Lifestyle / Healthy habits
Adjusting to ‘The New Normal’
As the vaccine rollout
continues, we will be
shifting toward a new
kind of normalcy. Some
of our lockdown habits
may be beneficial
moving forward, but
others should be left
behind.
REPORT by Will Andronico Jr.
At a glance
• Healthy habits
• Lifestyle adjustments
• Supporting local businesses
10 www.thecai.ie
After over a year of static, hope is
appearing on the horizon. Vaccines
continue to be administered in phases
throughout the country, with the
government hoping to have over 80% of
adults given their first vaccine dose by
July 1st. As the country reopens, it may
be useful to address the future of culture
and lifestyle post-pandemic. Covid-19
made major impacts on our habits and
ways of living. So, what lessons have we
learned over the course of this pandemic,
and how can we use those lessons
to emerge from our homes ready and
prepared for this ‘new normal’?
Effects of constant screen time
Once the country was sent home from
work last spring to then work from
home, staring at screens became our
major source of income, entertainment
and connection with others. A direct
correlation exists between using
electronics and doing our jobs (i.e. getting
paid). This makes it more difficult to
separate from our screens throughout the
day.
On the bright side, extended
screen time is not necessarily harmful for
adults or children, according to Harvard
Pilgrim Health Care, a nonprofit group of
healthcare companies in the US. However,
it adds that issues arise when we use our
electronics in place of other activities like
get-togethers, sleep or physical activity.
This is especially true for children who
may not have had the option during the
pandemic to play sports or see friends
in person. Even before the pandemic,
teenagers actively opened social media
nearly 100 times every day, according to
the University of Wisconsin.
To avoid further reliance on
electronics, Harvard Pilgrim recommends
that parents have their children put
their phones away during meals and
before bed. For adults, the same
recommendations apply. Additionally,
adults should try limiting their online
entertainment during the working day (for
example, mindless scrolling on Twitter)
and placing email on mute outside work
hours to regain a healthier equilibrium
between work and play.
May 2021
 Coming out of the pandemic, it
becomes essential to start moving away
from reliance on our devices. Experts
say that periodic breaks from screen
time can prove beneficial for our overall
health, and moving away from our phones
and computers can lessen the stress of
a constant ‘ping’ from work emails. We
also improve our relationships with others
without our phones, as studies show that
we become less connected and attentive
just with phones nearby, never mind when
they are in use.
Generally, it is beneficial to
create boundaries between us and
our technology to generate better
relationships, stay active and stay
healthy. Speaking of activity…
The ‘sedentary lifestyle’
The pandemic also brought on a major
lack of physical activity across the
country. One study from the Journal of
Medical Internet Research showed that,
especially among young people, physical
activity in the UK dropped significantly
during the first half of 2020 when
lockdowns were in place.
In 2019, the Irish government
noted that a major health goal was to
increase the portion of the population
adhering to physical activity guidelines
by 1% each year. However, between
2015 and 2019, that portion increased
from 44% to just 46% overall. A new
research project undertaken by Sport
Ireland and the Waterford Institute of
Technology showcases what is called a
“silent pandemic of physical inactivity”.
Working from home encouraged much
sitting throughout the day, and Ireland
implemented a limit for months that
prevented anyone from travelling beyond
5km from home without a “reasonable
excuse”. As a result of sitting for
long periods of time every day, health
11 www.thecai.ie
issues and risks significantly increase.
According to the Mayo Foundation for
Medical Education and Research in the
US, prolonged sitting can increase the
chances of death “similar to the risks of
dying posed by obesity and smoking”.
Additionally, without much
ability to leave home, we lose out on an
opportunity to gain vitamin D. The vitamin
is key to having healthy bones, according
to the Cleveland Clinic in the US. Sunlight
exposure for 15 or 20 minutes for three
days each week is one way of getting
your weekly dose of vitamin D, doctors
say. Many people would traditionally
get vitamin D naturally by commuting or
leaving the house each day but, without
that opportunity, people need to actively
incorporate vitamin D through their meals
or vitamin supplements.
