We are living unprecedented times. Never before has the entire world been in a state of self-isolation or imposed social isolation to combat a viral pandemic. Never before did we have to share spaces, confine ourselves, even with the people we love for such a long period of time. Or maybe we love to run around, and we don't know how to spend time in stillness, or doing different activities than we are not used to. In general, we cannot handle uncertainty, and this can cause us a lot of stress.

But what do we face stress? We each have different ways of managing our stress or not managing it. We complain, we laugh at all the memes that are so creatively being generated, we spend hours wasted on social media, or watching Netflix until we are exhausted of our own lethargy. The invitation would be to be able to use this time for other new and good, different things.

In many, stress is causing people to worry about the weight they will gain during this time and the little physical activity they will be able to carry out. Questions arise around how we can change our behaviour in this unusual situation? Our brain is not wired to deal with uncertainty, we don't like it, we like order (or some kind of order, our own order) and we turn that into control, even within the chaos in which we live.

Therefore, what can we do to change our automatic responses to stress, to the psychosis that is unleashed around us by the difficulty we have of controlling and putting together a daily routine in our life at the moment? I invite you and I invite myself to take advantage of this time to get something positive out of this confinement #IStayAtHome:

There are many strategies we can use that can help us change our eating behaviour and other health-related behaviours. One of the first would be to become aware of what we want to change. Set yourself a series of small objectives that you want to achieve, write them down, but make them achievable, small steps that you want to follow, few, and avoid being to self-demanding. Follow them and monitor your progress.

Here are a few suggestions:

• If you haven't filled your pantry with food so you can stay home for the next few weeks, do so, but without panicking. Make a supermarket list that covers a daily schedule of recipes that you can make, simple ones.

• Make your purchases online and avoid contact. Remember #IStayAtHome.

• First, wake up, get out of bed, get dressed and make some form of social contact with someone, this can help you cope with isolation.

• Set yourself times to eat daily, either 3, 4 or 5 times a day and stick to them.

• Maintain or reduce portions of food that you will consume during those mealtimes.

• Do not be tempted to eat at any time, just because the pantry is within your reach. Don’t pick!

• Make a physical activity schedule at home. #IStayAtHome means not going out, not being on the street. Physical activity can be done at home. Watch videos online, take classes online.

• Use this time to do things you have always wanted to do. Learn how to do something new online. Use your time productively. Don't use your time to eat.

• It is important not to eat compulsively to calm boredom, avoid snacking.

• Make a list of distractors that don't involve eating. Get a manicure, pedicure, have someone give you a massage, read a book, fix all those photo files you have always wanted to file. The lists of these distractors can be endless.

• Watch the amount of alcohol you drink.

• Perhaps it is time to become small food producers. Start by planting some tomatoes or courgettes or cucumber seeds or all of these, in order to start having your garden at home. For this contingency we should have been previously prepared.

• Remember that everything you do with your hands helps you reduce stress and reduce the tension generated by worry, uncertainty: planting, sewing, cooking, painting, etc.

Thank yourself for giving yourself the opportunity to start all those projects that you had been putting off. Do something daily and during this quarantine, you will see great progress.

Remember #WeContinueToNourishOurselves