In This ArticleView AllIn This Article1. Not Drinking Enough Water2. Eating Late at Night3. Not Getting Enough Exercise4. Skimping on Sleep5. Eating Too Much Sodium6. Choosing Foods Because They ‘Sound Healthy'7. Eating Lunch at Your Desk8. Cooking Everything in Olive Oil9. Skipping Dessert10. Not Changing or Sanitizing Your Kitchen Sponge Frequently Enough
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Not Drinking Enough Water
Eating Late at Night
Not Getting Enough Exercise
Skimping on Sleep
Eating Too Much Sodium
Choosing Foods Because They ‘Sound Healthy’
Eating Lunch at Your Desk
Cooking Everything in Olive Oil
Skipping Dessert
Not Changing or Sanitizing Your Kitchen Sponge Frequently Enough
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Pictured recipe:Lemon, Cucumber & Mint Infused Water
Some of the things you do—or don’t do—every day might be getting in the way of your efforts to be healthier. As you read this list of daily habits, don’t beat yourself up if you find many of them resonate with you. We all have things we could change. And change can be hard—but there are some things that can help make it a little easier.
For example, a 2020 study inFrontiers in Psychologysuggests that practicing new habits consistently and in the same context helps them become more automatic so that you don’t have to think about them as much to do them. For example, let’s say you want to eat more vegetables. You could choose lunch to start with and decide that you’ll have at least one serving of vegetables at lunch each day. Lunch becomes your trigger to eat more vegetables—and once that habit is formed, you can build on it.
Or piggyback it with two habits—going to bed and getting up in the morning. In this case, you could fill your glass of water at bedtime, so your trigger to fill your glass is getting ready for bed. Now when you get up—which is your trigger to drink the water—it’s there.
There is no one perfect way to change habits. And if you lapse—which is likely when forming new habits—simply learn from it and keep going. Research, including a 2019 study in theAmerican Journal of Lifestyle Medicinesuggests that making specific goals and writing them down increases your chances of success.
Take a look at these 10 habits to see if there are any areas where you can make a healthy change. While it can be tempting to take on a bunch of new habits at once, working on one at a time and consistently practicing it will help change your brain and make the habit automatic.
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Water accounts for 60% of your body, so it’s not too surprising thatdrinking water benefits your total body health. Staying hydrated helps to keep your memory sharp, your mood stable and your motivation intact.
Keeping up with your fluids helps your skin stay supple, helps your body cool down when it’s hot, allows your muscles and joints to work better and helps clean toxins from your body via your kidneys.
So, how much water should you be drinking? According to theNational Academy of Sciences, adult men need about 13 cups per day of fluid, and adult women need about 9. That recommendation includes 2 1/2 cups of fluid from foods and also counts the fluid in coffee, tea and other soft drinks toward your fluid needs.
But because one size doesn’t fit all, the best way to know if you’re adequately hydrated is to monitor your urine color: If it’s light yellow (the color of lemonade or straw), that means you’re probably drinking enough.
There are a couple of reasons to consider having dinner earlier. Researchers suspect that eating dinner later and close to bedtime changes how the food is digested, including how fat is processed. This could lead to weight gain, per a 2020 study in theJournal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Another reason is that you may sleep better. A 2020 study in theInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthsuggests that eating close to bedtime can disrupt sleep quality.
And if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a 2022 review inTherapeutics and Clinical Risk Managementsuggests that eating within three hours of bedtime makes acid reflux worse through the night.
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Physical activity has so many benefits to our health that we can’t name them all here (but we’ll try). According to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), exercise helps manage weight; improves brain health; strengthens bones, muscles, heart and lungs; helps you sleep better; improves mental health and reduces the risk of depression and anxiety; improves focus and judgment; improves the ability to perform everyday activities; prevents falls; helps manage blood sugar; and reduces the risk of chronic disease.
According to a 2020 review inCold Springs Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, exercise is associated with longer life. This is because it delays the onset of at least 40 chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
ThePhysical Activity Guidelines for Americansrecommends that all healthy adults perform moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes five days a week or vigorous-intensity activity for at least 20 minutes three days a week. They also recommend muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week.
It’s important that you start where you’re at and progressively increase the intensity and frequency of your exercise over time. One big mistake people make is going all out from the beginning and quickly burning out. Set big goals but start small and work up to your bigger goals.
You know that falling short of sleep is a major no-no, but why—what’s the big deal? According to theNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), not getting enough shut-eye can impact a whole slew of things. For starters, it can compromise your immune system, as well as your judgment and ability to make decisions—which can result in making mistakes or being injured.
Sleep deficiency is also linked to several chronic health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes, stroke, obesity and depression, per the NHLBI.
Being sleep-deprived may make it harder for you to lose weight if you’re dieting—and more likely that you’ll give in to that sweet temptation tomorrow.
While there is no magic number of hours to sleep (and the number changes with age), theNHLBIrecommends 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night for adults. It’s important to listen to your body and try to get the amount of sleep that your body needs to function at its best.
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Pictured recipe:Air-Fryer Turkey Stuffed Peppers
According to theCDC,90% of Americans eat about 1,000 milligrams more sodium each day than we should. Restaurant foods and processed foods both tend to be very high in sodium. One of theeasiest ways to reduce your sodium intakeis to cook at home using fresh ingredients. To decrease your sodium intake even further, try boosting the flavor of food cooked at home with herbs and spices rather than salt.
More and more food labels are sporting health benefits on their labels. If such claims lure you in, know that just because a product lacks fat or gluten or carbs doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthier. For example, fat-free products often deliver more sugar than their counterparts to make up for the flavor the product lacks from having the fat removed—and many full-fat options are the healthier choice.
Pictured recipe:Zucchini Noodles with Quick Turkey Bolognese
It’s all too easy to munch on your midday meal desk-side, but according to 2022 research published inAppetite, distracted eating was correlated to higher body weight. Researchers recommend shutting off devices and taking a break from work so that you can focus on what you’re eating, enjoying your food and noticing when you’re starting to feel full.
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Even though olive oil is packed with heart-healthy antioxidants (called polyphenols) and monounsaturated fats, there are times when it’s notthe best choice for cooking. Why? Because olive oil has a lower smoke point than some other oils (that’s the point at which an oil literally begins to smoke, and olive oil’s is between 365°F and 420°F).
When you heat olive oil to its smoke point, the beneficial compounds in the oil start to degrade, and potentially health-harming compounds form. So if you’re cooking over high heat, skip it and choose a different oil.
When is olive oil a good idea? It’s a great choice for making salad dressing or sautéing vegetables over medium heat.
So if it’s something sweet you’re craving, go for it. One ounce ofdark chocolateor 1/2 cup ofvanilla ice creamclocks in 170 and 137 calories, respectively.
This might not be something you think about regularly, but your kitchen sponge can be a cesspool of bacteria, molds and yeast, according to a 2020 study inBMC Public Health. And some of these microbes can make you sick. Add to that, if you’re using the sponge to wipe down your sink, kitchen counter, stove and refrigerator shelves, you’re providing the perfect transportation for cross-contamination.
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