Staying healthy, active amid a pandemic

Omar E. Zapata | THE RIDER

With the majority of students having to stay home and take classes online this fall semester due to COVID-19, UTRGV professors offer insight on how to eat healthy and stay active. 

Lisa Salinas, a clinical assistant professor in the nutritional sciences program and registered dietitian nutritionist told The Rider that an important message she wants to give to everybody is that healthy eating does not need to be fancy or expensive. 

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having frozen vegetables, canned vegetables or frozen fruits as well,” Salinas said. 

She said that mostly everyone tends to focus on fresh vegetables or fruits, but sometimes people cannot get produce or it is expensive. 

“The frozen fruits and vegetables are actually picked at their peak ripeness,” Salinas said. “So, you’re often going to find a really high concentration of all the great vitamins and minerals in those products.”

She wants to promote a high intake of fiber with plenty of hydration. 

“I think one of one of my favorite things to eat, honestly, is something like rice and beans, which is really high in fiber, and it’s very filling,” Salinas said. “It’s easy to make, it’s easy to eat and you can also add things to it or take away things from it, so, it’s a really versatile dish.” 

Being hydrated means drinking lots of water daily and staying away from sugary beverages, she said. 

“What happens typically is, with the sugary beverages, is that you kind of get a little bit of a high off of them and then you can have kind of a slump,” Salinas said. 

With students having to juggle school amid a pandemic, they might turn to stress eating and Salinas said this is a complicated, multifactorial issue.  

“There is an increase in various hormones in your body when you’re stressed, so it really causes kind of an imbalance [in your body],” she said. 

Salinas said the best way to combat those types of situations is to remove yourself from trigger foods that you might eat if they’re in your vicinity. 

“Trying your best to not be around foods that you know are your go-to foods. … If you know that Cheetos are your weakness, I would say try your best to not be around Cheetos,” she said. 

Asked what her thoughts are on a vegan or vegetarian diet, Salinas replied she highly recommends a more plant-based diet but doesn’t necessarily mean to go full-on vegan or vegetarian. 

“There’s a lot of evidence coming out … suggesting that at the very least, plant-based eating is an overall healthier eating plan,” Salinas said. 

She said students who want to find more information about nutrition can go to choosemyplate.gov where they input various information to create their own general nutrition plan. 

Salinas also said students can reach out to the UTRGV Nutritional Sciences Program for additional information. 

“We are busy teaching, but we love to spread the word of good nutrition, so we really like to be available for the community,” Salinas said. 

 Zasha Romero, an associate professor for the Department of Health & Human Performance, said he encourages people to stay active, even if it’s not actually exercising. 

“A lot of people, these days, think that if you’re not out running marathons or hitting the gym and lifting so many weights that you’re not active, but we can do a lot of different things to be active, especially during these trying times,” Romero said. 

 Simple things like cleaning your house or car, cutting the yard or even just walking around your house are good ways to stay active, he said. 

“The recommended amount of time for a sedentary person is at least 30 minutes,” Romero said. “That means somebody that’s not active, somebody that is just dedicated to staying home and really not seeing that much physical activity, the goal is at least 30 minutes a day.” 

Asked what people can do to exercise at home or if they are not able to go to a gym or the park, Romero suggested buying small gym equipment for the home, such as a jump rope, weights, barbells, and also doing body-weight exercises, such as pushups and pullups. 

Romero said he noticed that at the start of the pandemic, people bought gym equipment from retail stores such as Walmart and Academy. 

He suggested just going outside for a walk or a run but to be cautious and maintain social distance in public spaces.

“You still have to take care of yourself, not being in large groups, staying away from people you don’t know, staying away from people even if you know them,” Romero said. “You don’t know what they’ve been around.”

Javier Gonzalez, an international business junior, said he picked up biking during the pandemic and that is how he stays active. 

“I really enjoy it because it’s a stress reliever for me,” Gonzalez said. “I used to run before, so it’s kind of the same thing for me.” 

He said when something is overwhelming him, he goes biking to think about the situation by himself. 

Gonzalez bikes about 10 to 12 miles three times a week. 

“Just keep your head up and stay active,” he said. “Just pick up something, man. As long as you think of something, you’ll be fine. You won’t go crazy.”  

Salinas and Romero both said that people need a combination of healthy eating and staying active to  maintain an overall healthy lifestyle.