Everyone wants to look and feel their best, but the stresses and strains of modern life can easily take their toll, meaning we need a crutch to help us get through the day.
However, once ingrained, even the most dangerous health habits can be hard to break. You may also feel that other factors are getting in the way, such as money, time or other stresses. While we all enjoy a takeout or a strong cup of coffee from time to time, it’s important for your health and happiness to moderate these habits as much as possible.
With this in mind, here are the top three unhealthy lifestyle habits that are preventing you looking and feeling your best, and how to finally break them.
Convenience Food
It’s no secret that convenience food is bad for our health. Still, due to our increasingly busy lives, a takeout is sometimes our only option. The bad news is that most convenience foods are loaded with preservatives, unnatural colorings and added flavors, all of which can cause serious health issues such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and strokes. The problem is, the excessive salt and sugar content of these foods give us a high, making us crave more of them.
What you can do: Instead of punishing yourself, view this pursuit for health as a positive challenge. Buy yourself a new recipe book or follow a new blog, and start getting creative with your meals. You don’t need to have loads of spare time to cook; you can rustle up something simple like avocado on toast in minutes.
Don’t deny yourself of “unhealthy” foods altogether. It may seem counter-intuitive to indulge when you’re trying to eat healthier, but having the occasional treat will make it easier for you to stick to your new lifestyle. As the saying goes, moderation is key.
Smoking
According to the American Lung Association, traditional cigarettes contain about 600 ingredients that release more than 7,000 chemicals when burned. Perhaps the most addictive of these ingredients is nicotine: a mood-altering drug that is known to cause cancer, as well as yellowing teeth and fingers, wrinkly skin, blot clotting and heart disease to name a few.
What you can do: Withdrawal from nicotine can make you anxious, tired and depressed. It may also cause headaches and sleep problems, so if you’re planning to quit, it’s important to take it one step at a time. Vaping is a sensible alternative to cigarettes, with fewer side effects and risks, so pick yourself up a starter kit and get to grips with it before binning your old smokes. More info about vaping starter kits is readily available on the web.
Desk Dangers
These days, more and more of us work on laptops or behind desks for a large chunk of the day. Because of this fact, the many dangers of sitting at a desk all day are being highlighted. Modern research indicates that prolonged sitting can increase the risk for high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, slow blood circulation, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
What you can do: Include regular work breaks in your calendar during which you get up and walk or stretch your body. Alternatively, you could avoid these dangers entirely by using a standing desk.