We all have bad habits when it comes to our health, but some are worse than others. These seven unhealthy habits could be having a profoundly negative impact on your health, which is why you need to do what you can to break them as soon as possible. Your body will thank you as you start to feel healthier.
Here’s how to break the seven most common unhealthy habits:
1. Uncontrollable Snacking
More than likely, it’s the amount of snacking that you do that’s causing you to pack on those extra pounds rather than the meals you eat. To avoid uncontrollable snacking, only eat when you feel hungry, replace unhealthy snacks with healthy ones, and plan your snacks along with your meals. If you’ve eaten a meal recently, then try drinking a glass of water before snacking.
2. Chronic Stress
Chronic stress can lead to some health problems including weight gain and heart disease, so it’s essential to avoid living a stressful life. Some ways you can reduce stress in your life include finding a hobby you enjoy, learning stress-management techniques such as yoga or deep breathing, getting plenty of exercises, and eating a healthy diet.
3. Watching Too Much TV
The more hours you spend in front of the TV, the fewer days you’ll have in your life. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do which will change that. Choose to watch no more than 2 hours of TV per day, only turn on the TV when you’re going to watch something specific, and get up during every commercial break to do something active.
4. Smoking
Whether you’re smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes or even the so-called safer electronic version, this is one of the unhealthy habits that you need to break as soon as possible. If you can quit with will-power alone, do so. If not, you may try nicotine patches or other types of medication your doctor can prescribe you. Make sure you also have support for quitting smoking is a steep road.
5. Excessive Drinking
Whether you’re doing it as a coping mechanism for everything that’s wrong with your life or it’s just your idea of a good time, excessive drinking is extremely bad for your health. To break this unhealthy habit, be sure to drink only with meals, find healthier coping mechanisms and other ways to have fun, and limit your daily drinks to 2 for men and 1 for women.
6. Not Protecting Your Skin
Even getting sunburnt a couple of times every summer is enough to permanently damage your skin and increase your chances of developing skin cancer. Be sure to use high SPF sunscreen year-round, and avoid spending a lot of time in the sun by sticking to the shade and wearing long sleeves when the sun is at its highest. If you desperately want a tan, try self-tanners or a spray tan instead.
7. Using OTC Medications
When you make it a habit of using things like ibuprofen for pain and sleeping pills to fall asleep at night, you put yourself at risk for dangerous side effects and for becoming immune to their benefits. Instead, make sure you’re treating the underlying problem like losing weight if you’re straining your joints and talk to your doctor about finding the right medication for your condition.
The sooner you start making changes in your life to break these everyday unhealthy habits, the sooner you’ll see results and be able to live a much healthier life. Tell us in the comments below what you’re going to do about your unhealthy habits, then tell a friend and ask them to keep you accountable as you make these substantial changes for the better.
