Lifestyle

Too Many People are Guilty of these Bad Personal Habits

Picking the Ends of Your Hair Some people pay a lot of attention to their hair. They buy all the best products to keep it looking… Trista - August 27, 2022

Picking the Ends of Your Hair

Some people pay a lot of attention to their hair. They buy all the best products to keep it looking healthy and soft… only for the dreaded split end to show up every now and again. Some people would just take scissors to the bottom and trim them off, but other people experience some joy in grabbing the split and peeling them apart. This is quite damaging to a person’s hair, but some people can’t help but continue the bad habit. This is actually a form of body-focused repetitive behavior, which can also include hair-pulling and nail-biting. Therapy and conscious awareness of it can help to curtail the habit.

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Slacking Off At Work

With the pandemic, people had to search for new and different avenues to find work. And because that resulted in many people working from home, their attention span was affected. When they worked from home, people could schedule their time according to their mood and availability, working into the long hours of the night if they wanted to. But returning to the typical office environment was a difficult transition for some. Studies have shown that employees are slacking off a little more in the workspace. People are spending more time on their cellphones at work, checking their personal emails instead of work emails. Of course, no human can work for 8 hours every day wholly dedicated to their work and breaks every 90 minutes are typically recommended, but people are taking breaks more frequently, which is disrupting the workflow.

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Self-Medicating

Depression and other chronic conditions can be quite debilitating, making it difficult for people to function in their everyday life. But getting the professional help that they need can become quite expensive. For that reason, some people choose to cope through self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. Or worse: they’re self-medicating just to get through the stresses of everyday life. This is such a big problem because self-medication can lead to a number of mental health problems, including deeper depression, schizophrenia, or even manic-depressive disorder. Another drawback of self-medicating is that addiction habits can form quite easily, leading to the person needing drugs and alcohol just to feel “normal” instead of relying only occasionally.

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Possessing Work-Aholic Tendencies

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a great work ethic. However, many people don’t even realize they might be workaholics. What is a workaholic exactly? A workaholic is someone who works excessively and compulsively and is unable to detach from work. Signs that you may be a workaholic include wanting to free up more time to get back to work, working more time than necessary, and experiencing stress when you’re not working. All of this means your work is having a negative effect on your health. In this day and age, some people can’t help but be workaholics because of the prices of everything are constantly going up, and studies have shown that people who have children are much more likely to become workaholics.

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Drinking and Driving

Many people are social drinkers; they look forward to spending Friday evenings with friends, sharing a few drinks, and unwinding so that they have a good start to the weekend. The problem lies in having too many drinks and then getting behind the wheel of a car. Inebriation affects one’s judgment and reflexes, which is why 32% of fatal car crashes usually involve a drunk driver or drunk pedestrian. Of course, there have been many PSAs about drunk driving, and even the penalties are becoming more serious as a way to deter people, it doesn’t seem to be doing an outstanding job since the rates haven’t changed much. It’s seriously a bad and dangerous habit that more people need to give up.

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Being Too Sedentary

Having a sedentary lifestyle may feel comfortable since one can sit on the couch all day, watch TV, and enjoy their favorite snacks. But like all bad habits, this can be a bit detrimental to one’s health. Without exercise, a number of risk factors go up, such as those for obesity, stroke, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. You must get up and move around throughout the day, even if it’s just a short five-minute walk. Hypertension and cardiovascular disease drastically go down the less time you spend sitting in one place. Kidney problems are also reduced, such as kidney stones, since there is more activity and the chance to go to the bathroom.

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Eating Junk Food

Feasting on junk food is the quick and easy way to get a meal in. Not to mention that fast food tastes extra good on an empty stomach, but that’s because of all the extra fat content in each meal. Fast food is incredibly cheap and dangerous because it makes it a straightforward option if you’re trying to save on your monthly expenses. Eating fast food too often increases plenty of health risks, including weight gain, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular health, and some types of cancer. The brain’s reward center is also jumpstarted when eating fast food, so it becomes wired to expect and even crave these unhealthy foods.

