There are four very common bad habits that are familiar to us: smoking, drinking alcohol in excess, poor diet and lack of exercise. But somehow unknowingly, we have more than these four bad habits that can also sabotage our health just as badly. Find out what other habits we have to break right away and rebuild our life.

Breaking Bad Health Habits to Rebuild Your Life

Four Worst Health Habits

Much have been studied and written about effects of the four worst health habits people have today, no matter what social class, age or culture they belong to. These are smoking, drinking alcohol in excess, poor diet and lack of exercise. Many people are guilty of one or more of these risky behaviors that eventually lead to health problems such as heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases. Other effects of these habits are abnormalities in body weight, and premature aging perhaps even depression.

However, aside from these very big mistakes, somehow a lot of us have other seemingly minor but faulty practices and lifestyle behaviors that may actually lead to major health problems.

Other Common Bad Health Habits

To rebuild our life me must break some bad habits we have acquired through the years, perhaps even since childhood! These include:

1. Not getting enough sleep –  although some people may need less than others, not getting at least six hours of good sleep on a habitual basis can lead to obesity, chronic headaches and heart disease among others. Lack of sleep is also a common cause of driving mishaps.
2. Not brushing one’s teeth before going to sleep – although it is recommended that we brush our teeth at least twice a day, failing to brush them before sleeping probably causes the most damage to our oral health. Furthermore, not brushing or flossing can lead to gum disease, bad breath and possibly heart disease.
3. Slouching or having poor posture – although it is comfortable not to sit or stand upright, slouching for long periods of time can lead to body aches, headache and stress.
4. Unsafe driving practices – failure to wear seatbelts, using the cell phone while driving or just being distracted by a crying child can put lives at great risk. In fact, deaths due to driving accidents rank high among the most common causes of deaths among Americans.
5. Forgetting to protect the skin from harmful  ultraviolet (UV) rays – can cause wrinkles, dryness, and age spots, sunburn, skin texture changes, dilated blood vessels, and skin cancers.
6. Forgetting to wash hands often – the single most effective way of avoiding common illnesses and the spread of infections

Perhaps there are more bad health habits we can add to this list, such as nail biting, and so on. But whatever these poor behaviors are, it is never too late to rebuild a new lifestyle by following a few steps.

Breaking Bad Health Habits

Like any other way of accomplishing things, one must have a plan which includes a date to begin, a specific behavior you want to change, how you’re going to change that behavior and a method to track your progress. Plan to replace bad habits with good ones.

Next, one must set realistic goals that are practical and doable, something that can be done in stepwise approach on a daily or regular basis. Breaking bad habits is a journey and can take more than a few attempts to succeed.

Prepare for discomfort, just like any change in behavior can bring certain uneasiness. To counter this, set up incentives and rewards for good behavior.

Reap the fruits of your hard work and recognize the good effects on your health such as improved weight, less stress, active lifestyle and younger bodies!

References

WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/13-healthy-habits-to-improve-your-life

Clevelandclinic.org , http://cchealth.clevelandclinic.org/good-habits-bad-habits

Canadianliving.com, http://www.canadianliving.com/health/prevention/12_bad_health_habits_and_how_to_fix_them_2.php