Nobody is perfect, including all the experts. I certainly am not perfect and have made many mistakes over my health journey. However, in my defense, most of those mistakes were made before I really got serious about my health journey.
Here I will cover my five biggest mistakes and lessons I have learned when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle (or not, in these cases!)
- Drinking too much alcohol for too long. I started drinking alcohol when I was about 15 years old. Throughout my twenties and thirties, I drank heavily and often. This continued into my 40’s until I finally realized what I was doing to myself. When I was probably about 43 or 44, I finally quit for good and I haven’t had a drop since (I am now nearly 53).
- Eating lots of fast food. In my teens, I worked at McDonald’s. There was no escaping it; I had to eat there on my breaks. That also became the hangout for me and my friends and we would always eat there even if we weren’t working. This bad habit continued into my twenties and 30’s. I did stop eating fast food gradually and now I only do it very sporadically when it is nearly the only option.
- Using non-natural hygiene products. Everything you put on your body absorbs into your skin, which is your biggest organ. Lotion, shaving cream, makeup, shampoo, deodorant, all of it; if it’s made with harmful chemicals, it’s not good for you. I used these chemical-laden products for too many years. There are natural alternatives to these that are easy enough to find or even make yourself. I made a video about some of the products that I switched over to (not a new video, but a good place to start!).
- Staying up really late, often until morning. Going against our natural circadian rhythm is harmful in so many ways. But when you’re young, you don’t think of that because you are filled with energy and the belief that nothing you do can hurt your body (also why I drank alcohol and ate fast food like there was no tomorrow!). My sleep got exponentially better once I switched to going to bed before midnight and getting up around 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. I did a lot of things for my sleep hygiene which I cover in this article about how to get a good night’s sleep, but going to bed at a reasonable time was probably one of the most beneficial change I made.
- Getting sunlight wrong. There is a right way and a wrong way to get sunlight. The wrong way is to be outside for hours in the middle of the day with no sunscreen and think that you are going to build a base tan. All that gave me was blisters (and thankfully, not skin cancer!) The correct way to get sunlight is to go outside in the morning before the sun is at its highest point in the sky, and getting just enough sunlight on your skin until it starts to turn pink, and tingle a little bit. You don’t necessarily need sunscreen for this because you are not going to be outside that long plus sunscreen will block your vitamin D absorption. Getting sunlight correctly is good for two reasons; vitamin D and resetting your circadian rhythm so you can sleep properly. So get your sunlight in small chunks, regularly, and early in the morning hours.
I have a video on my YouTube channel where I talk about the three biggest health mistakes I have made (and of course they were in this list as well), see if you can guess which ones made my top 3!