The Worst Health Mistakes Women Always Make
Staying healthy is about more than exercise and eating vegetables. Every action you take during the day is an opportunity to help yourself or harm your progress. Sadly, many people, especially women, don’t make healthy living a priority. Being a woman these days definitely isn’t easy. We’re expected to take care of our families, work high-flying careers, and maintain active social lives, all without breaking a sweat. It’s tiring just thinking about it. As a result, looking after yourself is put on the back burner. With that in mind, here are sixteen health mistakes to avoid.
1. Wearing Heels Each Day
Stilettos are a stylish shoe, but they definitely aren’t a comfortable one. Wearing killer heels each and every day can cause serious problems. Over time, you might begin to suffer from bone and nerve damage, as well as back pain and spider veins. Because of this, you should leave any high heels at home and stick to flat footwear instead. When you have to wear heels, you must give your feet breaks often. Stay seated when you can and switch to flat shoes after a few hours.
2. Carrying A Heavy Bag
Many women carry their lives around with them. From spare shoes to phone chargers, we keep everything we could ever need in our purses. The problem with this is that all that stuff will make your bag quite weighty. Backache and arthritis are just two health problems that are caused by carrying a heavy bag every day. An easy solution is to switch to a smaller purse. With less space available, you won’t be able to pack as much stuff, which will make your luggage much lighter.
3. Ditching Your Workout Routine
One place you should be lifting weights is the gym. The trouble is, women often spend way less time doing so than they should. With household chores, grocery shopping, pets, children, and work, skipping exercise seems like a great way to let your schedule breathe. When you ditch your workout routine, however, you put your health at risk. If you don’t have time to go to the gym, then find other ways to exercise, like working out at home or jogging around your neighborhood.
4. Staying Awake All Hours
Although exercise is important, you need time to rest too. Relying on coffee to stay energized every day won’t do any good. Staying awake late is easy to do when you have work to finish, kids to care for, or tv shows to watch, but you shouldn’t. The lack of sleep will impact more than just your energy levels the next day. Sleep deprivation can also cause many health problems. For this reason, you must make sleep a priority and aim to rest for at least eight hours each night.
5. Hitting The Snooze Button
Sleep is crucial for good mental and physical health. That being said, there is such a thing as too much rest. When you hit the snooze button each morning, you affect your sleep cycle. This can leave you feeling more tired than you would have after getting fewer hours of sleep. To make the most of your time in bed, you must adopt healthy sleep habits. Among those habits is keeping to a bedtime and waking with your alarm. By doing so, you give yourself the eight hours you need.
6. Missing Crucial Health Checks
Visiting the doctor isn’t an activity many people enjoy. However, that doesn’t make it any less important. Attending regular checkups is necessary, regardless of your health. After all, even if you feel well, you could have a serious illness. Many conditions go undetected for some time before they begin to show symptoms. Since early diagnosis allows for better treatment, you should give your doctor an opportunity to spot any health issues by attending appointments.
7. Putting Off Fertility Talks
Fertility is a topic many women don’t discuss until they want to start a family. The trouble is, nearly everything you do could impact your ability to have children. If you ever hope to have a family, therefore, you should consult with a doctor. They will then suggest actions that you can take to preserve your fertility now. From eating right to freezing eggs, there are many steps you can take. Although there are other ways to have children, this could allow you to do so naturally.
8. Forgetting About Birth Control
Unless you’re trying to get pregnant, you should be on birth control. While fertility declines with age, unintended pregnancy can still occur. That risk doesn’t go away until you reach menopause. Rather than take your chances, you should talk to a doctor about the contraception available. There are many options to consider, from condoms to injections. These options are based on your health rather than your age, so you have plenty of choices and can pick the best one for you.
9. Living On Social Media
Technology has completely taken over the world. With phones, laptops, tablets, and more all around us, it’s very difficult to unplug. Nonetheless, too much time in front of a screen can impact your health. Not only does the light from these electronics cause sleep problems, but the content you consume is harmful too. Social media may be a useful tool, but living your life online has been known to contribute to several mental health issues, including anxiety and depression.
10. Tanning The Natural Way
A glowing tan is pretty, especially during the summer months. That being said, you shouldn’t put your health at risk to get one. Spending hours baking in the sun will age your skin prematurely. Unfortunately, the damage goes even further than that. By exposing your skin to harmful UV rays, you increase your risk of developing skin cancer. Because of this, you must wear sunscreen any time you go outside. This is just as important throughout the winter as it is in the summertime.
11. Following Every Fad Diet
With social media at our fingertips, we’re never too far away from the latest miracle celebrity diet. These cleanses and meal plans swear they can help you to lose weight, but that very rarely happens. Instead, you’re likely to put on more weight because you aren’t eating a balanced diet. What’s more, these crazes often result in sickness, because they miss out on nutrients you need to live healthily. Weight loss requires work, not a gummy candy or powdery smoothie.
12. Eating Out Every Meal
A woman’s life is certainly hectic. Between family, friends, and work, there is little time to breathe, let alone prepare a healthy meal. It’s because of this that many women find themselves eating fast food, ordering takeout, or cooking microwave meals. The trouble is, these foods are far from nutritious. Thankfully, it is possible to cook your own food, even on a tight schedule. All you have to do is prepare and freeze meals in advance, so you only need to heat them up later.
13. Drinking Way Too Much
Drinking a glass of wine is an enjoyable way to wind down after a difficult day. That being said, if you knock back several drinks or bottles each evening, you must consider the impact on your health. Relying on alcohol to cope with stress can quickly lead to dependency and addiction. As well as this, there are many health conditions associated with excessive drinking, like diabetes and cancer. Limiting your alcohol consumption can help to prevent these common problems.
14. Ignoring Signs Of Stress
Every woman deals with stress now and then, but some suffer much more than others. If stress has become a permanent and persistent figure in your life, then you must take action. Ignoring stress not only allows the problem to continue but could make it worse. Thankfully, there are many ways to combat stress. Exercise, medication, and even coloring all help depending on the situation. Getting plenty of rest and avoiding caffeine will keep your stress from getting worse too.
15. Keeping That Smoking Habit
Like drinking alcohol, many people smoke to cope with stress. Unfortunately, the side effects of doing so are harmful to your health. What’s worse, many frequent smokers don’t even realize that they have a problem. They don’t see the harm that the odd cigarette can do, so don’t know they have to kick the habit. If you smoke cigarettes daily, quitting definitely won’t be easy. However, there is plenty of advice available to you, as well as support from doctors and groups.
16. Washing In Hot Water
A hot shower can be incredibly relaxing but is more harmful than most people know. The hotter the water you use to shower, the more you dehydrate your skin. Although you have to keep clean, you need to protect your skin too. Because of this, you should turn your shower down a few degrees. Cold water is even better for your skin, so, if you can stand it, stick to one of the lower settings for most of your washes.
Health should always be a priority, so take care of yours by avoiding the mistakes listed above.
DISCLAIMER: This post is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links.
Content Creator from Boston.
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