When the country is no longer
house-bound, many options crop up
for healthily leaving this ‘sedentary
lifestyle’. Experts say that between 60
and 75 minutes of “moderately intense
physical activity” every day can offset
the effects of sitting so much. Exercise
is also beneficial for improving mental
health, releasing endorphins or hormones
that reward your brain with feel-good
emotions. Some research shows that
exercise may reduce the effects of
depression and anxiety too.
Warmer weather on the horizon
also gives more opportunities to get
out of the house for exercise and get
the sunlight that is so important for our
vitamin D levels. However, it is important
to safely ease back into our consumption
of sunlight. Doctors say that your skin
needs to slowly get used to the sun again
to recalibrate for the sun’s ultraviolet
(UV) rays. Prolonged exposure to UV rays
can lead to cell damage and risks of skin
cancer, especially after months of being
inside. Thus, it is key to start slow with
sun exposure.
Post-pandemic, try leaving the
house and enjoy the freedom of being able
to exit the 5km radius. Research from the
Nature Neuroscience journal shows that
changing scenery and incorporating more
variance in our daily activity is beneficial
for staying positive. In short, once the
country opens up more, try getting out of
your seat, getting outside and changing
your environment once in a while. Your
brain and your body will thank you later!
Food economy and delivery
services
To prevent the spread of coronavirus,
businesses across the country shut down,
including food service businesses. As a
result, many restaurants had to make
quick assessments and turn to takeaway
and delivery apps, such as Just Eat and
Deliveroo, to stay in business.
Under normal circumstances,
restaurants can generate revenue in
many different ways. On top of the food
order itself, customers may make more
spontaneous purchases whilst eating
in person, such as ordering a cocktail or
appetiser. They may also be more inclined
to tip servers for exceptional service.
However, all that additional revenue was
gone without in-person dining, and food
delivery and takeaway apps like Just Eat
and other companies charge restaurants
fees for utilising their services. With
every order, Just Eat and Deliveroo charge
restaurants a service fee for using their
platform.
As a result of lost streams of
cash, Irish restaurants anticipated a 41%
drop in revenue in the fourth quarter of
2020 compared with the fourth quarter
of 2019, according to a Crowe Ireland
sentiment survey from last summer.
Restaurants at that time expected a 27%
decrease in 2021 revenue compared to
2019, but since the survey was conducted
in August and September of last year, the
subsequent severe restrictions that were
imposed may cause further decreases in
revenue.
Therefore, as vaccine rollouts
continue and in-person dining becomes
more doable, we should make a concerted
effort to create a dining experience
when visiting restaurants and avoid
delivery through these food-delivery
apps. Eating out provides a fun night for
customers and better revenue streams
for restaurants. If takeaway or delivery
is your only option, save yourself and the
restaurant money on third-party mobile
phone app fees by calling over the phone
to use the restaurant’s in-house delivery
system or opting to collect it yourself from
the restaurant
Additionally, it’s much cheaper
per serving to cook at home (and
sometimes more fun) than ordering
takeaway each night. For example,
McGowan’s of Phibsboro serves the
“Classic” burger with chips for €12.95.
The ingredients include the burger patty
with a brioche bun, lettuce, tomato, pickle
and spicy mayonnaise. When purchasing
ingredients from the supermarket to
make a similar meal at home using the
burger recipe from all-island organisation
safefood, one serving of a burger with
chips would cost €1.68, a 90% drop
in price from McGowan’s. Naturally,
however, the business’ overheads,
May 2021
staffing and convenience costs cause
the price for a burger to increase. The
safefood website provides ‘fakeaway’
options for people to cook at home,
bringing the taste of takeaway home
without all the calories.
On the note of groceries, pickup
and delivery services can also become
expensive fast. In the March 2021 edition
of Consumer Choice, we reported that
grocery delivery fees can range between
€4 and €8, and click and collect options,
although cheaper, may still add between
€2 and €4 of additional costs. Those fees
can add up over time, so save money and
make that trip to the store on your own.
