5 Activities You Didn't Realize Are Damaging Your Healthy Lifestyle

Today's generation is becoming increasingly conscious with their health and well-being. More people are signing up for gym memberships and yoga classes. They are purging their fridge of high-calorie sodas and empty carbs and switching to organic meals and freshly pressed juices. They are cutting back on TV binge watching hours and are going outdoors to hike or kayak. And with the various benefits of a healthy lifestyle, who wouldn't want to start doing it? You get to live longer, avoid costly medical bills, and be able to enjoy your time doing the things you love doing. But even as you're trying to push for a healthy lifestyle, you could still be doing habits that you don't even realize are detrimental to your goals. Here are five common activities that are silent killers of a healthy lifestyle. By identifying these activities, you can cut them off gradually or completely before they deal more serious damage.

1 - Sleeping Late

Starting the day on the right foot is impossible if you slept late the night before. Successful people attribute some of their success to their set of morning habits that they've religiously followed for years. Sleeping an hour or two later than when you're supposed to might not feel damaging to your lifestyle as long as you wake up when you're supposed to, but over time it actually leads to an exhausted body and mind and the inability to focus on your tasks for the day.

2 - Watching TV

Watching television is a classic productivity zapper. Unfortunately, most people who are attempting to go healthy don't really see TV-watching as a harmful activity that goes against the lifestyle they are trying to build. Watching TV, however, can put you at risk for a variety of health conditions including obesity and diabetes. It also puts you at risk of sleep deprivation. Last but not least, according to the American Heart Association Journal, excessive amounts of time spent on watching TV can lead to premature death.

3 - Partying

Partying doesn't directly damage a healthy lifestyle, but the activities involved in parties can be a nightmare for your liver and lungs. Parties usually expose you to smoking and drinking alcohol. And even if you don't smoke yourself, you are exposed to secondhand smoke from friends who do. Drinking beers and spirits, on the other hand, can put a toll on your liver and can even affect your cognitive functions. In fact, several studies show that heavy and chronic drinking can result in rapid deterioration of the gray matter in the brain, inability to comprehend abstractly, and memory loss.

4 - Eating Out

Another seemingly innocent activity for the health-conscious is eating out with family or friends. The thing about eating out is, you often go for choices that offer value for your money. If you eat out at a cheap restaurant, the menus available are full of fatty and salty foods that do not bring any nutritional value nor give you the energy you need to function at optimal levels. Instead of eating out, opt to cook your own meals at home so you have control over the ingredients and cooking preparation.

5 - Driving

Have you ever heard the slogan, "Driving is hazardous to your health"? Driving frequently exposes you to certain risks that are non-existent for people who don't drive at all. Most notably, you are at a high risk of colliding with another vehicle and suffering mild to serious injuries in the process. Driving also exposes you to stress, especially when you find yourself in the middle of a traffic jam. Last but not least, driving far distances without stopping for breaks puts you at risk for blood clot formation on your legs.

Cutting back on these activities can improve your quality of life and allow you to achieve your health and fitness goals. Ultimately, a healthy lifestyle is all about moderation and self discipline to find the right balance between a healthy and happy life.