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Drinking Coffee At Night

Night time is the time that you should be winding down before bed. Meditation, breathing exercises, and putting away your devices tells your brain that it’s time to turn off and prepare it for sleep. The worst mistake people make is indulging in that one cup of coffee right before bed, thinking that it will calm their nerves or because they like the taste. However, coffee is a stimulant, and it’s going to do the exact opposite of helping you fall asleep. The caffeine gives you a rush of energy that lasts for about eight hours after you’ve drunk it, so don’t expect to fall asleep any time soon. Of course, if you don’t sleep well and wake up sluggish the following day, you will inevitably reach for another cup of coffee to wake you up. Break that cycle and give up drinking coffee after 2 pm so you can fall asleep much faster at night.

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Not Eating Your Vegetables

A well-balanced diet is the key to taking care of your body and most problems related to your health. Not many people want to invest the time they need into creating balanced meals every day. So, they resort to what’s the easiest or quickest to grab or make. And for that reason, vegetables are often left out of the mix. Vegetables are essential because they’re rich in fiber and provide a wide range of vitamins and minerals. Signs that you’re not eating enough vegetables include dull-looking skin. You will have trouble keeping off weight. Plus, your vision won’t be as good as it once was. You will constantly feel tired and have irregular bowel movements. One way you can start including more vegetables is to create a breakfast smoothie. You can add vegetables to your sandwiches or wraps or include roasted vegetables to your dinner.

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Talking Negatively to Yourself

Having good self-esteem can keep you motivated, but everyone experiences that little voice in the back of their head criticizing everything that they do. Sometimes that voice can be a little motivator in and of itself, but the problem lies in when that voice becomes too loud and too harmful to the point that you no longer feel motivated. Negative self-talk is an easy pit to fall into and can quickly develop into a bad habit when one isn’t keeping it under control. This can negatively impact your self-esteem, increase the risk of depression, and can ruin relationships because one can think they’re constantly not good enough in those relationships. Negative self-talk can be minimized by reminding yourself that your thoughts and feelings aren’t always reality. Try shifting your perspective to be more positive, and think one good thought for every wrong thought you have so that you can retrain your brain from this bad habit.

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Practicing Unsafe Intimacy

It has become a common trend for the younger generation to engage in unprotected relations, despite having all the knowledge of safe practices, STIs, and unwanted pregnancies. However, that hasn’t changed their habits much, despite the rise in cases of chlamydia, for example. As many as 64% of people under the age of 25 have contracted chlamydia at some point. Most don’t want to question their partners about their testing history. Some don’t even ask about condoms. Maybe they think it will ruin the spontaneity of the mood. Others have said that taking birth control does horrible things to their mood swings. As a result, they would prefer not to be in a constant emotional state. Regardless of your reason, you need to protect yourself from STIs and unwanted pregnancies.

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Playing Video Games Excessively

Like all addictions, they can creep up on you without you knowing. Video game addiction is one of the latest forms of addiction that has taken over the population. Some people will play for hours on end instead of taking care of the aspects of their normal life. That’s because video games ignite the brain’s reward center through passive means; gamers just have to use a controller to complete challenges, earn rewards, or beat other players in the same game. This gives them an adrenaline rush that they can easily become addicted to and constantly keep playing to get more. However, sitting in one place for extended periods of time can damage your vision, put you at risk for thrombosis, and even increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. It’s unlikely that gamers are eating healthy, too, so all of the risks that come with overeating fast food or skipping meals are also attached to this bad habit.

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Partaking in Rumors and Gossip

A little tidbit of gossip here and there shouldn’t be a bad thing, right? Even young teenagers are engaged in the process because it can make them feel better than their own lives. Sometimes gossip can be harmless, but the majority of it involves slut-shaming, spreading lies, and creating toxic friendships that people don’t know how to get away from. It also doesn’t help those who are the subject matter of the gossip. Their self-esteem can be ruined, and they can develop a number of mental health disorders that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Is that the kind of atmosphere you would want to participate in? Yet, people continue to do so, as long as they’re not the target of the gossip. There are definitely better ways to spend your time.

