Organizing and executing a house move will definitely put a lot of physical strain on your body and emotional stress on your mind. While working on your detailed moving checklist, there’s no doubt that you’ll have to deal with too many priority tasks at once.
However, whatever you do, just don’t let your HEALTH go down on your list of priorities.
Keep in mind that no matter how you look at it, your health must remain your number one priority during the move, and of course – after the move is over too. In most relocation cases, health can be a bit more fragile than usual due to the physical and emotional stress that a house move tends to create.
Staying healthy when moving house vital, for it will make the entire home moving process go much more smoothly. Thanks to the renewed energy and mental stamina, you’ll be 100% ready to face and overcome each challenge no matter how tough it is.
Here are the top 5 tips for staying healthy during a move.
1. Keep a healthy diet
Eating well during the home moving preparation will enable you to maintain a high energy level in order to tackle all physically demanding tasks, including the energy-draining process of packing for a move.
In your case, eating well should mean eating healthy.
You may not have enough time to prepare healthy foods, and you may have already packed all or most of your kitchen utensils. So, once in a while, it’s okay to order pizza but in the long run, unhealthy eating will only leave you with less energy and weaker immune system.
So, make sure you stock up on healthy foods – fruit and vegetables, whole grain bread, lean meats, dairy products – milk, cheese, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, granola bars, and so on.
See also: How to eat healthy when moving
2. Keep your body hydrated
Another way to stay healthy during a move is to drink plenty of water, especially when you’re moving in the summer like the majority of people on the move. The summer heat can dehydrate your body before you know it, so make an effort to drink water and tea (green tea with no sugar works great) on a regular basis to avoid the unpleasant side effects of dehydration.
As you know, carbonated drinks are high in sugar and low in nutrition so you’ll do yourself a favor to stay away from drinking sodas when moving house. Why? The elevated intake of carbohydrates can lead to sugar crashes and energy slumps.
Good advice: How to prepare for Moving day
3. Sleep well
Proper sleep is super important during the pre-move preparation period. Regrettably, some people choose to sacrifice some of their sleep hours in order to finish more work. In practice, that tactic could work for a day or two, but breaking the normal sleep pattern can only lead to a number of negative side effects.
So, don’t do it. Remember that the better rested you are, the better you will be able to handle the work load. Ultimately, it’ll be counterproductive to give up on hours of sleep only to feel exhausted, slugging and unproductive the next day.
The optimal sleep time still remains 7-9 hours, so make a genuine effort to keep yours within that range. You’re right, it’s easier said than done with so much work. The solution? Start your moving preparation early, REALLY early.
Good to know: What moving day mistakes to avoid
4. Keep stress in check
Surviving a move and staying healthy is not an easy task, especially when you’re likely to be subjected to increased levels of stress for a prolonged period of time. It’s no secret that large doses of stress /How to make moving day less stressful/ can be harmful so it’s very important that you follow these 2 major de-stressing tips to stay healthy when moving house:
CONTROL YOUR TIME
with the help of a moving checklist. Insufficient time to complete all important tasks is a huge stressor during a move. START EARLY, especially when you think about packing your household items on your own.
Packing for a move takes forever, and you just won’t have forever at your disposal when moving house.
See also: How to save time when moving house
MANAGE YOUR BUDGET
by using a number of proven cost-saving techniques:
- find an affordable moving company /find cheap movers/,
- pare down your possessions to lower the transportation costs /declutter your home/, and
- use free or cheap packing supplies to pack up your things /find free moving boxes & get free packing materials/.
Needless to say, money is Stressing Factor #1 when moving to another home.
Read also: How to reduce moving costs and expenses
5. Stay safe throughout the move
Of course, staying HEALTHY while moving house comes down to staying SAFE through the entire house move.
The above-mentioned tips for reducing the stress of moving will contribute greatly to your emotional health so that you can remain calm, composed, clear-thinking and confident when things get rough. Now, let’s focus on the equally important question of how to stay physically healthy during a move.
- Wear a face mask. When you get down to your storage areas (garage, attic, basement) and start packing the things stored there, consider wearing a face mask to keep you from breathing in any harmful germs and allergens. Be mindful that layers of dust can trigger various types of bad allergies.
- Wear quality work gloves. Your grip when moving heavy items is absolutely key to keep accidents at bay. Make sure you wear high-quality work gloves to not only get that good grip when carrying heavy objects around, but also to protect your fingers and hands from injury. Choose durable and stretchable work gloves made of sweat-resistant fabric and well-padded around crucial areas of the hand.
- Wear comfortable shoes. What you wear on your feet on the day of the move matters more than you think. Prevent costly accidents by choosing your most comfortable pair of shoes – one that offers sufficient ankle protection and has anti-slip soles. In most cases, sports shoes will work best.
- Clear all exit paths. Your safety can be easily compromised by various types of obstacles scattered along the paths leading from the rooms all the way to the parked moving truck. And when you’re carrying heavy things around, the last thing you’d want is to have the pathways littered with all sorts of debris. So, see to it that nothing gets in your way.
- Use proper lifting techniques. Protect your health by using the proper lifting techniques when moving heavy household items such as furniture, appliances and even boxes. One wrong move or miscalculated effort could cost you dearly on the day of the move. So, you must do everything in your power to prevent personal injuries when moving house.
- Use the right moving equipment. It’s anything but a joke to move super large and heavy things from your home to the moving vehicle, and then to load those heavy objects into the truck. To do this safely, you’ll need the right type of moving equipment – furniture dolly, furniture sliders, moving straps, and so on. If you don’t have the required moving equipment pieces or you have no idea how to use them securely, then don’t risk your health and do what you should have done in the very beginning – call the pros.
