/hb/ - Health & Beauty

>What is your bad habit(s)?
Soda, tons of it
>When did your realize it had a real impact on your health and well-being?
I never really thought about it much since I don't gain weight and I have dry skin, so I didn't become fat or pimply, but drinking 3L of coke a day will mess with you anyway. In my case, sleep was shit for weeks.
>What are you actively doing to change it?
drinking sparkling water and green tea instead.
Soda only on outings, as a treat.
>What are the challenges/obstacles?
CRAVINGS
>Any advice or tips for those struggling with the same thing?
Try different kinds of drinks and don't fall for flavored sugar water crap. My go-to is unsweetened green tea, oddly enough

>what is your bad habit(s)?
This is going to sound completely retarded but I have an addiction to coffee, very specifically chain-bought coffees, usually soy vanilla lattes (does it get any more basic than this).

>when did your realize it had a real impact on your health and well-being?
When I had to start budgeting my student loan for a few weeks before the next payment was due, I realised couldn't afford Starbucks everyday and went through major caffeine withdrawals lel

>what are you actively doing to change it?
I started buying in green tea to try and substitute the caffeine addiction. Drinking it in lieu of foamy, soy goodness is awful but it means I don't act like a sulky child all day on account of lack of caffeine.

>what are the challenges/obstacles?
The addiction actually got started because I used to have an energy drinks habit in my teens and ofc we all know how fucking awful those things are for you, so I switched to coffee. I didn't much like the taste of black coffee so I started buying mochas and lattes instead. I would make it a daily routine where at least once a day I'd walk over to Starbucks with a book, order my latte and sit out in the sun under a parasol with the sun beating down on my shoulders, and it was heaven. Some days I'd take some old bread with me, order my latte, find a bench and sit feeding pigeons for an hour, and they'd come sit next to me on the bench or hop onto my lap to eat out of my hand. It was way too much of a good thing though, and I found that I'd begun to associate coffee with happiness, so when I didn't get my coffee, well I felt I couldn't be happy. Now I'm trying to cut down and I'm MISERABLE all the damn time, with the only thing going through my head all day being "Get the Starbucks and you won't feel bad, just do it, you can deal with these feelings tomorrow instead. Rinse repeat.

>any advice or tips for those struggling with the same thing?
None. I'm the one that needs tips and advice here. I have no willpower whatsoever and I can't help but laugh/cry because it's a total meme addiction.

I was actually counting it up the other day and at £3.20 that averages out to £22.40 per week and £96.00 per month. People might say "How do you afford such a ridiculous habit??" and the answer is that I don't. I skip meals a lot or eat basic meals to be able to afford coffe. HELP ME.

This is a little different, because it's not something material, but i still think it's a bad habit that can destroy your life and those around you and should be changed. Especially in these past few years, where it has been normalized and it has gotten worse, at least for me.

>What is your bad habit(s)?
Extreme nihilism, anger and overall negativeness and disregard for my life.

>When did your realize it had a real impact on your health and well-being?
When it was making my life even more miserable than it was and those around me too. Never feeling complete happiness and lashing at those around you for trivial stuff makes you a repellent of people or a depression magnet.

>What are you actively doing to change it?
Becoming overall more positive with my thoughts and actions.
Stopped sadposting on twitter and following depressing memes accounts a la meirl.
I also started to check more on my feelings instead of letting them happen sporadically, when i think "wow why did i say that i am so stupid" i correct myself with "well, it happened, at least you tried to say something, you cannot control how everything is, and you don't even know if the other person thought it awkward so stop".
I've taken the time to observe my feelings more cautiously and reconstruct them into positive things when i know i am making things worse than they are.
Whenever i feel anger boiling up inside me, i just let myself follow the 5 minute rule to let it out. I keep it inside for a few minutes, even if i have to be completely quiet while taking shit from people, check if the situation truly warrants anger, and find solutions to it that do not end up i me leashing out unless completely necessary.

>What are the challenges/obstacles?
It's easier to feel nothing or feel depressed than actively trying to become a more positive person.
Struggling with depression also makes it more difficult to think positive thoughts and improve oneself.
Sometimes you miss having no feelings or just letting things happen around you and it becomes a circle of starting-ending-starting.
Controlling one's anger when somebody is being a cunt to you can be a big challenge. Even-though you will achieve nothing by lashing out to them other than escalating the situation, it's still quite difficult to be the "better person".

>Any advice or tips for those struggling with the same thing?
First of all, if it's really severe, seek therapy.
Check your feelings, analyse them, seek what makes yourself a better person and actively work towards that objective.
Analyse why do you constantly feel this way, eradicate any outside help that may come into validating negative thoughts (like current depression meme culture).
See if your negative thoughts are too big for a small situation (for example: no, you should not want to kill yourself because a plate fell on the ground and you are not a stupid useless little shit because of it. It does not warrant that, your brain is exaggerating, and you should convince it of it as if it is your friend).
When you feel anger, exaggerated thoughts or whatever, take your time, it is absolutely okay to feel this way, but think thoroughly if the situation that caused you to feel this way is seriously as bad as you make it out to be or if it deserves this kind of thinking. Even if it's only just 2 minutes, it really helps put things into prespective.
Your feelings are valid, being angry, depressed, or sad when certain things happen is normal, you do not have to be positive at all times and try to "correct" all your feelings, you are not a robot, but do check when feeling those things is a trick of your brain, and when a situation does deserve those feelings. Feeling nothing about everything is not really that normal.
Would you call your friend a "stupid useless garbage that does not deserve to live" because they stained something or other trivial stuff? no? then don't do it to yourself either. You are your own best friend, treat yourself accordingly.

