deserve to love myself for me! (And maybe make a little bit of effort for my boyfriend too, oops).

I thought I would spread the love and share some of my best 'love yourself' self-care tips that you can do during lockdown too, (and we should definitely be continuing these going forward!).

HYDRATE

This was actually the first thing that I let slip when we went into lockdown and the first thing that I picked up again when I realised my body was seriously lacking some h20. By drinking water frequently, I was beginning to incorporate some of the routines I had before back into my life. I also noticed my concentration levels had sky-rocketed and I was beginning to get the motivation back to make further positive changes as my head started to clear up. We all know water has endless benefits to our health, so go and grab yourself a nice big glass right now!

EXERCISE

I'm so sorry that doesn't say 'lie on the sofa all day', but it's true, exercising is one of the most amazing ways to love yourself! I've been doing the Tone & Sculpt new 'Sculpt It' guide since the gyms closed down and I couldn't be happier. The guide is circuit based and only takes up thirty minutes of your day, yet it leaves you feeling strong, fabulous and motivated! I checked my diary and found no excuses to not fit one of these workouts into my day, and my mind and body are thanking me so much for it. If you have gym equipment at home, then go ahead and keep smashing your gym workouts! If you don't the app has endless incredible workouts that you can do with or without equipment! Take the time for yourself, you deserve it!

NUTRITION

It would be cruel to suggest that you don't indulge in some treats every now and again, well, I'd be a fraud considering the stash I have in my cupboard at the moment! But I feel so much better in myself for eating my wholesome and nutritious foods. I'm sure we all agree that one too many trips to the snack cupboard can leave you feeling lethargic, so I try to have balanced meals for my breakfast, lunch and dinner. My favourite meal of the day is breakfast, and I kickstart the day with my favourite Tone & Sculpt meal, scrambled eggs on toast with a side of strawberries! (I definitely dip into my bag of Maltesers every now and again, because that's self-love too!), but Tone & Sculpt have added countless new dessert recipes to the app, so there's no reason why we can't enjoy a bit of everything! I'm looking at you, three-ingredient brownies!

READING

I hope I'm not alone in this, but my screen time shot up dramatically once we entered lockdown! It's just frightening to think I could spend an entire day staring at my phone, so I decided to pick up a book! Reading deserves a lot more hype, it's an opportunity to escape our own lives and enter somebody else's, or it's an opportunity to learn something new or expand our knowledge on an existing interest. There are so many great places online to find book reviews, you can even join one of the many book clubs on Instagram! Put that phone away and get stuck into that book you've had that you promised you'd read a year ago! (Definitely not talking about myself).

ME TIME

I thought I would round up my 'love yourself in lockdown' tips with a bit of 'me time'. Something we all never seem to have enough time for, so now is the perfect opportunity to do that face mask, perfect that skincare routine and invest in that cute fluffy dressing gown. I recently invested in a whole host of new serums, lotions and potions to try out whilst I had all of this new free time and I've found it a very therapeutic part of the day to simply take care of my skin, take care of my hair and moisturise my legs because sadly, some things get neglected when we're rushing from one thing to the next! Like I said at the start, it's too easy to forget about ourselves at the moment, but it can transform your mind and soul just by taking some time for yourself and treating yourself with the love you deserve!

It's so easy to neglect ourselves when it comes to spreading the love, and I've found that by taking the time for myself and practising the five tips above has helped me feel revitalised and more positive during lockdown, and I'll certainly be continuing them after! So wake up in the morning, have a big delicious breakfast, put some fresh pyjamas on and give yourself the love you deserve!