5 Things Killing You Faster

And What to Do About Them

1. Not Getting Enough Sleep

The majority of our problems, mental and physical, stem from our sleep patterns or the lack thereof. People are not getting enough sleep with all the Netflix bingeing in bed and TickTocking to sleep. We forget that our bodies need at least 6–8 hours of GOOD sleep and I emphasize GOOD because 6 hours of bad sleep is not the same.

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:

“Sleep deficiency is linked to many chronic health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression."

So if you are dealing with any of these problems, start getting to bed a lot sooner and stay away from your TVs and smartphones. Blue light causes a decrease in melatonin, the hormone that makes you feel sleepy and wreaks havoc on your biological clock causing your sleep pattern to get all screwy. Secondly, Blue light exposure postpones the body moving into REM sleep, the deep phase of sleep when your body does its repair work. Now you get what I mean about GOOD sleep.


You may not be having trouble falling asleep anymore because you’re so exhausted but I bet you aren’t feeling rested in the morning and have gallon-sized bags under your eyes. HERE IS THE SOLUTION: Charge your phone in a separate room, buy an analog alarm clock (because I know you’re making excuses), turn the tv off 2 hours before going to bed, and get some good quality sleep so you can be mentally healthier, physically stronger, more productive, and thrive.

2. Eating Too Much

About 60 to 70 million Americans are affected by digestive disorders each year. Part of the reason people can’t sleep is insomnia caused by bad gut health. This is really bad because diet and sleep are the most important factors in keeping us alive, so if we are not careful we could be killing ourselves a lot faster than we should. It's not always the type of foods that are being ingested but the amount. Heart disease, diabetes, and most forms of cancer, though genetic, become fatal because of diet. These are a couple of well-known phrases, “everything in moderation” and “it is possible to have too much of a good thing”. Numerous studies have shown that many diseases, even cancer, can be reversed by extreme changes in diet. Though you may not be there yet, subtle changes in your diet such as portion sizes can make a major difference to your immune system as you get older.

HERE IS THE SOLUTION: limit the amount of grains in your diet (most [not all] turn to sugar and end up causing diabetes), eat more fiber-rich fruits, veggies, and legumes instead, use a smaller plate (and don’t get seconds), fast for 24 hours at least once a week.

“You can’t pave a road you’re still driving on”

Fasting allows your body to digest and cleanse. Fasting between dinner and breakfast at least 12 or up to 15 hours is optimal as well. It will change your life and you will lose that weight you’ve been struggling to burn off without killing yourself at the gym.

3. Not Drinking Enough Water

Most adults are dehydrated most of the time and a good sign that you are dehydrated is when you feel thirsty. When you are living on automatic pilot, mindlessly scrolling your life away, you aren’t attuned to your body’s needs until it is desperately in need. You get a headache and start feeling a little anxious, with rapid heart palpitations, and sweat. Chances are you can’t sleep well at night, and you mistake your thirst for hunger so you snack on whatever you can find until your mouth is dry. This is what dehydration feels like and it is a HUGE problem today because most of our body is made up of water and we desperately need it for all of our bodily functions. When we ingest caffeine or alcohol, they do not count as fluid the body needs, if anything they force our body to require more water to dilute them from affecting our liver.


Also drinking water plays an essential role in weight loss. If you aren’t drinking enough water, your digestive system won’t be able to break down the fat and waste throughout your body and dispose of them through poop, urine, or sweat


HERE IS THE SOLUTION: Men should be drinking about 15 cups of water a day and Women should be drinking about 11 cups. Of course that all fluctuate depending on height and weight but I guarantee you’re probably not drinking that much. I suggest you get a water-drinking app on your phone to remind yourself to drink water. Also, buy yourself one of those “emotional support” gallon water bottles people carry around like a baby so you can have water wherever you go.

4. Over Medicating

So, you aren’t drinking enough water, and you have a headache. Also, your muscles are aching from a bad night of sleep without recovery and your reflux is causing discomfort in your stomach. What do you do? Tylenol for the headache, ibuprofen for your muscles, and Tums for your tummy but you haven’t changed any of the factors contributing to the symptoms. It keeps happening over again so you pop more pills and wreak havoc on your internal organs.


Medication overuse can cause a lot of problems such as liver failure or addiction but also they can be masking a much more serious problem that may need serious medical attention. Some headaches can be the result of sleeplessness and dehydration but others can be a lot more serious so Tylenol could be making a heavy problem seem light if not properly dealt with. And that will be much harder to tell if you aren’t living a healthy lifestyle by sleeping and eating well.


HERE IS THE SOLUTION: While medication exists to help illness, it is easy to abuse them by using them as bandaids to a problem that you can fix by simple lifestyle changes. Assess whether the problem is being caused by something you can fix like dehydration headaches, diet sensitivities, or anxiety from sleep deficiency. If a problem is reoccurring, seek medical attention rather than self-medicating and always read the labels on over-the-counter medication.

5. Forgetting To Breathe

This one is probably the easiest to forget and the hardest to fix without intentional intervention. Breathing comes naturally to us because we can’t live without it but rapid breathing can have detrimental effects on the heart, brain, and lungs. Take a deep breath and calm down because you are not dying but it is very serious. It is incredibly important to take long, deep, slow breaths to get that oxygen into your lungs and up to your brain. When we are in distress, we tend to breathe rapidly and our brain makes really bad decisions because oxygen and brain function go hand in hand. The more oxygen you have flowing into your body, the better your brain will perform and your emotions will be better regulated as a result.

Proper breathing can help against depression and anxiety while rapid breathing can cause the body to seize up and go into a state of shock and asphyxiation.

HERE IS THE SOLUTION: Schedule 30 minutes twice a day to sit and meditate on your breathing, sit and drink a hot beverage rather than taking it to go in a thermos, take a nature walk for 30 minutes to an hour for the dopamine, and yoga may help if you are open to that because of the stretching and focus on breathing.


I hope this helps you to make the lifestyle changes necessary to live an enriched life.