Again, changes of scenery are beneficial
for mental health, and you will save those
delivery slots for those who may not have
the option to visit supermarkets in person.
Thus, order takeaway or delivery
groceries only if necessary! Save your
money by going to the store yourself and
cooking at home. However, when you do
decide to splurge a bit, make eating out
an experience — something many of us
may have taken for granted before the
pandemic.
Small businesses
The pandemic has severely challenged
small businesses across the country
while corporate powerhouses thrived.
How can a small shop on the corner
compete with the kinds of delivery
services available at the countrywide
supermarket chain?
Although 74% of small and
medium businesses in Ireland expect to
be fully operational in the first six months
of 2021, 13% say they will never return to
pre-pandemic operations, according to
the Visa Back to Business Study, which
gives an economic outlook for countries
across the world for 2021. More than half
of those businesses added that, should
the economy worsen, they will have to
shut down. This study was completed in
November of last year, but since level 5
restrictions have been in place for much
longer than originally anticipated, it is
possible that the pandemic’s effect on
small businesses is worse than expected.
On the other hand, grocery giant
Tesco increased pre-tax profits by nearly
30% in the first half of the 2020/2021
fiscal year compared to 2019/2020. Online
shopping also boomed, as Amazon nearly
doubled its net income in 2020 compared
to 2019. While small businesses worried
for the future, corporations flourished.
In addition, online-only stores
generally have greater greenhouse gas
emissions than brick-and-mortar stores,
12 www.thecai.ie
according to a study from last year in
the Journal of Environmental Science &
Technology. As with online groceries,
takeaway and delivery, shipping costs and
operational fees can mount up over time.
Furthermore, returning items via
postal or courier services can be costly.
Many stores will pay for customers to
return products, but not all will do this.
Nearly 74% of consumers choose an
online store based on whether or not
they need to pay for return shipping
themselves, according to a 2020 review
from the Interactive Media in Retail
Group. However, 33% of online stores say
increasing numbers of returns are driving
the prices of their products up.
Coming out of the pandemic,
small businesses will need consumer
support to keep open — corporations
can afford to keep going for a long while
without help. Visit the farmer’s market
or the local sustainable fashion store
instead of Tesco, Amazon or other giants,
and take your returns straight back to
the shop. Fewer postal returns to stores
may signal to retailers to drop the price
of goods and save you money on future
purchases. You will also reduce the
overall carbon footprint of your shopping
experience and save money on fees and
shipping along the way.
Return to in-person socialisation
As humans, social interaction is baked
into our being. Due to the pandemic,
isolation and separation from others
have had major impacts on both our
ability to interact with others and our
mental health. Although Zoom certainly
helps, nothing compares to in-person
interaction.
Lockdown practices caused
increases in anxiety and sleeplessness
while lowering physical activity levels, a
study from Frontiers in Genetics showed.
Those living below the poverty line are
likely to experience these effects more
prominently due to an inability to obtain
the most basic necessities. However,
the same study showed that isolated
individuals can mitigate their loneliness
by adopting a pet and using electronics to
connect with others.
As we enter a new kind of
normalcy, many of us will be socially
awkward since we have been absent from
in-person social interactions for so long.
Studies show that prolonged isolation can
reverse our abilities to speak fluently or
remember things clearly. Thus, experts
have advised to readjust slowly and
embrace the awkwardness. As weather
continues to improve for outdoor social
gatherings, this is the perfect time to
start adding those beneficial social
stresses back into our lives, such as
hosting guests in gardens when allowed
or venturing out in public. Practice makes
perfect!
Better times ahead
Despite uncertainties with the vaccine
rollout, light is on the horizon. Restrictions
are gradually easing up, and more will
come as more vaccines are administered.
Thus, it is important that we prepare to
re-enter our newly-designed, in-person
lives. That way, when we do get the
go-ahead, we return seamlessly to seeing
our family, sticking to healthy habits and
stepping away from our screens more
often.
May 2021