In pursuit of good health, are you unknowingly putting yourself in harms’ way? Following are some common mistakes healthy people make on the road to good health.
Exercising Too Much
Too much of anything can be bad for you even if it falls in the ‘good for you’ category. Exercise is a perfect example.
Sports psychologist Ian Cockerill says the difference between people with a healthy relationship to exercise and those with an unhealthy one is, “Healthy exercisers organize their exercise around their lives, whereas dependents organize their lives around their exercise.”
Exercising takes a toll on the body. Too much exercise can lead to injuries, exhaustion, depression and even suicide. Signs that you may be exercising too much include fatigue, difficulty sleeping, decreased immunity, persistent muscle soreness, and injury.
Regular exercise is essential for wellness. Equally as essential though, is rest. Without rest, you are denying your body a chance to recover from the workout and prepare for the next session.
Thirty minutes a day of moderate physical activity is enough to help prevent common issues such as diabetes, high cholesterol and, high blood pressure.
Thinking healthy packaging equals healthy food
What’s on the outside of the package sells what is on the inside of the package. Advertisers know this and make every effort to capitalize on it even if it means stretching the facts.
One example is the use of the word “sugar-free.” When a packaged food item is labeled as sugar-free, more often than not it means that an artificial sweetener has been used in the place of real sugar.
Some products labeled as sugar-free but which contain artificial sweeteners include Smuckers sugar-free jam and Sugar-free Redbull which contain Sucralose and Aspartame and Acesulfame K respectively.
Always read food nutrition labels to avoid mistaking misleading packaged health food for the real thing.
Thinking organic equals healthy
An organic ooey-gooey-chewy fudge brownie is still a brownie. Enough said.
Not sleeping enough
Every aspect of your life is affected by sleep or the lack of it. Poor sleeping habits put you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and, diabetes which all shorten your life expectancy.
The benefits of sleep are numerous and well documented. Here are a few. Getting the right amount of sleep helps boost your immunity so you can fight off common ailments such as the flu. It helps keeps you in shape by ensuring that levels of leptin, the chemical that makes you feel full and ghrelin, the hunger-stimulating hormone, stay in balance. Sleep also helps boost your mental well being by keeping mood disorders such as depression and anxiety at bay.
On average it is advisable to sleep between 7 to 8 hours. However, this should be viewed simply as a guide. If you need more hours be sure to take them.
Not having healthy friends
There is a saying that goes, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are.” Our friends influence us and we do the same in return. This influence can be for the better or for the worse.
Several recent studies have shown that obesity, cigarette smoking and, happiness spread through social networks.
If you have developed healthy habits and wish to keep them, you need to surround yourself with friends who have similar habits. Good health habits take more effort and discipline and they are easier to stick to if your friends have similar habits.
Delaying medical care
A healthy lifestyle does not preclude you from getting sick. Trying to explain away symptoms you do not understand on the basis of one’s health status takes precious time away from treatment.
The symptoms you are experiencing could be a sign of a bigger issue that if not treated in time may result in permanent mental or physical damage.
If you are feeling out of sorts go get checked out. Self-medicating is a big no-no. Peace of mind is part of a healthy lifestyle. Also get into the habit of doing routine medical checkups. These check-ups will help establish a baseline and could help you identify quicker when something is out of place.
