How I look after my health to survive in a city like NYC

The most common topics that pops up with all my friends in NYC is:

1. How exhausted everyone is

2. How much money we all seem to be spending

3. How badly we are eating and drinking

4. But how we still love this place unconditionally

Nothing matches the pace and urgency of NYC. It’s a cliché for a reason: the city is both animating and overwhelming. For someone living with anxiety and panic disorder (like me) that overstimulation can feel amplified, where my default is already a few notches too high.

You start your day with Solidcore, power through a 10–12 hour workday, head straight to a networking event, then meet friends who are visiting — and somehow you’ll rinse and repeat the next day. But the real fatigue hits on the weekends. Instead of catching up on the lost Zss, watching a movie, or cooking something wholesome, you’re drowning in plans: a gym class you promised to go to, a birthday dinner, a weird encounter with a homeless person on the street, and the grocery run on Sunday at Trader Joes (which is an absolutely miserable place to be on a Sunday - IYKYK).

However, registered dietitian Claire Rifkin said something at our ladibug lounge event that really struck a chord. She pointed out that while NYC looks indulgent, with all the buzzy restaurants and endless events, it’s also a very healthy place. Everyone is running. Everyone is trying a new workout. Everyone is cold plunging and going to saunas. She said we don’t give the city enough credit for that. And I tend to agree.

So, with that in mind, here are a list of random things I try to do to respect my health and wellbeing. I’m not consistent with all of them, but when I am, I feel 100000x better.

1. I try to do infrared saunas or hot workouts like CorePower sculpt 3x a week. I don’t know what the science is behind it but I sleep SO much better after either activity. Both leave you drowning in sweat but as though you’ve flushed out every toxin. I know saunas can be expensive, so I try to find discounted ones (sometimes at Chillspace), or on groupon.

2. Magnesium Citrate has been helping with my bloating. I often have unexplained episodes of tummy discomfort (especially after travelling or a big gluten intake at Via Carota), but I’ve been taking magnesium C for a while and it helps. We have one on ladibug that Claire Rifkin looooves.

3. Planning a weekend to have NOTHING on. Don’t even schedule any workouts or casual coffee dates. Enter your weekend curious, go with the flow and respect your peace. (this is hard and I have yet to do it).

4. My worst period symptoms are tiredness and those deep, nagging lower-back aches. And if that happens to fall on a Fri or Sat night, I’m not going out. I will get into a pair of period undies, and whip out my heat pack for my lower back. I will always order Phở, which I love to get from Saigon Shack in Soho and watch a movie.

5. Do a grocery shop every Sunday. I don’t know whether this is the Australian in me but we routinely shop every Sunday at Wholefoods or Freshdirect. It signals the week is starting, allows you to pre-plan your meals (which are always healthier) and budget for food so you don’t end up blowing your Amex on a shitty sweetgreen salad.

6. Sorry one more - get a Hatch. I will die on the Hatch hill. It has improved my sleep hygiene by leaving my phone out of my room and allowing for undisturbed reading time.

What I would like to try:

1. Apparently acupuncture can be brilliant for stress management. It has also been shown to help reduce hot flashes for menopausal women. AND, the girls have told me that acupuncture is often covered by insurance! Moxi seems like a cool place to try in Soho.

2. Very random but I know stress can lead to poor gut health, so I am trying to incorporate more fermented foods. I currently eat kefir, greek yoghurt and pickled onions but I want to experiment with sauerkraut.

3. There are meditation classes in NYC that I want to try. This one in Noho looks very zen.

4. The girlies seem to be loving magnesium. I might also try that out before bed. If you find magnesium helps your sleep, please message me lol.

Would also love to hear what techniques everyone else is doing to stay sane in this maddening but wonderful place. Let me know!

-brooke