“Being stuck in your house without a normal schedule or daily structure throws off your healthy habits,” says Vicki Shanta Retelny, RDN, of Chicago, author of Total Body Diet for Dummies. And your weight may be creeping up as a result. RELATED: 20 Top Self-Care Tips for Being Stuck at Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic If the number on the scale is important to you, great. But there are other good reasons for eating well and staying active — a brighter mood, more energy, and increased resilience for conquering all of life’s challenges. Here are 12 tips for weight loss or management that you can implement while you’re stuck inside. She recommends eating on a regular schedule. Have breakfast at the same time every day, and plan a lunch and afternoon snack. “Keeping a structure to your day will ensure that you give your body the food it needs, and you won’t have to worry about grabbing something random throughout the day that ultimately won’t be satisfying,” she says. It also trains your body to be hungry at regular intervals.

2. Then Choose What You’ll Eat Each Day

Rather than playing it by ear and walking into your kitchen to figure things out when you’re hungry, decide what you’ll eat ahead of time (oatmeal for breakfast, chicken stir-fry leftovers for lunch) and you’ll enjoy a higher-quality diet and less risk of being overweight or obese, according to a study published in February 2017 in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. If you’re pressed for time, throw meals together quickly by relying on healthier convenience foods, says Retelny. You can buy frozen bags of veggies, such as broccoli, and precook quinoa and brown rice, canned beans, and the like. Plant-based foods such as these are associated with a lower weight, according to a review published in November 2019 in Nutrients. To facilitate meal planning, try using an app such as Mealime, which allows you to create custom meal plans for free. Mealime is available for download on Google Play and the App Store. Keeping yourself busy is important so you derive joy from nonfood activities. Maybe that’s taking your dog for long, socially distanced walks outside, deciding you’re going to start a hobby you’ve never had time for before (like candle making or woodwork), creating cards to send to loved ones, or calling a friend for a chat. RELATED: 10 Virtual Ways to Escape Reality During the Coronavirus Pandemic

4. Practice Portion Control, a Tried-and-True Weight Management Skill

At first, this might seem obvious. Of course, plating up less food can help you eat less. But it also affects future portions. A study published in April 2018 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when people served themselves smaller portions of food, they ate less the next day, too. Researchers explain that food portions have grown larger over the years, skewing public perception of what’s normal. By shrinking the serving size for one meal, you can help retrain your brain to accept a smaller amount next time. This comes into play particularly when you’re ordering takeout from a restaurant (something you may feel duty bound to do right now to support your local economy). They’ll serve up supersize portions; you’ll plate half of it (not the entire container), which will help you cut calories immediately — as well as tomorrow.

Emotional eating at this time is normal and to be expected. Have no shame if you’re now eating ice cream as a midafternoon snack. As the Mayo Clinic notes, stress causes levels of the hormone cortisol to rise. And there’s a reason why you reach for sugary foods as a result. “Eating sugar thwarts the release of cortisol in the brain, so it makes you feel more calm,” says Retelny. That would be great, except it creates a cycle where you crave sugar when stressed, she adds. No one is saying you can’t have sugar (total restriction also drives cravings), but it doesn’t need to take control of you at this time. She recommends keeping healthier options around, like dark chocolate, single-portion puddings, mini cookies, or small cake pops to keep portions controlled. RELATED: How Constantly Feeling Stressed May Affect Your Weight

6. Be Mindful and Stop Eating When You’re Full 

Try mindful eating, which may be associated with weight loss, according to Harvard Medical School. The technique means that you stop and notice the tastes and textures of what you’re eating without distraction (turn off the TV!), which ultimately helps you completely enjoy your food and feel more satisfied. It also tends to slow down your speed of eating, which can help you be more in tune with your fullness cues. (Though not designed for weight loss, the intuitive-eating approach may also have this effect.) Mindfulness meditation (a type of meditation focused on increasing mindful behaviors) decreases binge-eating episodes because it helps you understand and accept your feelings without judgment or guilt, suggests a review published in April 2014 in the journal Eating Behaviors.