>>82
Hey friend, I also have a huge coffee and caffeine addiction. I am obsessed with buying coffee drinks at coffee shops, too. Something about the atmosphere. I started making my own cold brew for the morning, as well as frothing my own milk with an electic whisk for hot coffee. If you want something sweet, add a drop of Torani syrup. These things help me feel like I'm having a fancy coffee while still getting my caffeine, and I can have all the coffee I want at home without paying $5 each. I've saved a decent amount so far. (Though I miss using my Starbucks stars lol.)

>>83
I went through a similar thing a few years ago. I was a ridiculously cynical, miserable, angry, transphobic person with a crap ton of internalized misogyny. I'd spent the last years hanging out on r9k because they were the only people I could find who were as miserable as I was.

I had similar moment where I realized how shitty my attitudes and opinions were, and how much I was hurting myself and those around me, and had to make a conscious decision to be kind to myself and others. I struggled for a long time with those feelings of anger, but after months of purging myself of r9k and purposefully spending my time in compassionate spaces I began to see a turn around.

My biggest warning is that in my case the anger and the bullshit totally turned out to be a coping mechanism, and without it my anxiety got really bad. But imo it was worth it and now I have enough respect for myself to try to learn how to deal with it in a healthy way.

>>85
>My biggest warning is that in my case the anger and the bullshit totally turned out to be a coping mechanism, and without it my anxiety got really bad.

Yep, same thing happened here, almost caused my regression into the fucked up state of mind.
As soon as I started to purge the extreme nihilism and cynicism i definitely saw my emotions and anxiety "overflow", to say the least.

It's terrible and makes you want to stop trying to change your mindset because the other "side" is more comforting, but once you get through the worse of it and you realize that it's better to be uncomfortable for a period but "normal" (for a lack of a better word) and a better person the rest of your life rather than always miserable but comfortable person, it really helps to deal better with these emotions and keep trying.

It's quite a scary and difficult process, it's very uncomfortable and it will definitely show some sides of you you don't know you have or want to deal with.

But to all anons looking to change this kind of attitude and going through the worse of it, keep on doing it and never give up! I believe in you!
It will be a lot better in the end.

>>83
Same here, anon.

>What is your bad habit(s)?

Being very negative and obsessing over things that make me sad, angry, low/shouldn't matter anymore/belong in the past, which makes me feel miserable and depressed. I want to improve down relationships I have in my life, and let go of a couple that I should have dropped weeks or months ago, and changing the way I act is going to help me a lot with that too. Being negative makes me argue with my loved ones over things they did or said in the past, or unforgiving​ly judge them really fucking hard over and over and over, because I secretly hate myself/can't see anything good in people/feel insecure or unloved. And it makes me keep rotten people in my life who have the same woe is me attitude. It's a vicious cycle.

>When did your realize it had a real impact on your health and well-being?

Years ago, but I only decided to change this year. I started 2017 by changing my body (it's a work in progress, but I've lost 18kg) and now I'm working harder on my mental and emotional health. I wrote a super sad text during new year's eve about how much I wanted to change my attitude and improve, and now I am happy that I have kept my word.

>What are you actively doing to change it?

I'm just about to start… I bought a small notebook and decided that whenever I feel like I'm going to start wallowing in negative thoughts and thinking things that I shouldn't think about anymore, I write down something that makes me happy, or that I like about myself, or that I really appreciate in other people. It's very simple, yeah, but it's a habit that I hope can help me overcome all my negative patterns.
It's going to be a personal journal of happiness, or something like that. I mentioned this before on here and someone told me to keep the fake until you make it attitude. I want to start doing that as well.

>What are the challenges/obstacles?

I'm really fucking anxious. I took antidepressants and antianxiety meds for ages, and now I'm off them, so relying solely on myself is strange, new and scary sometimes. A couple bad things that happened in the past resurfaced not long ago and I am still struggling with them, but I won't give up on changing this situation. I deserve to live a happier life. I've always thought that people who "forced" themselves to focus on the bright side were fools, but they're happier than me lol. So I guess joke is on me and I gotta change my attitude.

>Any advice or tips for those struggling with the same thing?

Don't let yourself be your own enemy, anon! If you think like me that ~you are~ a naturally nervous/sad/negative/whatever person, then know that you can change some aspects in your personality (you can't​ change it entirely, but you can definitely change many traits).

Also: THINK LESS, LIVE MORE! This has become my mantra whenever I realize I'm obsessing over negative or saddening things.

