Welcome back, everyone; this week, I thought I would discuss nine bad habits we should all avoid. If you are a human, then you have likely had one or more bad habits in your life, as we all seem to have them.
This week I thought I would take the time to point out nine of these habits and how they can affect us, and then break down why we should avoid them.
Please read on if you have a bad habit and want to see if it has made my list.
Over or under drinking water:
In most cases, when people talk about over-drinking, they are referring to alcohol. While if they are talking about under drinking, they would be referring to water. And for this article, I will point out that you should avoid these habits.
Most people understand the downfalls of overdrinking alcohol, but too few understand the side effects of overdrinking water. Many people do not drink enough water ever to be worried about overdrinking it and should be more focused on drinking.
But some can overdo it with water and can cause what is known as water intoxication, which can affect your body in these ways,
- It can cause vomiting or nausea.
- Headaches
- Muscle weakness
- Raised blood pressure
- Difficulty with breathing
- Confusion
- Edema or swelling in your body
While drinking water can affect your body in these ways,
- You may have low energy.
- Brain fog
- It can cause moodiness
- It can lead to overeating
- More bacteria in your urine
- Low output of urine
- Slowing your metabolism
- Headaches
- Wrinkling of skin
- Weight gain
When drinking water, it is very important to drink about fifty percent of your total body weight a day. To drink more or less could lead to problems that none of us want to deal with.
Stress eating or stress starving:
You may know that overeating and undereating can harm you, and many of you may believe that undereating will help you to lose weight. However, both situations produce a lot more harm to your body than good. Some examples of the effects on your body would be,
- It can decrease your immunity to illness or disease.
- Can cause excess or a decrease in body weight.
- It may cause a decrease in brain function.
- It can interrupt your normal hunger sensations.
- It will likely cause excess gas and bloating
- It can disrupt your sleep patterns.
When it comes to eating, you should strive to eat regularly but also eat a healthy diet and reasonable portions. Although It is understood that undereating can help with weight loss and overeating can help with stress reduction, both of these cause the harm that they will generate will always outweigh the good, and it is advised to avoid both habits.
Under or over-exercising:
We all read and hear about the effects of exercise. In many cases, you will find more and more people preaching about the impact of a lack of exercise, and you will hear how it will affect your body in these ways,
- Weight gain
- Slowing your metabolism
- Can cause you to feel more stress and anxiety
- Can induce lower immunity to illness or disease
And as many of us do not have enough activity due to having desk jobs or busy lives, we are not likely to pay attention to the effects that over-exercising can cause. Yet as there are people who underexercise, there are also people who over-exercise, which can cause as much if not more damage to your body. Some of these effects are,
- Need longer and more extended periods of rest
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Irritability or excessive mood swings
- Disruption of your sleeping patterns
- Soreness or cramping of your muscles
- Overuse injuries
- Burnout
- Hormonal imbalance
- Anorexia
- Rhabdomyolysis
- Cardiovascular stress
- Lowered immunity
- Impaired metabolism
Like with all things, there needs to be a balance, and although it is important to be active, it is just as vital that you allow your body to rest, let alone that your activity level is beneficial to your mind and body.
Not making enough time for sleep:
Most people do not think that they have enough time in the day to find time to have the required seven to eight hours of sleep everybody needs, but to deny your body of the necessary rest it needs can affect your body in these ways,
- Imbalance of hormones
- Confusion
- Lower immunity
- Increase the possibility of heart attack or significant disease
- Can cause a lack of memory
- Slows alertness
- Overeating and weight gain
- The increased possibility of accidents
- Mood swings and irritability
It is vital to get enough sleep per day and have regular sleep patterns so that you can function at the level your body needs.
Not making time for relaxation ( You time )
With busy lives as most of us have it can be tough to find the time to relax or take a simple time out for ourselves, yet, we must do so to maintain balanced and healthy lifestyles.
We do not all require much time per day, only fifteen minutes to an hour, but making this time for yourself each and every day is essential. By doing this, you will give yourself the time to refresh and renew for whatever life might throw at you, and by not doing this, you can be left with effects such as these,
- Increased stress hormones
- Increased anxiety
- Increased body aches
- Increased mood swings or irritability
- Raised blood pressure
- Overwhelm
- Increased possibility of having emotional outbursts
- Fatigue
- Irregular sleeping pattern
- Poor digestion
- Racing mind or monkey mind
As it does not take much time and it is so crucial to our overall health, it is suggested that you make time for yourself every day, whether that be by just taking a hot bath, taking a walk, watching a movie, or zoning out the world or reading a book. Be sure to make the time because you are worth it, and it will benefit you and the people you interact with daily.
Not respecting your or others’ boundaries:
So what is a boundary? A boundary is a limit in any given area you are willing to go.
Suppose you find that people are not respecting your boundaries. In that case, it is likely because they are not thinking about you, just as if you repeatedly disrespect other people’s boundaries. But, again, it is expected because you pay more attention to what you want than how you affect them.
If you find that people are repeatedly crossing your boundary lines, it is your job to communicate this to them and what they should be doing differently.
However, if you find that you are crossing their boundaries, you should ask them what you could be doing differently.
Repeatedly crossing or disrespecting people’s boundaries, let alone them doing this to you, will cause stress and strain on the relationship and should be avoided if possible so that there will not be permanent harm to the relationship will not be caused.
Doing self-harm:
You may ask yourself what I mean by self-harm, as there are so many ways that people do this to themselves. Some of the ways I am referring to would be,
- Smoking
- Drinking alcohol in excess
- Overeating
- Overmedicating
- Not sleeping enough
- Eating a poor diet
- Living reckless lifestyles
- Negative self talk
- Cutting
- Starving themselves
- Using narcotics
And the list goes on and on. We have perfected the skill set of doing self-harm, but the truth is that we should treat ourselves with the same level of respect and love that we would want to have others treat us with or that we give to others.
If we do self-harm, we can not honestly expect others to treat us any better than we would treat ourselves no matter how much we want them to, and all methods of self-harm methods should be avoided, especially if they are done in the extreme.
Being around people who are not helping you to succeed:
Each of our relationships helps to define who we are and acts as a mirror to how we live our lives. Our relationships should lift us and support us the same way we do for them. The energy shared should be of equal value.
If you find that when you are around certain people that you feel drained, more emotional, or you find yourself acting unlike yourself, it is a sign that the energy in this relationship is out of balance.
You have two choices you can work on finding a solution by communicating your observation and then brainstorming possible solutions, or you can put an end to the relationship. The truth is that all your relationships should be helping you, not hindering you, and if you find that they are hindering you, it is a sign that something needs to change.
Negative self-talk:
This habit can diminish your confidence and self-esteem. It can put you in a state of fear and anxiety, and you will doubt yourself and your outcomes far more when you do this.
Negative self-talk is when we tell ourselves lies and form limiting beliefs that we are no good, unworthy, a failure, or not enough. But they are just lies, and we should avoid thinking negatively, both internally and externally; as with anything else, if you tell yourself something enough, somehow it always seems to be turned into your reality.
Recognize it for what it is, False evidence appearing real and otherwise known as a lie.
Final Thoughts:
As you can see, each of these bad habits has a cost and will deliver many more bad outcomes than good. Therefore, it is in each of our best interests to lead balanced lives and avoid over or underdoing any of the habits mentioned in this article.
I hope that you found this information helpful, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Please do so in the comment section below if you feel like sharing.
Until week, Namaste.
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