5 Bad Habits That You Need to Drop–Like a Bad Habit!
It seems that every day scientists are discovering something we use everyday that’s bad for our health and by the time you’ve finished listening to what you should be doing, what you shouldn’t be doing, what you should and shouldn’t be eating and drinking you can be left feeling very confused. So here are five things lots of us do every day that are actually very unhealthy (and don’t worry, there isn’t a mention of smoking because if you don’t already know that one is bad for you, you’re probably beyond help!)
1. Not Sleeping Enough
Margret Thatcher might have famously claimed she survived on just four hours sleep a night but this isn’t healthy. If you lead a busy lifestyle it might not be feasible to get eight hours every night but you need to be getting at least seven hours sleep a night otherwise your brain won’t function as effectively, you’ll get irritable more easily, you won’t be able to make simple decisions as simply and you’ll struggle to burn off any excess calories.
You can’t save it for the weekend either, having a long lie in on Saturday and Sunday doesn’t put those extra hours in the ‘sleep bank’. Ideally you should try to keep your sleep routine the same all week and maybe just have an extra hour or two sleep at the weekend. Get to bed before midnight during the week and get up before midday at the weekend!
2. Too Much Sugar
We all know sugar is bad for you but what most people don’t know is actually how much sugar they’re consuming. Too much tea and coffee with ‘just one sugar’ soon adds up, fizzy drinks contain a lot of sugar and anything that’s processed is going to have lots of sugar too.
Even fruit has natural sugar and too much of that can be bad for you too. The easiest way to get round this is just be more aware of what you’re eating and drinking, check the labels more often and try to use substitutes where you can. Too much tea and coffee isn’t good for you in the first place so opt for water instead. You may get withdrawal symptoms at first but after your body has adapted you’ll feel more awake in the long run.
3. Relying On Pain Killers Too Much
This is another one that slips through because we just don’t pay any attention. Most women (sorry to stereotype) will carry some form of pain killers in their handbags and most men know this. It’s become second nature these days to pop a pill when we get a headache but this can be very dangerous.
You need to be treating the cause of the pain rather than the symptom. If you’re grabbing a pill because you’ve got a headache look at why you’ve got a headache, maybe you just need some fresh air for a few minutes, perhaps you’ve had too much sugar and you need to drink some water or perhaps you’ve got your hair tied back too tight or you just need glasses.
4. Getting stressed
This one is hard to act on as you’re either the laid back type or you get angry easily and you can’t help this. Try little exercises like counting to five before you act, taking a deep breath or just going out to get some fresh air for five minutes. Of course if the kids are driving you crazy the last thing you want to do is give them five whole seconds let alone five minutes to get into more trouble but you do need to find away to calm down. Picture your deep calm blue ocean or large glass of red, whatever you need to do to bring your heart rate back down and chill out. Having an increased heart rate is just going to lead to an increased risk of a heart attack when you’re older.
5. Rushing your food
We all know what we should and shouldn’t be eating but it goes further than just putting the right types of food in our mouths. You also need to make sure you’re taking you time with your food, don’t rush it, chew each mouthful and make sure you’re not swallowing half chewed food. Not chewing your food properly means your body has to work even harder to digest it and this alone can lead to lots of health worries. You are not a child any more, big brother or sister is not going to come along and take it off you, take your time, taste each mouthful and enjoy it. The slower you eat the easier you body can let you know when it’s full up too.
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Jessica works for JTX Fitness who sell treadmills and power plates and believe everything can be healthy if they want to be.
So true! Take care of yourself and you’ll be better equipped to take care of others, as well as your own responsibilities. I think these habits can easily become intertwined and part of a vicious cycle: lack of sleep begets lack of energy, so you drink more caffeine and soda. Then comes the sugar crash, so you grab some food from a vending machine or the drive-thru.