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Talking Over Others

The loudest voices are always the ones that are heard the most, but there’s something obscene about talking over other people during a conversation. Some people do it because they want to be heard and are too self-important to consider the feelings of others; people talk over others because they’ve never had the chance to be heard before and feel like they need to compensate. Children are taught to take turns speaking at a young age, yet it seems we lose this as we grow older. Some believe that this is a way for people to have some amount of control that they don’t usually have over other aspects of their lives. Regardless of the reasoning, exercising self-control and waiting for a conversation break before putting in your two cents is important.

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Living Above Your Means

People go to work because they want to be able to live comfortably. Maybe they have some financial goal they’re heading towards, like buying a new house or car or paying off all of their loans. This kind of dedication requires saving for a rainy day, which means not spending all of the money you have every week. Unfortunately, some live above their means, trying to make their lives look more exciting and fulfilling than it really is. Of course, the advent of social media hasn’t helped in the matter either, so everyone feels like they have to show off what they have. If you’re running out of money before your next paycheck, have no emergency fund, or you’re not saving at least 5% of your income every month, then you should definitely start thinking about changing your spending habits.

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Forgetting to Pay Bills On Time

Taking care of bills can be a difficult chore because they’re the last thing you want to do at the end of the day. The temptation to sit back and just relax is an easy one to give into, but if you don’t pay attention, the due dates come much sooner than you think. Many people end up paying their bills late for one reason or another, and it’s a bad habit that can ruin your credit score. Don’t throw your bills into a pile to be sorted later. Check and see which ones are due sooner than others, and take care of those first. Work on them in order of due date so that you do not forget any. Alternatively, you can pay your bills as soon as you get them in the mail so that you don’t have to worry about them later.

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Buying Things You Don’t Need

Shopping therapy is one of the most popular ways to treat yourself, but remember that all things are temporary. After you’ve treated yourself, you end up with a home full of stuff you didn’t even need. And if it’s way past the date of being able to return the items, you’re pretty much stuck with them. Buying things you don’t need ignites the brain’s reward center and releases dopamine; everyone wants that sensation again, so the cycle continues to feel that rush again. Others buy items they don’t need because they want to impress other people or you think your things might be worth more in the future. Either way, you can slowly cut back on this bad habit by starting off with a small allowance of expendable income and shrinking it over time until you find you don’t need to buy things you don’t need anymore.

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Promising Things You Aren’t Sure If You Can Deliver

A promise is something that is considered sacred by most people and should be kept at all times… unless there are extenuating circumstances. However, some people make promises that they have no intention of keeping. This can make them seem untrustworthy over time so that no one believes anything that they say in the future. In other circumstances, people make promises about things that they don’t have the ability to fulfill. They think that they might be able to gain that ability in the future, but they end up selling themselves short in the end and can’t make that promise a reality. In this circumstance, it’s better to provide a fake answer than do your homework to see if that outcome is even possible. In the previous case, however, don’t make promises that you have no intention of keeping because this is one of the fastest ways to destroy the relationships around you.

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Snacking Before Bed

Feeling a little peckish at night? It’s easy to just get a small snack in before bed so that you’re not going to bed hungry. But that small snack is actually quite bad for you. You have a slower metabolism right before bed, which means you’ll gain weight more easily. It’s also pretty bad for your digestion since the food will be sitting in your stomach until morning. It’s also common knowledge that when people think of snacks, they’re not grabbing for the healthy stuff: they’re grabbing junk food, which further increases weight gain and the risk of diabetes. That doesn’t mean you have to go to bed hungry, though. You can pick healthy snacks to eat before bed, such as low-sugar cereal with low-fat milk or an apple.