>>87
Improve my*, not down. Huh. Sorry, it's late here.

I quit smoking because I worried about NASOLABIAL FOLDS and aging badly now I'm getting a bit older. I have been smoking for 10years. Went cold turkey, was frustrated and irritable at first for about 2 weeks and very fidgety so I had to play with blue tack lol. Now looking back I regret quitting smoking because I've become a right porker. Seems like my nicotine craving were replaced with food and sugar. Looks like my choices are in life haggard skin or fatty skin. Even dieting is hard, I do not have the willpower. Before I would just smoke if I craved junk food, lettuce does not hit that spot and never will!

I have a really weird problem where, ever since I was in seventh grade, Im addicted to popping pimples/ blackheads and picking at scabs on my face. At the best it makes me look like I have acne, but at the worst I feel like a depraved meth addict or like there's otherwise something very very messed up with me. I try to hold myself accountable by forcing myself to tell a trusted friend (through text) when I'm doing it so as to make myself away that I'm doing it. The mindless picking is almost impossible to notice and stop. I always do it when I'm super stressed, so when life is going badly I have the added awfulness of feeling like I look like a mental ward patient from all the holes I dig in my face. It is embarrassing and almost impossible to break!!

>What is your bad habit(s)?
Self harming. not like cutting or anything all the time, mostly just purposefully thinking about stuff that makes me feel angry/sad/frustrated
>When did your realize it had a real impact on your health and well-being?
When it started interfering with my ability to be productive
>What are you actively doing to change it?
I actually don't want to change it, I use it as a tool. every time I want to make myself miserable I work out or study and I am outwardly the healthiest I've ever been
>What are the challenges/obstacles?
If you're not disciplined then this will probably be hard for you. was pretty easy for me
>Any advice or tips for those struggling with the same thing?
Stop being so passive and letting things happen to you every day I guess. if you can't figure out how to make yourself do things regardless of whether or not you "want" to then you really shouldn't respect yourself

I recently beat my nail biting habit that I have had since I was a child!

>What is your bad habit(s)?
Smoking cigs
>When did your realize it had a real impact on your health and well-being?
Once in a while if I smoke too much I get shortness of breath or smokers cough, it also affects my eczema.
>What are you actively doing to change it?
Nothing at the moment, to be honest it's something that I enjoy and I'm a douche who likes the aesthetic of it.
>What are the challenges/obstacles?
Same as second question.
>Any advice or tips for those struggling with the same thing? No :/, I could probably use some advice myself.

I'm 20 right now and I hope that I quit by 25 at least.

>>2601
HOW DID YOU DO IT ANON!? My nails are so bad.

>>2601
Please share how you did it anon, I desperately need to know how to stop

>>3365
>>3374
Not that anon but friends of mine told me they quit that habit by using nail polish or fake nails as much as possible.

>>81
I quit soda cold turkey a few years ago, now I don't even get cravings. I only drink water most of the time and a cup of coffee in the morning most days.
>>82
I don't think it's retarded, it can be expensive and I know first hand how irritating it gets when you don't get a caffine fix. I have to fill my bad habits up with other habits, but sometimes they just don't stick. With coffee i just slowly weaned myself to a cup of caffine a day, took about a month but I never drank that much to begin with.

>What is your bad habit(s)?
Smoking whenever I'm outside alone, and drinking (alcohol) instead of feeling emotions
>When did your realize it had a real impact on your health and well-being?
The smoking when my family found out. It started as just something I'd do socially, then occasionally when I was alone, now I am looking for reasons to get by myself. I smoked so much that I have met family when buying nothing but cigs. I'm still only at 1-3 cigs a day, I've yet to go over 4.

Drinking became a problem probably when I first brought alcohol to school so I could drink before tests. I didn't realize it was a problem though until I found myself having a tantrum like a child because I was upset and didn't have alcohol to consul me.
>What are you actively doing to change it?
Good question. I don't know yet. I'm actually in the process of accomplishing other goals that makes it harder for me to do my bad habits. I can't drink so much while staying within my calorie limit and I can't smoke as much without getting super winded working out. It sort of helps, but smoking has gotten worse recently.
>What are the challenges/obstacles?
I fall back on alcohol when I'm upset and it basically muted my feelings, so without it I get very emotional. Cigarettes are pretty much the only thing I look forward to in life so I sometimes wonder what I'll have to live for if I quit.
>Any advice or tips for those struggling with the same thing?
Seriously, don't ever start smoking

>>3374
>>3365
I kicked my nail-biting habit by having a motive! It's a little humourous, but I was going to my first anime convention and wanted to have really pretty, long nails for the occasion. So whenever I'd put my hand to my mouth I'd remember my goal, and trim them down like every week to make them a tad better at growing. Then once the convention came, my nails were much better. Just think about how cute and pretty your hands will be if you stop biting your nails. The first few days are gonna be hard work, but soon after it's easy to not bite them unless you have some kind of anxiety, and once your nails are long enough you won't like to bite them in the first place. Good luck!