How to Stay Healthy in New York City

Is New York City good for you? Plenty of us New Yorkers love our city dearly, but even the big city’s biggest fans probably have their suspicions about the ways in which it impacts their mental and physical health. With trash all over the streets, pollution in the air, and so many delicious eateries full of fattening foods, it’s easy to see why our bodies might not enjoy big-city living quite as much as we do.

To stay healthy in New York City, you’ll need to be conscious of the ways in which the city is working against you. From long working hours and stressful commutes to the fact that jogging is no fun on crowded city sidewalks, there are a lot of factors to weigh and counteract. Here are our best tips for staying healthy in New York City:

photo/ skeeze via pixabay

Carve out your workout spot and make exercise a habit

New York City has a lot of almost everything, but it’s tragically short on good places to jog or workout. Unless you’re lucky enough to live right near a larger park or waterside trail, you may have trouble finding good ways to break a sweat.

You need to make an effort. Join a gym, or find a jogging route that gets you to a large park to run through or do laps around. Exercise habits are easier to stick to when they’re fun, so consider taking up a healthy hobby: There are great rock-climbing gyms in New York City, for instance.

Give yourself a push toward healthy food habits

New York City is a wonderland for diverse cuisines. And while almost everything in this city seems to expensive, the incredible take-out and delivery options for dinner may look surprisingly affordable (especially when you’re hungry). Combine that with long working hours and stressful commutes, and you may find yourself cooking rarely, if ever.

Give yourself a hand. A ready-to-cook delivery service could make cooking an easier habit to stick to. Frozen or canned veggies could do the trick as well, which won’t frustrate you by going bad too quickly (if you think a culinary deadline will help, buy fresh veggies and cook them right away).

It may be worth the expense to pay for a grocery delivery service, too. Seek inspiration and motivation wherever you can. Cooking your own food will make you healthy, but it takes a bit more effort to get yourself into the habit in New York City.

photo/ Praha/ČR

Go to therapy

A lot of the ways in which New York City affects our health are physical. But some of the most impactful things that New York City does to as come right for our mental health instead.

Take our work culture, for instance: New Yorkers work long hours and often work in cutthroat industries. Many of the best of the best — your toughest competition — work and live here.

Consider the ways in which New York City surrounds you with unhealthy people: stressed-out people, angry people, mentally ill people, and people who are just plain annoying.

Also, think about the bad things we’ve already talked about, like unhealthy foods, limited exercise options, and rough sleep conditions. All of those things affect your mental health, too.

You’ll need to fight back by caring for your mental health. That takes a healthy lifestyle, but it could also require real professional treatment, explain the experts at NYC Therapy Group. You wouldn’t skip regular doctor’s appointments, so don’t steer clear of therapists, psychologists, or psychiatrists — they can do a lot to help you care for your health in New York City.