Halloween in Nashville

Halloween is going to be fantastic in 2020, if a little different. Halloween is on a Saturday, there will be a full moon, and people want to celebrate. Sure it’s 2020, so we need to social distance, wear masks of a different sort to help us stay safe, but we can still have a spooky great time. Check out these can’t miss ideas to make Halloween 2020 a hit. The Flats at Silo Bend is the right place to celebrate. 

How to Decorate Your Apartment

There are so many ways to get your apartment ready for Halloween. We all know it’s important to make a good first impression and this year that’s even truer as most of us will keep trick-or-treaters at a safe distance. Set the stage. Carve creepy pumpkins with stencils and easily available templates. Decorate doors with cut-outs of ghosts, goblins, witches, and more.  Make sure the neighbors can see some colorful creatures by combining monster cut-outs and contact paper on the windows. For the inside, fairy lights, felt spiders, and glow in the dark skeletons are always hit. It’s the little things that really set the mood. Try the mirror hidden message trick, get some scotch tape and spell out a scary message on your mirror, allow the tape to set and remove. Then run some hot water to reveal hidden messages to your guests.

How to Celebrate at Home

For many of us, celebrating Halloween this year will probably have to be done at home. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to raise goosebumps at home. Start by setting the mood with Halloween baking and some apple cider. Carving pumpkins is always a hit, so each person can get involved in making their ideas come to life. What’s Halloween without costumes? Make sure to get everyone dressed up and set up a video conferencing call with friends and family so everyone can share the scares. Set up a baby monitor on the porch, so you can have fun interacting with trick-or-treaters. Treats can be in the form of an outdoor haunted house or a video performance through your windows instead of the typical eatable delights. Movie marathons are great since you can choose movies appropriate to any age group or audience (from Goonies to Friday the 13th, there is something for everyone) and those can be shared from the comfort of your own apartment through a number of popular streaming services (Netflix Party, KAST, YouTube, Discord, Facebook, and more). 

Halloween Hotspots in Nashville

Luckily, stores are open in Nashville, so you can get what you need for Halloween. If you need costume, makeup, and decorations, there are a couple of Spirit Halloween stores open this year nearby in Madison and Hermitage. Looking for some Halloween to-dos? Take a haunted canoe trip through Canoe the Caney and hear the spooky tales and you paddle through the paranormal. Visit a local pumpkin patch for hayrides, corn or hay mazes, and more. Fun for the whole family.

Social distancing will definitely make Halloween different this year, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a fun and safe holiday for everyone. Curbside and at-home delivery make it easier than ever to get the decorations, supplies, and costumes you need to make Halloween a hit. Don’t be afraid to get creative with some seasonal inspiring at-home celebration ideas.

Health and Fitness in the The Flats at Silo Bend Apartments

Fitness is vital to good health. But you may wonder how you can do this at home in the Flats at Silo Bend Apartments. Help is on the way. You can build a solid at-home exercise and healthy eating plan. Working out and eating right helps more than your body. Fitness and healthy eating helps improve your mental health. Here are some great tips that are sure to keep boost your health and fitness this summer. 

How to Eat Healthy At-Home

Preparation is key to eating healthy at-home. Nothing will hurt your nutrition more than trying to decide what to eat when you are hungry. The good news is that it’s simple and easy to cook healthy meals right in your apartment.

First, decide on your nutritional plan. Many experts recommend a 40 protein/40 carbohydrate/20 fats macro-nutrient approach. Next, plan your meals. An easy tip is to use the size of your closed fist as a guide to the 40% portions. Each meal should have a protein (like chicken, fish, lean beef, or tofu), a carbohydrate, and a serving of healthy fats. Prepare three meals a day and a few healthy snacks, like yogurt or bananas, and you are all set.

Make sure you eat healthy snacks throughout the day because people tend to overeat when they get hungry.

Home Workouts 

The current health crisis has made working out a real challenge. Gyms are closed and most in-person classes are cancelled. The good news is that it’s easy to give yourself a challenging workout in your apartment using just your body weight and minimal equipment. Health and Fitness can be successful at home. 

Cardio and Strength-Based Workouts

Complete fitness takes both cardio and strength-based workouts, and both can easily be done at home without a gym. Walking is one of the most efficient cardio workouts around. Just pick a field, a park, or even the streets in your neighborhood and get ready for some interval walking. A good interval plan is three to one, so walk quickly for three minutes (you should be breathing hard) and then recover with a slower walk. Try to shoot for 10 intervals or a 40 minute walk. You should be burning about 10 calories per minute. You can burn 400 calories in that workout. If you do interval training, then you will also increase your resting heart rate for hours after the workout, giving you an even longer burn.

Strength-Training at Home

All you need for strength training at-home is your body weight. Start with an 8-minute warm up of calisthenics. Your warmup should be 8, one-minute long sets, of body weight exercises. During each set, work as fast as you can for 45 seconds, and rest for 15 seconds. Try this mix for a full-body workout: high knees, jumping jacks, front or rear lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, mountain climbers, up-downs, and jump squats. Once you have mastered that, then grow your strength by adding to the routine. You can do that by extending the time for each set (first to a minute and a quarter, then to a minute and a half, etc.) or adding in sets. Do a little each week, and you should see the difference.

Yoga or Pilates

If you prefer a more relaxing workout, then you can do yoga or Pilates inside or outside your apartment. All you need is a towel or a yoga mat. There are many exercises you can do including planks to build your core, down dogs to strengthen your arms and legs, and sun salutations to improve your breathing and strengthen your body. Yoga workouts can burn 160-460 calories in an hour depending upon your weight and the level of activity you are doing.

Whatever form of exercise you choose, make sure you have a bottle of water and a towel to keep you hydrated and to wipe sweat.

Improve Your Mental Health

The current state of our nation’s health crisis has increased stress, isolation, and loneliness for just about everyone. Rest assured, there are things you can do at-home to improve your mental health. Consider taking a break from the news. Try setting some limits on the news, like a certain time of day or specific days of the week, and step away from all the negativity.

Schedules Help Keep You on Track

Set and follow a schedule. Schedules help establish some certainty. Although being stuck at home or working from home can make you lose track of time, a schedule will help you remember what you need to do and when to do it. Be sure to move every day and spend at least twenty minutes in the sun. Soaking in the sun and increasing your oxygen levels through exercise have proven mental health benefits.

Stay in Touch with Family and Friends

Make a point of keeping in touch with your friends and family. Social media is fine, but nothing beats a call or a video chat to catch up and stay connected. If you can see your friends and extended family with proper social distancing, then that can lift your mood and keep you all safe. Follow these tips and you are sure to flex your mental health muscles.

Gym closures, eating-in, and social distancing are serious challenges to physical and mental health. Luckily, you can stay fit with at-home exercise and healthy eating. With a little work you can be the best version of yourself this summer.