Unhealthy Habits to Break in the New Year

One of the best parts of a new year is the feeling of a fresh start. It’s the perfect time to reflect on the last 12 months and think about what you want in your future. For many people, the new year is a time to better themselves by eliminating a bad habit. No matter your age, if you want to reduce the amount of time you spend doing something unhealthy, there’s no better time to start than January.

Unhealthy Habits for Seniors to Break

Everybody has a bad habit they could eliminate, but some poor habits have a more significant negative impact on your life than others. If you’re a senior guilty of these bad habits, consider ways to reduce or eliminate them this year.

• Smoking- It’s not news that smoking is bad for your health. Yet, nearly 14 percent of adults smoke cigarettes in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 16 million people live with a smoking-related disease. Smoking is the largest cause of preventable diseases.  When you smoke cigarettes, you’re inhaling thousands of chemicals that interfere with your immune system. So not only does smoking cause various diseases, but it also limits your ability to recover from non-smoking related conditions. Smoking is an addictive habit and can be incredibly hard to break. If you need assistance to quit smoking, talk to your doctor about ways to safely lower your nicotine intake.
• Poor diet- Similar to smoking, a poor diet can contribute to developing preventable conditions such as diabetes, obesity, or high cholesterol. It can also grow your chances of suffering from heart disease, osteoporosis, gum disease, and even some cancers. Also, similar to smoking, not filling your body with proper nutrients can weaken your immune system and make it hard for you to recover from non-diet relation conditions.
• Too much alone time- There’s nothing wrong with enjoying your own company, but spending too much time alone can lead to social isolation, depression, and anxiety. You don’t need to spend time with someone every day, but maintaining relationships dramatically improves your mental and emotional health.
• Not sharing concerns with doctors- Going to the doctor can be an anxious activity, but it’s important to share health concerns with doctors, especially as you age. Sharing changes in your health can help doctors identify conditions early. For many diseases and cancers, early detection can significantly improve your chances of a speedy recovery. One thing seniors don’t report enough is falls. Even if it’s a simple slip in the home and you feel fine, let your doctor know at your next visit. Falls can cause minor breaks or internal damage that you may not be aware you have. If left untreated, those injuries can lead to more severe health problems.

Trips for Breaking Unhealthy Habits

Breaking habits takes a lot of work, but you can do things to make breaking a bad habit feel less overwhelming.

• Replace an unhealthy habit with a healthy one. A lot of bad habits have addictive natures, which is what makes them hard to break. One way to reduce your craving is to replace a bad habit with a healthy one. For example, if you’re trying to improve your diet by limiting the amounts of fast food you eat, anytime you’re tempted to head to your favorite fast-food chain, challenge yourself to head to the grocery store instead. Eventually, when you have those cravings, you’ll train yourself to make a healthier choice.  
• Get an accountability buddy. If you need help holding yourself accountable, enlist a trusted friend, spouse, or caregiver to be your accountability buddy. Share your goals with them and schedule weekly or monthly check-ins to share your progress and challenges. You can also ask them to join you on your journey. Sometimes having a friend to start new habits with makes sticking to them more fun.
• Track your progress. You’ll inevitability have days where you won’t feel like you’re making progress. When you don’t feel like you’re improving, it can become challenging to keep moving forward. Tracking daily or weekly progress helps you keep your goals in perspective. Plus, when you’re feeling stuck, reviewing your progress can be a great motivator to push you through the rough patch. 
• Celebrate the small wins. The ultimate goal for breaking a bad habit is to stop doing it entirely, but that doesn’t give you a tangible end goal. Instead of making your goal never to do something again, set small goals throughout the week, month, and year. If you want to stop drinking, you can make a goal around reduction at first and set a limit for yourself each week. After each week, if you’ve hit your goal, celebrate yourself. Even if you don’t hit your goal, you can still celebrate your progress. Acknowledging milestones allows you to put your progress into perspective.

How Visiting Angels Can Help

If you need help breaking your poor habits this year, the team at Visiting Angels is happy to help. Our compassionate caregivers make great accountability buddies who can assist with healthy meal preparation, transportation to doctor’s appointments, personal grooming, and much more. Our Gadsden office serves those in Blount, Marshall, Etowah counties, and the surrounding areas. If you’d like to learn more about our customized services, give us a call at 256.507.0083.