It can be somewhat tricky to stay healthy while abroad with the allure of delicious food and drinks constantly tempting you, no surprise, BUT it is possible. In this blog post, I am going to walk you through the various ways I try to stay healthy while abroad here in Copenhagen.
The first, and maybe most obvious, is to ride a bike. Using a bike to get from place to place here is truly one of the fastest and most convenient ways to get around in Copenhagen. Biking is such a great workout so why not try to incorporate it into your daily routine to get your blood pumping and your endorphins flowing. I seriously LOVE riding my bike here and feel pretty spoiled with how good Copenhagen is with catering towards bikers. The difference of biking here vs. back at home, where the infrastructure isn’t as good, is really gonna hit me hard when I eventually have to leave Copenhagen (but I am NOT gonna think about that yet…).
I have a bike membership for the semester at Swapfiets here in Copenhagen. I found their table at the Student Activities Fair (which is an event DIS puts on at the beginning of the semester for students to find activities and clubs to sign up for while abroad) and made an appointment to rent a bike immediately after. The appointment was super quick and easy and before I knew it, I was riding a bike through the streets of Copenhagen.
The second option is to walk. While the commute to DIS might be too far or inconvenient for some people to walk to, walking is easy enough to incorporate into your daily routine in other ways. Whether it’s taking a walk around the city with friends or walking to the grocery store, if you’re walking, plot twist, you’re also exercising.
Another great option for staying healthy while abroad is being conscious of what you buy at the grocery store. I don’t know about you, but I am someone who seriously lacks willpower when it comes to food. In order to combat this habit (and my sweet tooth), I make sure that when I go to the grocery store I ALWAYS have a list with me. Grocery shopping using a list helps me to stay focused on what I actually need to buy instead of buying an absurd amount of sweets or snacks. OF COURSE on every list, I make sure to include chocolate and some type of snack (I’m not crazy) but having a list makes sure I don’t get too much and keeps me on track to eat healthily. Lists are also a great way to help you budget at the grocery store.
Cooking is also another food-related way to stay healthy in Copenhagen. Eating out is pretty expensive and unsustainable here in Copenhagen which is why I pretty much make every meal for myself. The idea of cooking every meal for myself was incredibly daunting at first but now I have come to appreciate it a lot because it gives me a lot of control over what I want to put into my body and enables me the ability to eat healthily.
Finally, and probably most common, you can get a gym membership. I made sure getting a gym membership was one of the first things I did while in Copenhagen. While it might have taken me a while to motivate myself to get to the gym (I don’t want to talk about it…), I am so glad I finally did. Working out at the gym is super therapeutic for me and is such a great way to de-stress after long days.
I got a gym membership at SATS here in Copenhagen. The membership I got enables me to use any of their locations and have the ability to go to any or all of their workout classes. They also have a great student discount which makes the membership super affordable so I totally recommend it.
And if none of these ideas sparked any interest for you… EXERCISE USING THE TRAMPOLINES BY NYHAVN!!!! You CANNOT go wrong with a bit of trampoline action.
CopenHANGIN' in Denmark 