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Jan 01
2018

5 Subtle Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Health

A new year always serves as inspiration to level up on our health, fitness and weight loss goals. After all, these types of goals top the list of the most frequent New Year’s resolutions time and time again. However, the most effective changes that you can make to improve your overall health and wellness do not often happen by setting short term goals or New Year’s resolutions. They happen when you decide to make long-term and impactful lifestyle changes.

There are many things that we do to sabotage our own health without even realizing it. Staying healthy year-round means paying attention to things like sufficient sleep and hydration and also avoiding things like trigger foods, liquid calories and fad diets that send our bodies on a rollercoaster ride of spiking and crashing sugar and energy levels.

[ Related article: Exercises To Start The New Year Right ]

Ready to make some lifestyle changes that stick? Here are 5 subtle ways you may be sabotaging your health without even knowing it and also what to do about it. Making positive changes in these areas listed below will help to improve your overall health and wellness goals as we head into a new year.

5 Subtle Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Health

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep is your body’s way of not only resting, but recovering, rebuilding and repairing itself. No wonder it is so important. Depriving your body of soundful snoozing causes your cortisol levels to rise.

It also has other negative health effects. Cortisol levels naturally drop at night, so when you are already sleep deprived, it makes it even harder for you to rest the next night…and the next night. This can cause chronic fatigue as well as the feeling that you are never well rested.

Everyone is different, but adults generally need 7-9 hours of sleep per night to promote overall health and wellness and help your body get that restful, restorative sleep that it needs.

Keeping Trigger Foods In The House

If you have ever binged on your favorite junk food, then you are well aware of what kind of food is categorized as a “trigger food”. Once you start eating trigger foods, it can be hard to stop. They can set you on a course that is out of control and the end result is that you have eaten way too much of it, and then don’t feel so great because of it.

Trigger foods are generally foods that are not good for us. They are high in unhealthy sugars, fats and calories and often come packaged and processed. If they are in the house and you are having a bad day, you reach for it.

[ Related article: Healthy Foods That Could Be Sabotaging Your Health Goal ]

While trigger foods might make us feel better in the short term, they are a subtle way that we sabotage our health. The good news is that the solution to avoiding trigger foods is simple: do not bring them in your house. If you keep them around, you’ll reach for them. If you don’t have them in the house, you won’t eat them.

Dehydration

According to this article, “up to 60% of the adult human body is water.” When you are dehydrated, you are sabotaging your health without even realizing it. Water and proper hydration help your body process toxins, among other things.

Also, your body can trick you into believing it is hungry when in reality, you are actually thirsty. Our bodies sometimes tell us we are hungry, when all we really need is a drink of water. In this regard, staying properly hydrated can keep you from overeating.

To maintain proper hydration, men should consume 3 liters of water daily, while for women that number is 2.2 liters. Water ingested through food counts towards these numbers.

Fad Diets

There is a difference between a diet and a lifestyle. If you are looking for healthy change, lifestyle changes are the way to go versus adapting to the rules of a fad diet. Lifestyle changes are long lasting, while a diet only has a short term impact.

Jumping on the fad diet bandwagon is a subtle way that you may be sabotaging your health. Making healthy changes in your diet that are long-lasting will stick with you over the long term to aid in your health and wellness goals.

Liquid calories

Oftentimes we pay attention to the calories we consume in our meals, without realizing the impact of the beverages we consume on our health. Many drinks that are our favorites, have not only large amounts of sugar, but are also packed with calories. So, next time you reach for your favorite beverage, pay attention to the sugar content and calories in it to make sure you are not subtly sabotaging your health.

This time of year is when we face our New Year’s resolutions head on and many people are setting goals associated with their health. As we head into another new year, you may want to take the subtle ways you may be sabotaging your health into account. If your health and physical fitness have gotten off track and you have noticed it is taking a toll on your body and overall health, you may benefit from working with a physical therapist, especially one who takes a holistic approach to your health.

A physical therapist can show you safe ways to get back into a routine, based on your current level of fitness and health and also help you eliminate the subtle ways you may be sabotaging your health. A physical therapist can also help you if injury or illness has held you back from feeling your best. To get started on your path back to health, contact us today.