10 Unexpected Good Things that have come out of a stay-at-home order

Yes, I know a stay-at-home order has caused a lot of disruptions to our daily life. I don’t love it, but can’t deny that there are good things that have come out of it. Just like most things in life, a partial lockdown or circuit breaker as it is known in Singapore has its sets of goods and bads.

Instead of focusing on the obvious negatives, I want to dedicate this post to share about 10 great things that have arisen from this stay-at-home exercise. Here we go!

> MUST-READ: Singapore is now in partial lockdown! What happened to the successful measures? 

 

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10 Good Things arising from a Stay-at-Home Order

1. Healthier Nails

For the first time in many decades, I didn’t feel the need to have my nails looking polished and presentable. Whether it’s my feet or hands, I’ve allowed my nails to look bare for 3 weeks in a row (because no one’s looking).

To be honest, I thought my bare nails look really ugly right now. Maybe, I need time to get used to this au naturel look. Or perhaps, it’s because my nails are in a bad condition – yellow and peeling – after being subjected to years of “abuse”. 

But, after 3 weeks of a well-deserved ‘rest’, my nails (the new-grown portion) are looking healthier and stronger. The yellowish tint is gone too! Since it will typically take 3 months for a nail to be completely replaced, I think by the time the 2-month stay-at-home order ends, my nails will come out of this exercise in a pristine condition.

Maybe they won’t look ugly anymore even when they are bare. :)

2. Shorter prep time to get out of home

One of the great things about Singapore’s stay-at-home is that we can still go out for essential activities. As such, I’ve been going out daily to exercise, get food or buy grocery. 

In the past, I would put on BB cream and some light makeup for neighbourhood activities. With the mandatory wearing of mask imposed on 14 April 2020, I no longer feel the need to wear any makeup since the face is three-quarter masked up.

> RELATED: Cezanne Gel Eyeliner is ultra-natural and neighbourhood-friendly

Just a layer of sunscreen and I’m good to go. That cuts down the preparation time from 30 to 5 minutes. Faster than a man, perhaps. ;)

3. Spend Less Money

To be socially responsible, I’ve made a deliberate effort to avoid taking public transport. Instead, I would walk everywhere that’s within a 1-hour return trip. This has helped me cut down transport expenses. 

On top of that, expenses relating to dine-out meals and shopping have also come down tremendously (or completely). This, while great for my pocket, is not good for the economy. But, this is a temporary pain as Singapore has made the decision to sacrifice the economy to preserve life. Economy can be revived, but life once gone is irreversible. 

4. Home Looking Pristine

With most of our time being spent at home, we have to find activities to kill our boredom. One very popular thing to do is to declutter the home, which I did in the first two weekends. It’s always a great feeling to be able to discard unused stuff that are taking unnecessary space in the home. 

Other than decluttering, I find myself cleaning up the home more regularly and thoroughly. For instance, I hardly vacuum the home, but have been doing so weekly since the stay-at-home order.

Therefore, I think my house is in a very pristine state at the moment. Know what? It will get even better in the next few weeks. By the time the circuit breaker ends on 1 June 2020, I would have the cleanest home I’ve ever had in my life. LOL! :)

5. Eat better 

Staying at home means cutting down on dine-out meals, which tend to be unhealthy stuff. They are either too oily, salty, fatty or all of them combined, because such are the attributes that make a food tasty and keep the customers coming back for more. 

The great thing about a partial lockdown is how it makes me consume home-cooked meals more, in which I can control the stuff that goes into the dish.

Less salt, sugar, oil, fats and carbo.

More protein, fibre and vitamins.

6. Doing Strenuous Exercise more often

Even before the stay-at-home order, I’ve been exercising regularly. However, the workout is normally split equally between strenuous and non-strenuous (strength) exercises. 

With new rules that only allow those doing strenuous exercise to skip the masks, I’ve found myself gravitating towards strenuous exercise. Jogging almost on a daily basis is definitely great for the health of my heart and bad for the cellulite on my thigh. 

> RELATED: Here’s my live fitness record

7. I got a healthy tan

I’ve mentioned in a few covid19-related posts that we will get through this period by adapting and adjusting our lives. One of the changes I’ve made to my daily routine include changing my jogging/hiking hours. 

As a beauty fanatic, I’d always avoided the sun as it’s a leading cause to signs of aging. I used to exercise only after the sun has set. But the Circuit Breaker has made me shift my exercise hours. 

To avoid crowd and still exercise safely without wearing a mask, I choose to exercise at the hottest time of the day – the afternoon. I also switched from my normal jogging track to one that isn’t as popular but has multiple lanes to choose from. This allows me to zig zag across lanes whenever I see anyone in front of me.

TIP: Find a shady track if you want to jog in the afternoon to avoid the crowd.

With this adjustment, I would only see a handful of people – less than 10 – in my 30-minute jog. As a byproduct of this change, I’ve gained a light tan.

Not that I’m in love with a tanner body, but the healthy colour does help to blur out my numerous mosquito bites. Am I trying to console myself? Perhaps, I am. LOL!

> RELATED:  Most useful product of the month – OFF! Insect Repellent Spray

Well, I may age slightly faster because of this change, but it is definitely a better trade-off than getting infected or passing infections to people unknowingly. Right or not? 

8. Succeeded in showering in cold water

Because of the changes I’ve made in my jogging hours, and the fact that I’m stuck in a non-airconditioned environment for most part of the day, I’ve succeeded in bathing in cold water. This is a major achievement for me – someone who’s afraid of cold. 

For the record, I hadn’t showered in cold water for decades. These days, I can do so even at night. 

What’s so great about bathing in cold water? Well, it has a whole slew of benefits including boosting the immune system and being less drying to the skin as compared to a hot shower. 

9. Sleep better

One unexpected positive outcome of jogging under the sun was how it tuned my bio clock back to healthy sleeping hours.

I’d earlier talked about how my obsession in blogging caused me to mess up my sleeping hours. Today, my sleeping hours have never been better. I’m knocked out by 1am and wake up naturally around 7.30am. On most days, I get a healthy 6-hour sleep. 

What the sun did was to regulate my cicadian rhythm, letting my body know when it’s time to be energetic and when to slow down. Therefore, the stay-at-home measures have indirectly contributed to better sleeping quality, when it made me get out in the sun more.

10. Better immunity 

Sleeping better, eating healthily and exercising regularly – the indirect result of a lockdown – have definitely boosted my immunity.

Not only that, I’ve also started eating vitamin-C rich fruits every day without fail, all thanks to the fear of covid-19. This is definitely a good habit to maintain even after the virus has been eradicated. 

 

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So far, these are the good things that have come out of a stay-at-home order. Can you think of other great things that you’ve derived from this once-in-a-lifetime lockdown exercise? Share with me in the comment box below. 

Till we chat again, take care and stay happy and healthy! If you like to get notified of my new posts, just click the button below to subscribe.

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(This post was first published on 28 April 2020)

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