How to achieve a healthy lifestyle, while living in a city
Exercise your brain
As the first piece of advice, we will not suggest a way to eat healthily nor a way to exercise your body effectively.
First and foremost, we put the exercising of your brain!
Here is why…
Living in a city doesn’t only include factors that can negatively affect our physical health. The lifestyle many people follow could be harsh for their mental health and more specifically their brain’s power.
Wake up in the morning, drink some coffee and get ready for work. Get back from work, meet friends, go home, relax with family and watch TV. The problem I want to stress out with this is that in this routine, there isn’t something that challenges your mind.
As a consequence, you make your brain slow. It doesn’t process new information, it doesn’t get new knowledge.
It is like an old abandoned car that progressively breaks down. This breakdown for your mind means Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementias, and mental disorders!
Start reading books, solving problems, tackling complicated tasks, and think more!
Always prefer the healthy way
In our daily life, we do a lot of things that need us to move here and there.
Have you ever considered how we could do those things in a way that keeps us more active?
Let’s cite 2 basic examples:
How many buildings do you have to mount every day?
Maybe the building of your apartment, the edifices of your work, public buildings you might visit, and many others. Imagine taking the stairs in all of these buildings daily!
How much distance do you make during a week? Go and get back from work, go shopping, go to appointments, go out with friends, take your kids from school, etc.
How about going through all of this distance by foot, every day?
Sounds like a pretty good form of exercising. In general, you should aim at least 10,000 steps a day! The only problem you could come up with is the time. Yes, it takes time to go anywhere on foot and take the stairs.
However, let me put it this way: Adults need at least 200 mins of aerobic exercise each week. Not optional, this is the minimum for keeping our body at a normal healthy level. Instead of this, we suggest you just spend some extra minutes in your daily life for getting this exercise. You don’t even get out of your schedule!
Do you prefer a 200min weekly aerobic program?
Avoid walking in hectic streets during rush hours
Even if it sounds like a problem and is something difficult to be done, you will change your mind after learning the consequences.
On average, people in cities inhale about 2,000 pollution particles a day. 10 minutes of walking next to a busy street, breathing next to all the exhaust gas from cars will make you inhale up to 3,000 particles only in those 10 minutes!
And these particles are frequently linked with asthma, lung cancer, or heart diseases.
Take your breaks
A walk in a forest, a daily trip in the countryside during the weekend, or an evening walk in a local park is exactly what a city resident needs.
This break isn’t only for clearing your mind and getting out of the hecticness, it is mainly for taking some time to breathe oxygen!
Let’s be honest, cities are full of gas emissions and polluted air. Despite the parks and trees that exist, the city’s environment isn’t enough for maintaining a decent health condition.
Spend a bit more money on your grocery and fruits
In cities, you know that it is difficult to be sure that you eat naturally grown groceries without chemicals. Especially in chain supermarkets, you can never rest assured of their quality.
The best way is local grocery shops and local suppliers who grow and sell their own fruits and vegetables. Do they cost more? Probably yes. But it is a no-brainer you should spend this more money to maintain a healthy diet.
You will choose the fruit with abrasions and with scratches and not the perfectly-looking ones from the supermarket since the ones with blows are the naturally grown ones!
Get a lot of Sun (Important)
Final and classic advice. Don’t make this common mistake and sit all your day in your home, even the days with sun. If you leave in a country with limited days of sun exposure, do not lose the chance for taking some vitamin D. Sun is the best boost for our immune system and has great benefits for your skin, wellness, and health in general!
*** More great articles that may be of interest to you 🙂
https://www.greatertorontohomepros.com/blog/improve-your-health-in-the-city/
