Choosing to prioritize your health can be difficult, no matter where you live. For Seattleites, overcoming busy schedules, food deserts, and transportation can be hurdles to health. 

Seattle, Washington, is a hub for many large technology companies and businesses. With a high median household income of nearly $25,000 more than the nation’s average comes long work hours at a desk. These demanding schedules make it difficult to squeeze in time for healthy meal prep, grocery shopping, personal nutrition counseling, or exercise. Instead, skipping meals or healthy cooking in favor of productivity can quickly become a habit.

A Seattle nutritionist can help you navigate these challenges. For example, they can help identify areas in your routine where you can add short walks or help you find ways to make healthy eating easy. 

Though Seattle is not known for its traffic, that’s not to say it isn’t bad. For people living in this Washington city, the average commute time is 28 minutes. Whether or not you’re driving to work daily, you may need to hop in the car to run errands, attend appointments, or even stop at the gym. Regardless, getting around Seattle can be time-consuming. This challenge makes it harder to attend nutrition workshops or exercise classes regularly.

For some people, shopping at a healthy grocery store may require additional travel since the number of grocery stores and food access is distributed unevenly throughout the Seattle area. South Seattle and southern parts of Washington’s King County are “food deserts,” meaning that these areas are more than one mile away from a grocery store or farmers' markets. Since food deserts most often correlate with impoverished neighborhoods, travel expenses make grocery shopping for healthy staples a significant challenge in Seattle.