Everyone has habits, some of which are harmless, perhaps even healthy for you. Like automatically carrying a large bottle of filtered water around, and sipping it throughout the day, or jogging a few times a week. On the other hand, there are bad habits that damage our health, appearance, and wellbeing. But they’ve usually become so ingrained in our daily lives; we don’t know how to get rid of them.
As we get older, it becomes more important to adjust our bad habits to lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives. For the most common unhealthy habits that are shared worldwide, below are a few, along with methods and alternative practices to help you replace them.
Lifestyle Changes Women Over 50 Should Make
Smoking
Over the years, scientific research on tobacco highlighted the damage that most of our ancestors were not fortunate enough to know until it was too late. Smoking used to be portrayed as elegant and attractive. With little to no knowledge of what it did to people’s health, most of the population jumped on board, and smoking became an everyday habit.
Of course, times have changed, and you don’t need statistics of cancer and deaths to realize the severity of tobacco has on your health, particularly your lungs. What you do most likely want to know is how you can shake your smoking habit for good. Your options are e-cigarettes or vaping. With the benefit of a handheld tool, a choice of vape mods, flavours and the satisfying steam that puffs out of your device, the act is much like smoking, but not as unhealthy and smells much, much nicer.
Overspending
When you’re over 50, it can be tempting to develop a bad habit of splurging more because you’re expecting your pension to roll in anytime soon. Plus, you likely no longer need to fund other commitments such as children and a mortgage. However, reckless spending can quickly change your financial future if you’re not careful. Particularly when it involves activities such as gambling and partying.
It’s essential to have fun at any age. However, looking to the future and how you’ll support yourself through your retirement should be the top priority. To keep your finances in order, it’s never too late to create a budget sheet, and allocate your income into different pots, such as bills, savings, and spending. In doing so, you will prevent impulse purchases and refrain from wasting money you might need later in life.
Sleep Deprivation
Late nights partying, and watching television are okay once in a while. Still, when you do it all the time, it begins to affect your life negatively. From newborns to seniors, no one is exempt from getting a good night’s rest. It’s essential to help our bodies heal, process our day, and maintain critical chemical processes that manage our energy and moods.
Depending on your age, the amount of sleep you need varies. Between the ages of 26 and 64, adults need 7 to 9 hours. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults over 65 need between 7 and 8 hours. If you’re unsure of how much sleep you need, see how you feel during your day. When you’ve accrued a good night’s sleep, you’ll feel energetic and happy. If you’re still feeling sluggish, keep bringing your bedtime forward until you’ve found the number of hours you need per night to function at your best.
Supplements
People who lead busy lives, who skip breakfast, rely on takeaways and rarely eat five-a-day are often conscious they’re not getting the nutrients they need. To fill the gap, they may choose to rely on vitamins and mineral supplements. Quick fixes such as this, will never be able to replace the complex nutrients in fresh fruit and veg. So, it’s worth it for your health, to save the money you spend on supplements and put it towards creating balanced meals.
There is no quick fix for optimum health; however, making simple, delicious healthy meals and choices won’t take up too much of your day. Such as swapping carbs, like fried chips for vegetables instead. Or rather than reaching for a pack of crisps or chocolate, pick up an apple or banana. Over time, by making healthy adjustments to your diet. You’ll begin to notice the difference in not just how you look but how you feel to. This should give you the motivation to stick to your new, healthy habit and cut out the supplements for good.
Never Go Stagnant
Are you stuck in a mundane routine? Habitually watching the same mindless TV series, and mingling with the same people? It’s time to switch it up; you have one life to live, so live it. Experience new things that stretch your comfort zone, such as new recipes, like tapas, or make new friends by starting a class in yoga or dance. Refrain from becoming stagnant and do something stimulating, inspiring, exciting! That gets you thinking and moving and makes you feel alive. In doing so, you’ll be much happier and healthier for it.
Sunshine
The sun is both a blessing and a curse. It’s tempting to bask in and soak up the heat on a hot day, but this kind of habit is terrible for your skin. UV rays, as you already know, damage our DNA. And so if you want to look fabulous going into your 60’s and 70’s either sit in the shade, or if you can’t resist the heat, slather on the sunblock, and protect your skin.
It’s never too late to adjust your habits and make a positive change that can affect your life for the better. However, it’s recommended not to change multiple habits at once, because it would be hard to keep track of. Instead, choose the habit that bothers you the most, and start making progress from there. According to a study conducted in 2009 by the European Journal of Social Psychology, it can take anywhere between 18 and 254 days to form a new habit, so be patient, and stick to it, it will happen in time.