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Eavesdropping on People’s Conversation

Eavesdropping is pretty much par with gossiping; you’re listening to conversations you’re not a part of in order to learn what the gossip or rumor is. It’s not only incredibly rude, but it can be damaging if you discover that people are talking about you behind your back. Almost 84% of people had admitted that they’ve eavesdropped on another person’s conversation… but admittedly, they’re not to blame. Cellphones have made it easy for people to stay in communication with each other, and some people don’t know how to have a private conversation when they’re in a public space. That means they end up revealing very intimate details to people they don’t even know, just by being on the phone. So though it may be easy to avoid eavesdropping, some people make it quite difficult to do so.

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Staying Indoors All of the Time

People are spending more and more time indoors, and although this can be a good thing during the pandemic, this affects people’s mental health. Staying indoors for long periods of time reduces the amount of sunlight you get and social interactions with other people, which can increase your risk for depression. Sunlight is essential for regulating mood and energy levels; without it, you tend to feel more sluggish, have appetite changes, and experience mood swings. Staying inside more can also weaken your immune system because you’re remaining in the same environment for an extended time and can also decrease good posture since you’re likely staying in one position for a while.

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Spending Too Much Time on Social Media

No one wants to be left out of the conversation regarding what’s happening in the world. That’s why social media is the preferred method by which people get their news. Information is updated in real-time, and there’s always something new and interesting to look at. But because people are constantly checking social media, it can quickly become an addiction that most people aren’t aware of. Frequently checking social media has a strong link to depression because people can’t help but compare their lives to other people’s; they start to believe that they must not be interesting because their lives aren’t as exciting. This negative impact on mental health can be reduced/eliminated by setting limits on how often you check social media and turning off notifications so that you can focus on doing more interesting things with your life.

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Washing Your Hands Constantly

Washing your hands is an essential part of staying healthy. But you know what they say: too much of something can be bad. Excessive hand washing can lead to dermatitis, a skin inflammation that appears cracked, itchy, or sore skin. The essential oils are stripped from your skin, leaving your hands feeling dry. Over time, small cracks can appear in the skin where bacteria can enter and cause itching to start. If a person already has pre-existing skin conditions, excessive hand washing can exacerbate them, tremendously affecting their day-to-day life. So although it’s good during these times to keep your hands clean, also make sure that you’re keeping your hands moisturized at the same time to keep your skin in good condition.

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Sleeping in Contacts

Contacts are quite useful in helping people see because they can be cheaper than a pair of glasses. One notorious bad habit people can’t seem to quit is sleeping in their contacts. It’s a wonder why since it only takes two seconds to remove them, but after a long hard day of work, people just want to go to bed for the night. Unfortunately, sleeping with contacts can result in serious problems that can even result in the loss of vision. Bacteria can get trapped under the contact, which would normally have been washed away through blinking. Blinking is also essential for keeping the cornea oxygenated and hydrated, but if contacts are present on the eyeball all the time, then this can’t happen. The result is that the cells within the cornea start to die and lose their ability to fight off the bacteria.

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Overeating

Sustenance is one thing, but overindulgence is another. Overeating can be quite harmful to your health because of the emotional attachment that is formed with food. Portion control is a critical aspect of eating because things can quickly spiral out of control without it. The effects of overeating include excess fat gain, irregular eating schedule, and increased risk for diseases, such as diabetes or stroke. Overindulgence in food can be easy to overlook, telling yourself that you won’t do it next time, but if there’s an emotional aspect involved with eating, there may be a more serious problem. It may help to speak to a professional to see what could be done about your overeating problem and the underlying cause of why you overeat.

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Cramming for a Test

Some people work best under pressure; cramming for an important test is not the way to do it. That’s because cramming can increase a person’s stress levels, making it more challenging to concentrate and remember the information they’re studying. And because cramming usually takes place the night before, it eats into the time that should be spent sleeping and impacts the brain even more negatively. Lack of sleep leads to poor academic performance overall. Cramming only places the information into the short-term memory, which might be good for a test the next day. However, you won’t retain the information in the long-term, and will have to relearn it again later.

