Keeping fit is tough. Which is why many choose “lose weight” or “join the gym” as a New Years resolution. It’s even tougher to keep fit in a city, such as New York where there are so many fine restaurants, and great local eateries. You can’t walk a block without seeing a Starbucks or a Crumbs, and their calorie counts can be high. So how does one keep fit in a city full of delicious food?
It helps that NYC’s subway system has advertisements which give you advice such as “get off a stop earlier, and walk the extra way to work,” or, “walk up stairs instead of using escalators or elevators.” The trouble with this, is a lot of the time, New Yorkers are rushing to get to work on time, due to “sick passengers” and “train traffic.”
But never fear New Yorkers. This year, you can use the below interesting ways to get the weight off, and keep it off. Everyone knows that losing weight is easy with a friend. But sometimes your friends are busy. So why not make some new ones with these weight loss groups?
Meetup.com lets you find groups meeting up to do the things they love, or want to do. There are tons of healthy meetups. For example there’s this Yoga Meetup that meets every Wednesday at the NYPL. These free meetups with professional yoga instructors, doing what they do best, instructing, will be held until March 25th. But by that time, you’ll have made plenty of yoga friends you can continue to yoga with, know more.
Then again, not all of us can bend that way. So for those of us that can’t, what can we do? Well NYC is filled with ton great attractions. And city offices are always great at allowing you to eat at your desk. So try eating a sandwich or salad at your desk before your lunch hour begins, and then during your lunch hour, select one of NYC’s great destinations to walk to. Me? I choose the Central Park Zoo. Working at 53rd and 7th means I have to walk about 15 blocks to get there. That’s a total of 30 blocks, which is a great workout! And I get to see zoo animals. I mean really. If you’re near the UES, make the you’re your destination (admission is technically free) and it’s a quick walk. And take a coworker along for the ride, the company will be fabulous.
But what if you have bad knees and you can’t stand to turn yourself into a pretzel? Then you can most definitely find yourself joining Shape Up NYC. Shape Up NYC will get you fit for sure. With free classes and meets all over the city, you are sure to find yourself a friend to get you there.
Whatever you choose, the city and the parks department are here to help as well. Just visit their websites for more keeping fit ideas. And call 311 for any other advice.
Alexandra has had a life-long battle with losing weight (haven’t we all?) but living in NYC, though can be a test of willpower, also provided her with many ways to keep to her ambitions of staying fit.