7 Habits that are SLOWLY killing US

Woke up this morning and knew I had to write about longevity but little did I know that, I was a culprit of what I wanted to share, As you all know by now, I have taken a proactive step towards my health and weight (closes eyes) , so this write up for today is more like a follow up.

Now I am not saying I have effectively eradicated all this from my life but I have started and that is the good news, so you should join me too on this road of regaining our health and weight.

Habit 1 Eating too much – we all know eating too much is bad for us, but somehow I think our parents do not know, because I can remember my parents making sure I finish one big bowl of food.  A typical mum does not believe in over feeding, they like their kids to have enough flesh to share (lol) but we all know that is not very good as we grow older. Your stomach can only contain 4liters of food, when it is totally empty. Imagine that 5liter gallon you have at home. Or that 5litre coke bottle, that’s the only space your stomach has when it is totally empty but we all know your stomach is not totally empty, for you to totally empty your stomach you need to fast for 8hours for Fatty foods and 2hrs for liquid. So we can say your stomach always has food inside, but for your tummy to be full it only needs to fill 1.5liters. so you see how little food you require to keep your body going, in terms of calories you need like 1500 calories for an active female and 2500 calories for a male per day (3 packs of indomie is already 750 .lol) eating too much can cause many illness in the body a list can go on and on, so reduce your food intake

Habit 2 – stepping out of your house without a sun shades – I know most of us know about the effects of Ultraviolet rays on our bodies so we use vitamin D enriched creams and wear cloths as we walk about, but very few know that this same UV rays are very harmful to your eyes. Scientific studies and research have shown that exposure to small amounts of UV radiation over a period of years increases the chance of developing a cataract and may cause damage to the retina, a nerve-rich lining of the eye that is used for seeing. Please buy a UV protected sunshade today. Don’t make your kids lead you when old.

Habit 3 Drinking Soda – I know of people who can’t eat a meal without Soda AKA mineral as we call it. But my dear you need to stop, I did not say cut back I mean stop, it has been proven that by cutting out soda from your diet people have lost incredible weight and regained back there fitness, whether is diet coke or normal coke they are all the same, artificial sweeteners or sugar all end up as glucose when digested. Scientists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Columbia University Medical Center examined the risk of vascular events in relationship to consumption of both regular and diet soft drinks, the study included over 2,500 men who were tracked for a ten-year period. Participants who drank diet soft drinks on a daily basis were 43% more likely to experience a vascular event (we mean stroke, heart attack, and other types of vascular-related illness). People who drank only small amounts of diet soft drinks or who drank regular soft drinks were not likely to experience these heart troubles.

Habit 4 holding your urine when you are pressed – in secondary school we were made to believe it was discipline, a teacher will tell you to hold it, phew!!! Ignorance is deadly, those teachers where exposing us to deadly infections that could have killed us, but I guess it was not yet our time. The longer you hold your urine the more your bladder can become a breeding ground for bacteria to grow.  These infections can now spread to the kidney and lead to greater effects on your body. I understand we women suffer more for this, because some public toilets can be “Wonderful” my dear it is better you carry a roll of tissue in your bag than predispose yourself to potential kidney wahala.

Habit 5 wexting – yeah, I bet you didn’t know they now have a word for it. The act of texting and walking is called – WEXTING. Wexting has been causing significant increases in pedestrian injuries and deaths every year. According to Dietrich Jehle, professor of emergency medicine at the University at Buffalo in New York, distracted walking results in more injuries per mile than distracted driving. Please!! please!!! please!!!! We need to put a stop to it.

Habit 6 watching Television for long- I am sure most of you did not see this one coming, lol neither did I oh. New research reports that adults who watch three or more hours of TV a day may double their risk of premature death. The new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association studied 13,284 young and healthy Spanish university graduates and assessed risk of early death from three sedentary behaviors: TV watching, computer time and driving time. They didn’t find any associations with computer time and driving, but they report that the risk for death was two times higher for participants who spent three or more hours watching the television, even when the study authors accounted for other factors related to early death. The findings are still considered preliminary, though this is not the first time researchers have found seriously worrisome effects from watching too much TV. In another research a 12-year study of 17,000+ Canadians, researchers found that people who sat for longer hours died younger — regardless of age, body weight, or how much they exercised. This thing na serious matter, I know it’s not our fault that most of our job makes us sit down for long but you should help yourself by exercising in any little way you can. Talk a walk, move around you are not glued to that seat.

Habit 7 Smoking and drinking alcohol -there is nothing new to say here on this habit than it is bad and you should stop it, the research on it is comprehensive and my blog won’t contain them all. On smoking I will say there is no moderation in it, just stop!!! it kills. It is said that one stick cost you 15mins of your life. It might look small, but then you do the mathematics yourself. As it is written, “smokers are liable to die young”.

Alcohol on its own is a dicey subject, people have their different opinions and they believe it helps them so all I can say about that is apply moderation.

So here are the 7 habits I know some of us are doing that are slowly killing us. Please stop the ones you can and moderate on the ones you need to. I can’t bear the thoughts of losing any one yet, I love you all and it is my love that speaks. Feel free to add to the list on the comment section.

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