Regular habits that are causing harm to your heart

Regular habits that are causing harm to your heart – sitting in one place, trying too many fad diets (quick weight loss hacks), drinking alcohol, lack of sleep, eating out/binge-eating.

“I don’t have any bad habits” most of us find ourselves thinking on a daily basis. “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink a lot, I don’t even eat outside”. While not smoking, not drinking are obviously good habits but they are not the only reason why people face health issues. Seemingly regular habits can directly affect the quality of life.
With work from home becoming the norm, people are now sitting longer hours and working longer hours too. But this needs to change. Staying in motion and moving is the key to keep off all the health problems. It is scientifically proven that people who are more active and are constantly moving are healthier than the people who keep sitting for almost 5 or more hours together. Keep a close check on the following points and make for a healthier and a happier you.

Habit 1 – Sitting

“Sitting is the new smoking. Sitting is linked to diabetes, cancer and even mental health disorders. You back and hip muscles deteriorate rapidly, your cardiovascular functions are affected.
How to fix it?

How to fix it?
Keep Walking – Even if your desk job demands you to keep sitting through the day, you must make it a point to take a quick 5 minute walk to and fro once every hour. Even if the walk is to the bathroom and a round back, keep off that sugary coffee and walk to keep the blood vessels in mint condition. Your arteries will become more flexible and the blood circulation will improve in your body.

Habit 2- Stressing out:

Modern jobs are stressful, in fact they are very stressful. Deadlines, deliverables and demanding bosses can make life difficult. Add to it, family, health issues further aggravate stress in our lives.

How to fix it
Keep Stress at Bay- Over thinking and stress weaken immunity and even weaken the heart muscles. The constant stress is bound to also make you seek alternate means of keeping calm including eating comfort food, sleeping longer hours or using alcohol to escape it. Instead, look for long term fixes like eating right, meditating and fixing on priorities and working on those.

Habit 3 -Sleeping less
Most of us think and wear the lack of sleep like a badge of honor. Office chatter always has people bragging about how they sleep a couple of hours and go about their day.

How to fix it?
Sleep Well – Do not compromise on sleep. Keep a reminder to ensure that you go to bed by 10.30 PM and no later. This way, you can easily account for at least 9 hours of sleep and still get an early start to your day!
While your heart and organs function for the whole day, sleeping on time can be rewarding for them. Sleeping keeps your mind and heart at rest because if you do not sleep properly, you assert an extra pressure for the organ to keep performing round the clock leading to an unhealthy lifestyle that might just make your heart weak resulting in a heart attack.

Habit 3: Dieting
Dieting is obviously great, right? lots of liquids, salads, fruits, no gluten, no carbs, no fats…..; well the truth is while having a diet is important, signing up for fad diets and crash diets do more harm than good. They startle your system, stress your heart and put digestion in overdrive. You are more likely to put on weight after going off your diet.

How to fix it?
Chalk a proper diet plan and eat everything but in moderation for a healthy heart and a health you. Consult a doctor if you feel you are unable to figure out the right diet for you.If nothing else, ensure that you have a good helping of greens, protein and carbs as a part of your meals.

Habit 4: Eating out

Birthday parties, anniversaries, vacations, boredom, cravings… the list of reasons why people eat out is endless. While stepping out to enjoy a good hearty meal is ok, making this a habit – no matter how clean and hygienic the restaurant is has adverse effects on your heart. Most restaurants do not use good quality ingredients, they use a lot of oil, cheese, masala – basically anything that makes the dish tasty but not healthy.

How to fix it?
While this is not easy to fix this problem since most of us eat out because we are unable to find time to make food at home. Or because we live away from family. But the fact is that you must invest in your health. If you stay in a PG or hostel – contact local dabba services that provide home cooked food. If you have access to a kitchen, try cooking a few times a week or employ a cook to make food for you.

There are so many habits we adopt and don’t notice that they are causing harm. While they are not considered as direct causes to heart health, they certainly lead to them. Staying healthy is not easy. Skipping junk food for a salad may not sound exciting, but that’s the best way to ensure that you are in the pink of health, every single day.