A Stay at Home Wellness Guide: Shopping from Home

You might not have realized at the time that being at home all the time has its downsides. Not having an intentional transition from work to home and vice versa can take a toll on your well-being and overall health.

One part of a healthy work-at-home life is eating right. That, in turn, means shopping for the right foods. We'll explain how some shop-from-home options might be even better for you than those you find at your local supermarket.

Focus on Whole, Fresh Fruits, and Vegetables

There are many versions of the food pyramid. Most feature fruits and, even more, vegetables prominently, at or near the base, along with starches. While starch provides energy, most of us tend to eat far too much of it.

While fruits and vegetables contain sugars, they also have fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients. These, along with starches, should comprise at least two-thirds of our daily diet. The remainder should be fats and protein.

Produce used to be hard to come by in the winter unless it had been preserved or frozen. Thanks to supply chain innovations, this is no longer the case. In fact, fruits and vegetables are abundant year-round. This is great for a healthy lifestyle!

Of course, fruits and vegetables generally are plentiful in supermarkets' produce sections. But if you're shopping from home for health reasons, there are other ways to rebuild your supply of these perishables.

Produce Supply Alternatives

Unless you've grown produce in your yard, there are no 100% contact-free ways to shop from home. Still, there are some that beat supermarkets for being germ-free.

Outdoor Markets

These markets might be chilly in some places, but they're often safer than supermarkets. They also have fresher and more local produce. But it would help for you to remain aware that COVID-19 precautions are essential at these venues.

Mail-Order Fruit and Vegetable Boxes

Even less contact is involved when subscribing to boxes of produce from companies like Misfits Market, Perfectly Imperfect Produce, and Imperfect Foods. While your choices may be more limited than at the supermarket, they are a bargain.

Plus, you can either disinfect the shipping boxes and wash their contents in warm water or remove the more delicate items and leave the rest in the garage for a few days. When you unpack your box, you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Grocery Shop-From-Home Services

Inevitably, you will need regular supermarket items at some point. But you probably won't need to go inside the store.

Most supermarket chains offer both home delivery and curbside pickup. Walmart shop-from-home is an example.

If there are specific produce items you're craving, why not add these to the list for your assigned shopper? That way, you won't have to gamble on finding these items in your produce delivery.

Shopping for Other Food Items

Of course, fruits and vegetables aren't the only parts of a healthy diet. Here are some ways to take care of your other dining and snacking needs.

Local Markets

Besides supermarkets, consider other local food selling establishments. These include bakeries, meat markets, natural food stores, and international markets. Much of the time, these places are also less crowded and infection-prone than supermarkets.

You might discover some new flavors and treats that you and your family will love. We might have some recipes for you to try with your new finds.

Mail-Order

There are at least two main types of mail-order foods: groceries from online sellers like Amazon and Target and meal-prep kits like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron.

You can order shelf-stable groceries from Amazon, Target, or Walmart. And if you have a local outlet of either of the latter, they will deliver to your home, just as local supermarkets do. Delivery charges are either free or low-priced for all these options.

Meal-prep kits are neither groceries per se, nor restaurant or take-out food. Instead, you use the raw ingredients-which come neatly wrapped in larger boxes with ice packs-to prepare your own healthy meals.

Shopping for Non-Food Items

Practicing wellness at home isn't only about food. You need other products to feel your best. These include things such as:

• Housecleaning supplies
• Essential clothing
• Cooking utensils and gadgets
• Toys and games
• Books and magazines
• Pet food and supplies
• Cosmetics and toiletries
• And a lot more

Any of these products are readily available. You can buy them either in-store or through online ordering with home delivery. Large discount stores like Target, Walmart, and Home Depot are good choices for everyday items.

But don't forget that small businesses are ready and waiting to pack and ship their unique products too.

Also, if you're working or studying at home, you can order office products, even furniture online from office supply stores. Maybe even throw in an ergonomic keyboard for wrist health or desk lamps to ease tired eyes.

At-Home Wellness

At-home wellness is an amalgam of conscientious shopping, a healthy diet, and a clean home. It's also various forms of entertainment and other de-stressing activities.

At least some of us used to think of shopping as a de-stressing pursuit. Now it's something that makes us edgy and fearful, though. It causes us to want to retreat to the safety of our homes, or so we think.

What makes the COVID-19 situation so hard to deal with is the fear and isolation of the "new normal" that is so hard to articulate, much less adapt to. Home no longer feels like the same place. But it's a lot better than the rest of today's strange world.

Will Our Homes Encompass Ever More of Our Lives?

Only time will tell if our sense of at-home wellness continues beyond the vaccine. Presumably, many of us will return to traditional (but updated and adapted) workplaces. We will need to acquaint ourselves with the new routines.

Maybe some of us will miss our work and shop-from-home days to the extent that we seek different jobs: ones that are more accommodating of both work and a healthy lifestyle at home.