7. Stay Active — Even Small Bursts of Activity Burn Calories

Your gym is likely closed and you may not feel comfortable running outdoors. While plenty of fitness influencers are streaming workouts online, and YouTube has a bounty of workout videos, you don’t need to overthink exercise. Whether it’s stress-cleaning your house (it’s a thing), running up and down the stairs to tackle loads of laundry, or being outside cutting your grass, at varying levels, these activities all offer the chance to get your heart rate up and burn calories. “Not only are you burning some of those calories you’re probably consuming, but by staying active your mind is not idle, so there’s less opportunity for boredom, plus it reduces stress, anxiety, and depression,” says Wilson. RELATED: 7 Tips for Staying Active During a Pandemic

8. Reprioritize Sleep to Keep Hunger Hormones in Check

You snooze, you lose (or maintain) — weight, that is. “Poor sleep habits can have a negative impact on food habits, disrupt the hormones that control feelings of hunger and satiety, and reduce motivation for physical activity,” says Wilson. To take control of your sleep habits, you must first understand them. Try a sleep tracking app, like Sleep Cycle, which provides sleep aids to help you fall asleep, an alarm that wakes you up in a light sleep cycle, and sleep analysis that helps promote consistency in sleep and wake times. Also, take steps to manage anxiety, which at this time may be disrupting your slumber. RELATED: Is COVID-19 Anxiety Messing With Your Sleep? 8 Tips for Getting It Back on Track

9. Drink More Water to Ensure You Stay Hydrated

Lack of sleep may make you glug coffee throughout the day, and mounting stress may make you want a glass of wine to unwind at night. But don’t forget about the ultimate hydrator, which is also calorie free: plain water. (Unsweetened sparkling water counts, too.) “By drinking fluids throughout the day, you’re keeping your belly just a bit more full, resulting in less feelings of hunger,” says Wilson. A June 2016 review of animal studies in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition concluded that adequate water intake was associated with weight loss, as it may promote a healthy metabolism to burn fat and improve insulin sensitivity as well as decrease food consumption. Keep a nice thermal water bottle by your side to ensure you’re sipping during the day. Water bottles like Hydromate ($23.95; Hydromate.com) offer motivation to get the H2O you need.

10. Socially Connect While Physically Distancing

Exercising regularly, even if you have more time on your hands at home, is easier said than done. If you were part of a running group, met a few friends for Spin or Zumba, or had a walking crew, you may be feeling less than motivated to stay active or keep up your healthy habits. “I think it’s very important to continue to interact with people virtually,” says Wilson. Try FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Skype, Zoom, or have fitness competitions with the Strava app or on a private Facebook group, she suggests. Also, look for support groups. The popular app Lose It! has new features, like an updated Social tab, which connects you to COVID-19 groups for quarantine-specific support. RELATED: How I’m Staying Positive During the Coronavirus Pandemic

11. Stock Your Grocery Cart With High-Fiber, High-Protein Snacks to Curb Hunger

It’s tempting to pile bags of pretzels and chips into your grocery cart, but highly processed snacks will do little to quell the munchies. In fact, they may actually drive your cravings. In a small study published in May 2019 in the journal Cell Metabolism, adults ate both an ultraprocessed diet for two weeks and then an unprocessed diet for the same period of time. (According to Harvard Medical School, ultraprocessed foods include those that come in packages with long ingredients lists.) During the processed diet study phase, participants consumed about 500 additional calories per day. What to eat instead: whole-food snacks, like nuts and seeds, Greek yogurt, apples, berries, sliced veggies and hummus, and whole-grain crackers with a tablespoon of almond butter. These choices will offer satiating fiber and protein to keep hunger at bay until your next meal.

12. Set Yourself Up for Success With Self-Soothing Strategies

It’s okay to self-soothe with unhealthy food occasionally, but it’s not the best long-term strategy. An article published online in June 2017 in the Nutrition Journal notes that the Western diet (which is high in foods with saturated fat, added sugar, and sodium) is associated with weakened immunity. Therefore, eating that pint of ice cream or whole bag of potato chips isn’t doing your body any favors when it’s already probably battling higher-than-usual stress levels. “Stress suppresses your immune system,” says Retelny. Chronic stress, especially the kind that begins in early life, can be particularly harmful for immunity, according to an article published in October 2015 in Current Opinion in Psychology. There are more constructive ways to cope. To help offset the effects of short-term, acute stress, brainstorm things that bring you joy and ease stress. Is it 15 minutes of meditation daily using the Headspace or Calm apps (or the many other meditation apps out there)? Is it taking a few deep breaths when feelings get truly overwhelming? Is it a virtual yoga class? (These are popping up all over YouTube right now.) “By taking care of yourself, you’ll feel better, too,” says Retelny.