Unhealthy habits are patterns of behavior regarded as harming one's physical or mental health. These behavior are often linked to a lack of self-control.
We all are hoping and even looking forward to live a healthy lifestyle. However, there are few bad habits that we unconsciously indulge in due to our busy lifestyles -- these might be lack of sleep, unhealthy eating, etc. If not avoided or controlled, these habits could actually destroy our efforts towards establishing a healthy lifestyle.
There are many steps in establishing a healthy lifestyle and one of which is to identify and avoid bad habits. To do this, slightly set some small goals such as looking for a healthier substitute to your bad habits.
1. Negative Thought Process
Negative thought process will affect your attitude, it may cause a negative reaction to things that you used to love, and sometimes it leads to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. These will create chronic stress which upsets the balance of the hormones in your body. Having an imbalanced hormones depletes the brain chemicals required for happiness, and damages the immune system. Chronic stress can decrease our lifespan.
2. Junk Food Intake
Most of us are guilty of this. Due to our busy schedules, we tend to choose faster option that we can eat while we are driving our car, walking our way to work and so on. We are now living in a fast-paced environment and it is just a very natural reaction for a person to choose a faster option.
Avoiding to eat junk food does not necessarily mean moving in with your life without totally eating fast food. We can still eat fast food for at most once a week. This way, we will be able to at least satisfy our cravings and ensures that we are able to give the needs of our body without harming it.
3. Staying Up Late
Staying up very late disrupts the body's natural sleep-wake cycle, which can affect a person's mental functioning and energy levels the next day. Frequently staying up all night may lead to sleep problems and can have long-term effects on health.
Getting at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night is beneficial to both your body and mind. It cannot only your mood and cognition, but it can also help promote post-workout recovery and regulate one's appetite.
4. Being Inactive
What are the health risks associated with lack of exercise? One of the unhealthiest lifestyles is a sedentary lifestyle, which can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and many other health issues. Lack of physical activity has been clearly shown to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and other illnesses. People who are less active and ill are at increased risk of developing high blood pressure. Physical activity can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
5. Late Dinners / Snacks
Based on studies, eating anything passed 8PM is an unhealthy habit because our digestive system is on a slow post during these hours. Although we don't usually have dinner before 8PM all the time due to our busy lifestyle, we should at least consider keeping a minimum of 2 hours gap between your last meal and bedtime.
Eating late at night may lead to acid reflux and negatively affect blood sugar management, blood pressure, and weight. This may be due to many factors like poor food choices.