#1
#2
Seriously, alcohol is so bad for you in so many f****d up ways.
#3
Taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional health is a lot of hard work. It requires discipline, dedication, and sacrifice. If it were easy, everyone would be fit, and there wouldn’t be things like the current global obesity epidemic.
The World Health Organization reports that around 1 in 8 people live with obesity. In 2022, 2.5 billion adults were found to be overweight (43% of the global adult population); 890 million of them were obese.
Obesity doesn’t just impact your self-esteem, it also vastly increases the risks of getting serious diseases and conditions ranging from heart disease, stroke, and various cancers to depression. You’re also more likely to develop asthma, reflux, gallstones, liver disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, as well as fertility issues.
Furthermore, being obese wrecks the quality of your daily life because it can lead to chronic exhaustion, back and joint pains, breathlessness, and social isolation.
#4
Mowing the lawn? Ear plugs. Attending a concert or even a loud bar with live music? Ear plugs. Shooting a gun (yes even just one shot)? Ear plugs.
Ear plugs come in pretty styles and designs these days. Spend a few extra dollars on the musicians ear plugs to maintain good speech understanding.
Ear plugs are cool. Protect your ears!
#5
Why are you are the way you are; how you think the way you think; what you do the way you do it. None of us are given a manual for being, yet understanding our being provides so much more agency in life. If you can afford therapy, great. If not, self help books/audiobooks, CBT apps, online courses and workshops, podcasts and youtube channels, journaling, mindfulness/meditation, and self reflection exercises are all helpful.
All the other things you'll likely read here - exercise, stopping alcohol/cigarettes, eating healthy, better sleep hygiene, wearing sunscreen, oral hygiene - they're behavioral changes made easier when you understand your behaviors/cognitions themselves.
#6
With all of this in mind, it’s vital for you to put in daily effort to move more, eat better, sleep properly, and drink plenty of water. The exact guidelines might vary from source to source and might impact you differently due to your genetics, environment, and lifestyle. Nonetheless, you should aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week, avoid ultra-processed foods, get around 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night, and drink 2 to 3 liters of water per day. Again, the exact numbers might look different depending on who you are and what you do, but these are the general guidelines.
But setting your fitness and nutrition aside for a moment, you shouldn’t forget your social life. A decades-long study from Harvard found that it’s your positive relationships that have the biggest impact on your health, happiness, and longevity. In short, when you invest your time and effort into deepening your relationships with awesome people, you bounce back from all the stress that life throws at you much quicker.
Negative relationships, on the other hand, are detrimental to your health. And social isolation is as toxic as being a heavy smoker. So, no matter your fitness level, you should not sideline the people you love. Spending time with them and around them isn’t just enjoyable, it also does amazing things for your overall health.
#8
If you need help managing your diet/nutrition needs/anything to do with food - don't ask your doctor. Find a *registered* dietitian (NOT A NUTRITIONIST)..
Doctors usually don't know jack s**t about any of it.. and some of the s**te my patients have told me their doctors have told them make me want to bash my head against a wall.. repeatedly..
Seriously.. so much bad advice..
Oh, and if doctors could stop telling people that all their issues would be solved if they just lost weight.. and refusing to delve any deeper unless they do so - that would be great! The amount of patients I've watched slowly die because of this also makes me want to bash my head against a wall..
Yes, we all know being obese isn't great for your health.. but, there are so many things that can prevent a person from losing weight.. and you're leaving your patients in a really s****y spot by not continuing to investigate while patients try and lose said weight.. PLEASE help your f*****g patients.. don't just tell them they're fat and call it a day..
#9
Everybody recommends wearing sunscreen every day, but I honestly don't care about that.
Wear sunscreen when you're going to get a lot of sun. When you're outside all day, going to the beach, going on a road trip, playing tennis, etc. Don't let yourself sunburn.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
If you wear sunscreen during the days where you get the most sun, and you don't let yourself get burned, you should be able to minimize most of your risk of skin cancer.
Sure, wearing sunscreen every day at all times is amazing, especially for reducing photoaging, but just wearing sunscreen during the big times and preventing sunburns is huge for reducing skin cancers.