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Biting Your Nails

In media, nail biting is considered a sign of a nervous person, but it’s actually more than that. This bad habit can make you sick in the long run, especially if you’re not a frequent hand-washer. It’s pretty easy for germs and bacteria to get stuck under your nails, and when you chew them off, all of that gets inside your mouth. Biting your nails frequently can also increase the chances of getting a nail infection, which can be quite painful to deal with. Lastly, biting your nails is bad for your teeth. They can be shifted out of place and damage your tooth enamel, so ask yourself: is biting your nails worth a trip to the dentist?

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Failing to Floss

Teeth are super significant, so it’s essential that you take care of them properly. Brushing twice a day may seem enough, but you have to do more. The bristles of your toothbrush might not be effective enough to get rid of food stuck between your teeth. That’s why you should be flossing regularly. The floss is thin enough to get in there and get out those stubborn food particles that your brush can’t reach. If flossing isn’t your thing, then using a water pick might be a more suitable option. Just as long as you’re using something to get in there, then you’re much better off than brushing alone.

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Sleeping With Makeup On

Taking care of your skin should be essential to your daily care. That means cleaning, hydrating, and ensuring that your skin is healthy. So when you put makeup on your face, you can look fabulous for an entire day, but it’s time to take it off before bed. The bad habit of sleeping in your makeup puts you at risk for several conditions. Sleeping in your eyeshadow and mascara can lead to irritation and even eye infections. Lipstick blocks the natural moisture in your lips if left on for too long, causing chapped lips the following day. And foundation and blush block the pores on your entire face, which can lead to dry skin and the increased development of wrinkles. Even if you’re exhausted at the end of the night, just spend at least five minutes removing your makeup before climbing into bed.

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Using a Worn-Out Toothbrush

When your shoes wear down, you replace them. When your tires go bald, you buy a new set of four. So why do you keep using it when your toothbrush wears down? Another terrible habit that’s pretty common is people not changing their toothbrushes often enough. As you use a toothbrush, the bristles wear down over time, making it less effective at cleaning your teeth. That means the plaque and food between your teeth aren’t being removed as well as they should be. That’s why it’s a good idea to change your toothbrush every three months so that you can always sport that winning smile and save yourself a trip to the dentist to take care of cavities and tartar.

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Consuming Too Much Salt

Salt is a yummy flavor enhancer, but using too much salt in your food can affect your health. It serves as a helpful electrolyte needed to keep electrical signals flowing throughout your body. However, consuming high amounts means your health will start to suffer. The first sign you’ve had too much salt is that you’ll have swollen hands or face and feel incredibly thirsty. High sodium intake over long periods can lead to kidney damage because they lose the ability to remove water from the body. This inevitably leads to high blood pressure because more water is in the blood, increasing the risk of a stroke or congestive heart failure. Consider reducing the salt in one’s diet to prevent this from happening, primarily by avoiding pre-packaged foods.

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Smoking

One of the worst bad habits within human society is smoking. It has tremendous adverse effects on the body, so much so that it’s confusing that people still smoke to this day. The smoke contains hundreds of thousands of chemicals that are all toxic to the body. That includes pesticides, and end up lining the walls of your lungs. The risk of lung and throat cancer goes up, and these can be terrible conditions to recover from. Smoking also narrows the blood vessels, increasing the risk of stroke or heart attack. Plus, it increases the chances of erectile dysfunction. Besides, the stench of cigarette smoke lasts with you forever. It can be difficult to get out of your clothes.

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Skipping Meals, Especially If You Are Trying to Lose Weight

Getting a summer body shouldn’t be at the expense of damaging your health. More and more people have started skipping meals to achieve their goal weight, which is actually doing terrible things to their bodies. The first thing that happens to your body when you skip a meal is that you develop intense cravings for sugar and carbs. That is the last thing you want to be eating in the first place! Your body is entering crash mode and looking for fast and easy methods of replenishing the energy it needs. Secondly, your digestive system becomes irregular, not knowing when it should be digesting from when it should be at rest. This increases your chances of having constipation, diarrhea, and nausea because your stomach doesn’t know when it should be digesting.

