This is probably nothing new to anyone who reads these words: excessive alcohol will age you faster than you like. Sometimes, you have those days where you need something to take the edge off, chill out, and relax for the rest of the evening. But no matter your age, drinking alcohol can go beyond the necessary limits.
If you’re an excessive alcohol drinker, you’re accelerating the aging of your life and body. While you’re numbing your body and mind, you’re also severely dehydrating your skin and damaging crucial organs, such as the liver. When it comes to alcohol, it’s always smart to pace yourself and watch how much you consume.
Exercising is a great way to improve your health, so it makes sense that not doing it regularly can decline your overall well-being. You don’t have to do intense strength training every day, but simply going for a walk, taking a pilates class, or doing low-intensity workouts will work at keeping you healthy and fit!
When you don’t exercise or get some necessary movement in, you’re weakening your muscles and increasing your risk of heart disease. To avoid these unfortunate symptoms, you can sign up for a gym, or if that’s not your scene, you can do at-home workouts with the same effectiveness.
Everyone should know that being exposed to the sun without the proper precautions can lead to skin cancer; that’s why sunscreen is so important! The sun's UV rays cause premature skin aging and wrinkles and, of course, can lead to an unfortunate form of cancer.
Prolonged sun exposure can also lead to sunburn, and that’s never fun to endure. Depending on how badly you get burnt, taking a shower and going to bed can turn from comfortable to unbearable. Whenever the UV index is high and you’re going to be outside for a long period, be sure to apply sunscreen before stepping out the door and bring some with you so you can reapply as needed.
One of the unfortunate things in life is that sweets are far from good for you. They boost your mood and can undoubtedly make your day better, but they are not beneficial to your health whatsoever. Consuming large amounts of sugar can decline your health but increase your happiness.
Despite sweets being a mood booster, eating too many consistently can cause chronic inflammation and skin aging. Added sugars are not naturally present in foods, so there’s bound to be some consequences with consuming them. There’s always room for a sweet treat, so don’t restrict yourself from indulging in the sweets of life, but simply eat sugary foods in moderation and make sure your diet doesn’t consist mostly of large amounts of sugar.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away! This saying has become more true every day. Not getting the proper nutrients from food can decline your lifestyle in several ways. If you tend to turn away from fruits and vegetables, you’re bringing in some unappealing symptoms such as fatigue, dull skin, and hair loss.
Believe me, when you eat enough fruits and veggies every day, you’ll feel you’re body reaping the benefits. When consuming these healthy foods, you can feel them fortifying your body, and you can even feel how they boost your mood and enhance the needed performance to go about your day.
Some days, you don’t have time to make breakfast before leaving the house to start your day. Then once you get to work, you feel the hunger start to pang in your stomach, and you regret skipping breakfast. Instead of focusing on your work, all you can focus on is food, and time moving slowly towards your lunch break.
Skipping breakfast is, in fact, bad for your health and can age you faster. When you don’t eat the first meal of the day, you disrupt your metabolism and energy levels. If eating breakfast takes too much time in the mornings, you can make it the night before so you can grab it and go in the mornings!
Going out with friends or family is always a fun time. You’re surrounded by people you love and doing activities that make the day or night a time to remember. But if you lack such a social life, you’ll find that you’re aging yourself quicker in the process.
When you don’t go out and hide from social events, the isolation can impact mental and physical health. This can lead to loneliness and a risk of depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline. While some people naturally prefer solitude, a prolonged absence of social interaction can be detrimental to you.
When you don’t challenge your brain, you’re succumbing to cognitive decline and memory loss. Some days, you may not have the mental capacity to participate in mentally challenging activities, such as puzzles or reading. I get it; we have days when fatigue smothers any other feeling.
But it’s important not to let this happen consistently. Your brain needs to be stimulated to stay sharp and at its highest potential. On days when you can tolerate some brain activity, pick up a book, bring out a puzzle, or play some board games, such as Monopoly or Scrabble.
Mental health is extremely important for your overall well-being. If that’s declining, then it’s only a matter of time before the rest of you start to go with it. If your mental health starts to get bad enough that you have to ignore it to go about life, then that should tell you right there that something needs to change.
Ignoring mental health is one of the worst decisions you can make. In doing so, anxiety and depression will inevitably accelerate and reach a point of no return. If your mental state starts to decline, rather than ignoring it, reach out to a therapist, a friend, or a family member. You’ll find the support and advice that can help you out of the unrelenting grasp that anxiety and depression can have on your mind.
Perhaps, unknowingly to many, wearing headphones too often can be bad for your health. You probably see people wearing headphones everywhere, especially in crowded, bustling areas. They’re great for listening to music, a podcast, or just wearing them to create the illusion of listening to something.
What headphone wearers may not know is that adorning them too often can affect blood flow, leading to spinal issues, and can create bad posture. Overusing headphones can also cause hearing problems, such as tinnitus, ear infections, etc. If you have earbuds, maybe put those in place of headphones to give your head and ears a break.
Moisturizer is meant for hydrating and replenishing your skin, so it makes sense that failing to apply it to your skin can lead to dryness and premature wrinkles. An increased risk of skin issues, such as eczema and acne, can result from failure to moisturize.
Dry skin is prone to inflammation, irritation, and sensitivity; a trio no one wants to bear on their face! If you’re stuck on what moisturizer to purchase, you can do some research or go to a store specializing in those products and ask employees for advice. Always be sure to moisturize every day if you don’t want to age faster!
Exfoliating is good for you and your skin, but over-exfoliating is not so much. It damages the skin barrier, which can cause unwanted irritation and aging. When you overdo exfoliating, you remove the skin’s outer layer, which will disrupt the skin barrier. This can lead to numerous issues, including redness, irritation, and breakouts.
If you’ve woken up one morning, looked in the mirror, and found that you’ve over-exfoliated, don’t fret; there are ways to repair it. First and foremost, stop exfoliating; allow your skin to heal. You can apply moisturizer, protect your skin with sunscreen, or, as with many things, be patient. Any time you exfoliate, be mindful of when you should stop so you don’t go overboard and ruin your skin.
Today, technology has obviously become very advanced, and you won’t see a person without a phone. While phones and everything they give us access to are truly amazing, there are consequences that come from using them too much. Being tethered to your device and having constant screen time can stress the nervous system.
When you're glued to your device's screen, you can develop physical strain on your eyes, develop sleep problems, and cause mental health issues, among many things. If you find yourself always picking up your phone to mindlessly scroll on apps and watch videos, try to stop that habit by putting the phone down and picking something else up instead, such as a book or a hobby like painting or drawing. When in doubt, the best thing you can do for yourself is go outside!
Unfortunately, you do need to work to live in today’s world, have a roof over your head, and food in your fridge. Despite this, it doesn’t mean you should make your job your life. Sometimes we forget this and fail to take breaks, which can affect our health significantly. Chronic overwork can lead to burnout and weakened immunity.
During your lunch break, try to take it away from your work desk and, if possible, go outside to enjoy your lunch. Feeling the sunlight on your skin is one of the best ways to boost morale and make your day a little bit better.
Something people likely don’t think about is their posture. You kind of go about your day, and your posture just does whatever it wants without you realizing how straight, or not straight, it is. It doesn’t really sound like something to worry about, but it is, in fact, a factor you need to keep in mind.
Poor posture can lead to spinal degeneration. You can develop chronic pain, muscle imbalances, and even digestive problems. If you tend to disregard posture, a way to counteract this is, of course, to be more mindful of it so you can actively correct it. You can also stretch and strengthen your core muscles or seek professional help.
