Everyone wants to live a stress-free, happy and fulfilling life. To be in your best state of body and mind, you need to make well-thought-out choices. The problem is that a lot of us live our lives on autopilot. Poor habits can ruin every aspect of your life – from your physical appearance to your level of performance. Taking the first step of identifying which habits to break is the key to a healthier you. Have a look at the list of unhealthy habits below which you need to avoid starting today:
1. Using your phone too much
Yes, spending too much time on your cellular phone is detrimental to your health. Though we use them daily to stay in touch with our loved ones and co-workers, it’s best to keep a safe distance from them as much as possible. According to the World Health Organization, mobile phones emit electromagnetic fields that increase our risk for developing cancer.
Aside from cancer, we experience other negative health effects of being to hooked to our devices such as increased stress and eye problems. To avoid these, set a specific time of the day for answering all your text messages at once. When you get home from work, avoid checking notifications after 8:00pm.
2. Cigarette smoking
Smoking cigarette can Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and lung cancer but in reality nearly all organs in your body can be negatively affected by this poor habit. It can damage your immune system. This makes you more prone to developing infections and experiencing slow recovery.
Among pregnant women, carbon monoxide that’s inhaled from cigarette smoke travel through the bloodstream and affect their babies. It has been found out that smoking while pregnant can lead to heart defects and mental disabilities in newborns.
3. Snacking on junk foods
We consider certain foods in our diet as comfort foods since they make us feel better during a stressful day at school or work. Most of the time, these foods are unhealthy and can do you more harm than good. Ice cream, cupcakes, cookies, glazed donuts, and pizzas can make you gain extra weight and feel guilty afterwards.
Snacking isn’t bad. It’s the kind of foods we choose to snack on that makes the habit bad. A good alternative would be to eat healthy snack foods instead. Consider low-calorie and nutritious treats such as almonds, cereal, apples, and sliced cucumbers. These foods are rich in antioxidants that promote good cardiovascular health and enhance your mood.
4. Skipping breakfast
People know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Being in a hurry for work can make you skip it. When you miss breakfast, you run low on energy. That explains why you experience daytime fatigue and can’t think clear. Worse, you gain weight over time. Remember that more than eight hours have passed since you had dinner the previous day. Your body needs nutrients to perform well at the office.
To beat this unhealthy habit, you can wake up earlier in the morning to make time for food preparation. If not, you can have a bowl of whole grain cereal paired with a fruit. That won’t take a lot of time to prepare – most likely less than 5 minutes.
5. Being inactive.
Having a sedentary lifestyle can shorten your lifespan. Between men and women, women are more likely to be inactive. Researchers have found out that people who don’t engage in physical activity develop hypertension. Other health problems have also been identified such as obesity and diabetes.
The only remedy to inactivity is regular exercise. Engage in cardiovascular exercises at least 3 days and 150 hours a week. The options are endless. You can use an elliptical machine, run or jog outside, do brisk walking, swim, or join a dance workout class. Maintain your workout program for a month and you’ll see the effects on your body. Have an exercise partner so you can be accountable and stay motivated.