Before you make any drastic changes in your life—say, at the start of the new year to become a better version of yourself—talk to your doctor. If you’ve been living an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle for years or decades, you should change your expectations. We all want to look and feel great with minimal effort, but you won’t get results very quickly. Your doctor can give you some tailored advice for how you should approach getting fit. Meanwhile, they’re bound to help you out if you want to move away from unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, or excessive caffeine consumption.
Commit to making a handful of small changes, incrementally changing your life over the upcoming weeks, months, and years. What you’re aiming for is sustainable change and a lifestyle you can keep up indefinitely, not burning out and regressing once your initial burst of motivation dries up.
Find some physical activities that you genuinely love doing so that you can maintain the habit even when you’re not feeling 100%. For yours truly, that’s hiking and swimming. For you, it might be soccer, dancing, weightlifting, martial arts, jogging, puppy yoga, or any combination of the hundreds of ways people have found to make moving fun. Whatever you do, getting into the habit of doing it is more important than how intense the exercise is at first. Break a sweat, sure, but don’t go overboard. Just be sure to show up the next time… and the time after that, and the time after that, and… you get the idea.
#10
#11
#12
In an instance where a family member can't advocate for themselves, what is important to them when it comes to their quality of life?
I see so many situations every day where I have to ask families about if their elderly loved ones were to have the natural process occur and their heart were to stop, would they want want to have CPR done, for instance, which is very violent, often involves breaking ribs, and requires me to put in breathing tubes and connect people to ventilators. It's much more brutal than TV.
In the face of an emergency situation, when your loved one cannot advocate for themselves, I see so much (understandable) "decision paralysis," because people have to think about things they never have discussed before and saying "no" seems like giving up or not advocating for your family.
I had one case of a 102 year old, completely healthy, who came in one day because her body clearly had decided it was done after a beautiful life filled with love and a large family. This family was shocked, because she was "fine yesterday," and wanted "EVERYTHING" done. I tried to tell them that "everything" may not be worth risk of potential pain, suffering, etc; they were in complete shock and decided anything and everything I could do, I should.
This happens every day, and I never blame a family member. That's your mom, grandma, sister, cousin, best friend, etc. I get it. Ultimately (and thankfully), it is not my job to decide whether or not someone receives "everything;" it is the family. But dear god...if I were that 102 year old...I would come back and slap the s**t out of them.
Talk to your family. Talk to your loved ones. Get your state specific goals of care forms and keep copies available. Let your loved ones dictate their care while they still can.
There are tons of other things you can do to live healthier, but you have to weigh them against all your other responsibilities in life, like work, family stuff, studying, hobbies, etc. You don’t want to live a life where you’re only focusing on maintaining your body because there are so many different things to do and see and try in life. Nor do you want to live in a way where you’re ignoring your body’s needs altogether.
For example, be sure to brush your teeth because neglecting your oral health is going to bite you in the future. But not everyone will have the time and patience for a half-hour-long flossing routine. Floss a bit if you can. Do things imperfectly but regularly.
Unless you’ve got millions in your bank account and an army of top-tier doctors on call, you won’t ‘perfectly’ optimize your health like entrepreneur Bryan Johnson. But so long as you get the main things right, you’re good. Remember: prioritize your relationships, move lots, eat well, sleep well, and enjoy life.
#13
Most people aren’t great with their toothbrush technique and an electric toothbrush makes it so much easier for most people to get plaque off. Just 2 minutes each time, twice a day, point the bristles toward the gum line at a 45-degree angle and let the electric toothbrush do its magic!
#14
#15
What is the best health tip that you’d give someone hoping to make a change in 2025, dear Pandas? What health advice would you give your younger self if you could send a message back through time?
What do you struggle with the most when it comes to health and fitness? Do you have any health-related regrets? Let us know! We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
#16
Please floss your teeth. Between your teeth is the dirtiest part.
Skipping it is basically the equivalent of showering and not washing your b******e.
#17
Don't buy motorcycles...it's just not worth it.
Don't buy trampolines either.
-MD (Radiologist).
#18
#19
#20
Get regular exercise.
Limit/eliminate alcohol consumption.
If you are diabetic, keep very good control of it.
Keep up with regular check ups and don't hesitate to get something checked out if you are concerned. This is even more critical if you have a family history of cancer.