The unhealthy habits you desperately want to break.

By SONIA WILSON.

I am a creature of habit.

No, that’s a lie. I am a killer whale of habit.

Every morning I wake up and check the same websites in the same order. I sit at the same spot at the dinner table every night. I have a glass of milk (read: wine)  every night before I go to bed.

Most people thrive on habits in one way or another. Some habits are good, like carrying around a water bottle, or stretching when you wake up in the morning.

But there are some habits that we all know we should stop holding onto.

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These are the habits that we fall into as a result of a busy lifestyle. Coping mechanisms, or corners cut here and there that help us to make it through the day. It’s these sorts of unhealthy habits that can be damaging to our health and wellbeing. But, unfortunately, these unhealthy habits are often the ones that are the hardest to shake.

So, in the noble interest of community self-betterment, today we’re going to share those unhealthy habits with each other. Here are three to get you started:

1) Sleeping in makeup

We’ve all done this. Come home from a late night and fallen straight into bed without even a passing thought given to the possibility of breaking out the makeup wipes and giving our faces a good scrub.

While I could tell you about the horrible acne and clogged pores that can result from going to bed with your face still on, I won’t. I’m sure your grandmas would have done that one to death when you were in your teens. What I will tell you though is that by going to bed with your mascara and liner on, you put yourself at risk of eye infections. Yeah. Imagine having to call in sick due to false lash-induced conjunctivitis. Not good.

2) Lugging around a handbag bigger than you are

My whole life lives inside my handbag. Seriously. Sometimes I watch Mary Poppins and think: “Gosh, she could have fit more in there, couldn’t she? Where was her spare pair of shoes?” Because between extra shoes, random books, my glasses case, my phone, my phone charger, my laptop, my laptop charger, a water bottle, a packed lunch, 20 tampons and roughly 100 bus tickets, every morning I find myself performing a weightlifter-esque move to just get my handbag on my shoulder.

Unfortunately, I’m not alone in my hunter-gatherer handbag mentality. But this is an unhealthy habit that we should all try to break.

Because, not only can this leave you bag-less when your bag strap eventually decides to call it a day and snap on you (in the middle of a crowded train station, if you’re blessed with my good luck), but lugging around heavy weights on your shoulders can result in back and neck problems. If you have lots of stuff that you need to cart around each day, look at splitting it into two bags (i.e. a backpack and a handbag) or even investing in a bag on wheels, that will be much easier to cart around with you.

3) The 3pm sneaky snack binge

The sneaky snack binge. We’ve all done it: you find you’re pushed for time and there’s nothing healthy around.  Or your automatic default at that 3pm snack time is a biscuit or a packet of chips. Then you blink, it’s 3.05pm, and you’ve eaten everything in sight and you’re still not full or satisified.

Luckily, this is a habit that is easily fixed! Forget the biscuit tin and reach for foods that are high in protein and low in carbs. This way your afternoon snack is far more satisfying and you’ll benefit from the longer lasting energy.

Here’s some news! We’re starting a 3PM Pick Me Up series of posts. They will be a daily reminder of the beauty of the internet, designed to help to lift you out of that inevitable mid-afternoon lull. Look out for the post at 3PM today.

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What’s the habit that you want to break?