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Sitting for Too Long

It definitely pays to be more active throughout your day. It helps your muscles and joints to be strong and flexible, keeps your circulatory system regular, and boosts your energy levels more often you exercise. So sitting all day is pretty detrimental to your health in the long run. Sitting for long periods can put a lot of pressure on your tail bone and the nerves inside, leading to an increased risk of sciatica. This is where the sciatic nerve that runs down your entire leg feels a pinching sensation, leading to tingling and numbness in your entire limb. Metabolism also slows down when you’re sitting, making it much easier for your body to put on weight. In combination with the reduced amounts of exercise, you could start putting on more pounds than you realize.

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Carrying a Heavy Bag on One Shoulder

When you’re leaving home, you want to ensure that you have everything with you that you need. Whether it’s going to school, heading to work, or going on an overnight trip somewhere, packing everything that you need could end up being a bad idea, and that’s because of the effect of having a heavy bag on your back. A heavy bag can put a lot of pressure on your spine and shoulder blades, impeding good posture in the long run. The nerves are also affected since the pressure can essentially cut off circulation. The best way to change this is to split up the weight of your bag into several smaller bags so that you’re putting less strain on your back overall.

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Skipping Your Dentist Appointment

Absolutely no one enjoys going to the dentist. Not only are you forced into a vulnerable position, but you also have to deal with the pain associated with dental cleaning, and that’s not something anyone really looks forward to. For that reason, many people skip their dental cleaning. Instead, they tell themselves that they can go it alone to take care of their teeth. They are wrong! No one is perfect when it comes to keeping their teeth clean. Admittedly, not everyone is flossing every day, either. That can easily and quickly lead to gingivitis, tartar, and gum disease. Without your regular cleaning appointment, you’re more prone to cavities and tooth decay. Both can be extremely painful and expensive to correct.

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Eating Too Much Red Meat

Red meat is something that people desire because it can be something of a comfort food. Eating red meat once in a while isn’t bad, but it’s not something you should be eating every day. That’s because it’s high in saturated fats, causing cholesterol levels in the blood to rise. And to be quite honest, red meat is one of the most challenging things for your body to digest, so there’s an accumulation of toxins within the body during the process. Recent studies have shown that indulging in too much red meat can increase your bowel cancer risk.

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Over-Indulging in Carbs

In addition to red meat, people are usually used to eating many carbs. Pasta, bread, cookies, desserts… Most of the comfort food ends up being carbs, and it’s time to start cutting back on them. Too many carbs in your diet can cause a lot of fatigue by raising your blood sugar levels. You can interrupt your natural sleep/wake cycles. Carbs are also responsible for weight gain because of the ones people indulge in the most. If you go for more complex carbs, such as those with high amounts of fiber and other rich nutrients, the carb intake is balanced as long as you don’t indulge in these kinds of carbs too often.

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Having Irregular Sleep Patterns

Sleep is something that people treasure and hate at the same time. People want to stay in the know, scrolling through their phones and checking social media when they should be sleeping. Or they want to get a few more hours of work in when it’s way past midnight. They should be waking up early and taking care of it in the morning. Having an irregular sleep pattern means that your body doesn’t know when to prepare for being tired and how long to be asleep. That means everything is out of sync and makes it even more difficult to fall asleep consistently every day. Put your devices away, make the room quiet and cool, and meditate before bed to increase your chances of falling asleep at a reasonable time.

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Consuming Excessive Amounts of Alcohol

Having a few drinks can be a great way to loosen up and relax. The problem lies with people who rely on alcohol all the time to make them feel good. Alcohol is literally a poison that slowly kills your body in excessive amounts. It works as a depressant, slowing down the body’s functions, including the nervous system and brain, digestive system, and circulatory system. Slowing everything down too much can lead to terrible problems that can be life-threatening. Alcohol also damages the liver, and your liver is pretty important to keep your body in check. One of the biggest effects is increasing the risk of cirrhosis of the liver, where scarring occurs, and harms the normal functions of the liver.

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