5 Unhealthy Habits That Hurt Your Health and Waste Your Money

 

It is in human nature to pick up habits that are not necessarily beneficial. Bad habits are unhealthy and expensive. Heavy drinking, cigarette smoking, gambling, impulsive shopping or too much social media and television time, have a negative impact on your wellbeing. Fortunately, it’s never too late to reverse these 5 unhealthy habits that hurt your health and waste your money.

Identifying bad habits is the first step towards dropping obsessions that waste money and harm your health. According to lifestyle and fitness experts, motivation alone is not enough for an individual to stop unhealthy habits.

We will take an in depth look at habits that harm your health and drain your pocket. Can you nurture good habits? Here are the five common and unhealthy habits, and the best ways to stop them.

1.      Tanning (5 Unhealthy Habits That Hurt Your Health and Waste Your Money)

Outdoor and indoor tanning have detrimental consequences on your body. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, one session of indoor tanning increases the probability of an individual developing life-threatening melanoma by 75%, especially if the procedure is done in individuals aged 35 years and below.

Most people enjoy tanning because it makes them feel good by boosting their confidence. Unfortunately, with the continued exposure to the ultraviolet rays from tanning beds or the sun, the skin can be severely harmed.

Damage to the cells on the outmost layer of your skin will make you have signs of ageing, which include weathered skin and wrinkles. In worst-case scenarios, tanning accelerates uncontrollable cell proliferation leading to cancers such as melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma.

It’s a fact that safe and healthy tanning doesn’t exist, and it is therefore better to refrain from tanning. The cumulative damage of tanning will consume your money while causing harm to your skin.

How to Break Tanning Habit

Over the past years, scientific discoveries have proven that tanning is addictive. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, approximately 20% of white women aged between 18 and 30 years show signs of addiction after getting indoor tanning.

If you are addicted to tanning, don’t worry, you can still drop the habit. Sun exposure is beneficial, but it’s harmful when done excessively. Follow the tips below to drop the unhealthy habit of tanning and make your skin healthier;

• Find another activity that makes you feel good, like getting a massage or getting a facial.
• Use tanning techniques that do not require UV rays like creams and lotions to make your skin glow without harmful effects.

2.      Smoking Cigarettes

Smoking will drain your pockets, harm your body, and cause serious damage to vital systems. In fact, statistics show that smoking is the leading cause of illness and death in the United Kingdom.

Approximately 480,000 people in the United States die due to smoking each year. Many more others are struggling with the debilitating effects of smoke-related illnesses.

First, smoking cigarettes increases your risk of developing heart disease by 50 times. Its health damages are irreversible, especially for chronic smokers. Smoking also predisposes you to other health conditions such as stroke, vascular diseases, asthma, pneumonia, respiratory tract infections and impotence.

Passive smoking also has serious health risks. Active and passive smokers are predisposed to mouth, lungs, throat, bladder, pancreas, and stomach cancers.

Expectant mothers who smoke suffer from miscarriage, low birth weight, premature birth and stillbirth.

How You Can quit Smoking

You should have a cessation plan to stop cigarette smoking customized to your personality. In addition, you should be ready mentally and physically. Don’t do it to please your friends or family but to improve your health.

These pointers will help you quite a cigarette smoking:

• Get rid of the ashtrays and lighters.
• If you live with another smoker, ask them politely to smoke away from you or convince them to stop.
• Don’t focus on your cravings. They are temporary, and they will fade with time.
• Keep your fingers busy. Use your hand to play or doodle with a straw or pencil.
• Take a deep, reliving breath when you get an urge to smoke.
• Avoid people, situations and places that are associated with smoking.
• Drink a lot of fluid and limit caffeinated beverages.
• Always remind yourself that you’re a nonsmoker.
• Exercise because it will help you stay healthy and make you relaxed.

3.      Gambling (5 Unhealthy Habits That Hurt Your Health and Waste Your Money)

Most people consider gambling as harmless fun, but it can cause serious problems. Compulsive gambling can cause harm to your health and waste your money. Gambling addiction also hurts your psychological, social and physical well-being.

People who gamble tend to suffer from migraines, intestinal disorders, depression, anxiety-related problems and panic attacks. If you combine gambling with other addictive habits, you will fall into a life of hopelessness and despondency. That is why most gamblers are suicide victims.

In 2012, 5.77 million people suffered from gambling disorder and needed prompt treatment. Sadly, gambling has increased at an alarming rate over the years. Because of the harmful consequences of gambling, it’s now a public health concern.

Four Most Successful Ways of Overcoming Gambling Addiction

• Always have plans to avoid boredom
• Find something you enjoy doing that does not involve placing bets.
• Avoid events that may trigger your gambling addiction.
• Find an accountability partner that will listen to you and hold you accountable.

 

Related Post:   5 Cheap Ways to Stay Fit and Healthy 

4.      Too Much TV/Social Media Time

Social media and too much TV will deprive you the time for quality sleep, interactions, and life in general. In addition, it encourages a sedentary lifestyle, preventing you from exercising or participating in other productive activities. If you’re consistent with these unhealthy habits, you will reach a point where you will be struggling with mental health problems and sedentary lifestyle-related illnesses

A sedentary lifestyle increases your odds of becoming overweight and having type 2 diabetes. Research shows that it also affects your personality.

A study published in 2018 in the Journal of Research in Personality established a link between the decline in personal traits and lack of exercise.  Problems such as conscientiousness can last for up to 20 years.

If you always watch television, you can lose friends, forget your favorite hobby and make your mind always tired, leading to memory loss. Social media can get you fired from your workplace, especially if you have strict employers who don’t like seeing workers on their phones.

How to fix the unhealthy habits of Too Much TV and Social Media Time

Watch your TV for a maximum of 2 hours per day. If you must access social media, only access it when you have an issue to address. If you have a problem with time management, get an app that limits your use of social media apps. You can also use the precious time to exercise or do any other constructive activity in your home or office.

5.      Shopping Addiction

Money worries are a health concern that can negatively affect the quality of your well-being. Therefore, with the money you have, buy necessary items only. If your shopping addiction continues, it will increase your chances of getting financial stress that stimulates negative emotions and makes you feel less valuable…

How to Drop Shopping Addiction

• Get an accurate sense of where your money goes by using a spending tracker.
• Learn the basic rules of spending and management of personal finance.
• Always figure out how you can create a healthy and reasonable budget.
• You can hire a financial planner to help you make brilliant financial decisions.

Research shows that you’re likely to succeed in overturning unhealthy and costly habits by setting small and realistic goals.

The objectives should be realistic and well designed, depending on your immediate environment. Additionally, you need to understand every aspect of unhealthy habits that you’re struggling with in detail. That will give you a better angle of flexibility to adopt better substitutes.

So there you have it. 5 Unhealthy habits that hurt your health and waste your money.  Save this post and take the steps necessary today to begin to eliminate them from your life. Soon you too will be living a more meaningful and impactful life.

 

Cheers!