Psychological Tricks That Help You Escape Bad Health Habits

Ask any modern lifestyle physician, and they’ll tell you that most of the health issues that people experience in the modern world are a direct consequence of how they live their lives.

When you think about it, this is a dramatic about-turn from the situation that prevailed for thousands of years. For most of human history, the world did damage to us. It bombarded us with storms, famines, plagues, and violence. The Earth was a dangerous place to live, and the average person was lucky to make it to their thirtieth birthday. 

Today, though, the lion's share of harm is self-inflicted. It lies in our habits: what we eat, drink, take, and do. 

Overcoming so-called “bad habits,” therefore, is a health panacea, allowing us to avoid many of the common diseases that afflict many people today. 

But how do you overcome a bad habit, exactly? What do you need to do? Take a look at some of these ideas. 

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Always Take Baby Steps

Habits are ingrained: that’s what makes them so powerful. We get used to living our lives in a particular way and are always tempted to return to type. That’s what’s easy; that’s what we know!

Worse still, making significant changes is often too much for any of us to cope with. It takes time and effort to overhaul your lifestyle - it’s not something that we can do in an afternoon.

There’s a psychological problem here too. Telling yourself that you have to do a considerable amount to change actually makes it less likely that you’ll start doing the things you need to do. Very few people give up processed food and sugar overnight. It takes time. 

Take baby steps and don't punish yourself for backsliding. It’s a normal part of the process. 

Be Clear On Your Triggers

Our environment is stuffed full of things that trigger us to engage in unhealthy behaviors. It’s a big problem. For instance, one of the first things that addiction therapy programs will do is remove people from their triggers. Sometimes this can mean confining them to a room where they’re free from anything that could encourage further abuse. 

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You need to be clear on your triggers. If TV advertising affects you in the evening, watch YouTube instead. If you find yourself raiding the fridge, go for a walk. Do something that lets you avoid triggers and mold your environment to be more health-promoting. 

Try It For Three Weeks Only

Making lifestyle changes, like cutting unhealthy foods out of your diet, is a challenge, especially when you think that you have to maintain changes forever. 

The trick is to avoid having this conversation with yourself. Just tell yourself that you’re going to try eating well and exercising for three weeks - a short amount of time, but long enough to start experiencing the benefits. Often people who try a new diet or lifestyle for a short period feel so much better that they’re unwilling to go back to their old ways, making the new approach sustainable. 

#MyLittle Pony 3DLightFX Deco Lights Night Light Makes a Great Christmas Gift!

UPDATE: we have had this product almost 2 years now, and my daughter still uses it every night!

You may remember I posted a couple of weeks ago here about the 3DLightFX  Deco Lights and was so excited to try out the product. When it came, Eva was SO EXCITED and had her dad put it on her wall by her bed immediately!

Eva loves Rainbow Dash!

We enjoy so many things about this product and think it'll make a great gift for anyone we know, especially since they have so many different characters!

We love that it's Rainbow Dash.

We love that it's 3D and comes out of the wall like it's alive!

We love the bright colors.

We love the decals that come with it to jazz it up!

We love that it's the perfect brightness for falling asleep.

We love that it shuts off automatically in the night so it doesn't waste the batteries, but it's next to her bed so if she wakes in the middle of the night and wants it back on she can easily take care of that!

Her 3DLightFX next to her Funko Pop Rainbow Dash

This could not be any cooler and I wish they had these when I was a kid!

Here's how to purchase or head to your local Target to check it out!

Update one year later: this product holds up very well, even through being dragged all over the house to different locations where my daughter likes to sleep. It survived a move across states. It survived being taken from Kansas to Florida by car and back and survived two weeks on vacation. It survived being dropped multiple times. I highly recommend this product a year later!

How Complicated Can Health Get, Really?

Health is something that changes over time and has all sorts of twists and turns to it. And when you think about it, taking care of your health can get pretty complicated! It can be hard to keep up with what’s good for you and what might not be, and it can be one of the hardest things to know when to give your mind a break too. 

So, with all that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the main things that can make health seem like a really complicated matter. If you’ve been stuck in a rut with your wellbeing recently, sometimes it can just be nice to know you’re not alone in that! 

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Not Everything Works for Everyone

Health is complicated mostly because we’re all different. We have different bodies, and different minds, and different things make us who we are. Because of that, not every single remedy out there is going to work the same way for everyone in need of them. 

At a base level, some of us have allergies that make us allergic to certain medicines, and at the top of the ladder, some of us just don’t find a treatment routine relevant or useful to the way we live our lives at all. Mental health and physical health go hand in hand, after all, and there’s no saying how you’re going to respond to treatment until you try it. That uncertainty scares quite a few people. 

Mental Health Can Feel Like a Fight

Speaking of, mental health is something we all have to cope with from time to time - it can often feel like the smallest thing can affect it. When you’ve had a bad night’s sleep, and a long day at work, you might just come home and cry it out, for what seems like no reason whatsoever! You’re tired physically, and you’re drained emotionally, and now the day’s gone and you have nothing to show for it. 

How many days like this have you had? Don’t worry if it’s a lot - you haven’t wasted anything! Your mental health demands release sometimes, and that’s simply what you’re doing here, but mental health is often the core of 90% of life’s problems. Realising that is often the key to making healthy and permanent lifestyle changes for the better. For example, needing to check into an addiction treatment center starts with your perception of yourself and how you fit into the world. 

There’s a Lot of Pressure to Be Healthy

And of course, in a society where ‘looking healthy’ is prioritised above all else, falling out of the norm puts a lot of pressure on you. And often enough, our health levels aren’t our own faults! This perception adds a whole new level of complexity to the way we look at and treat our health, and it’s important to keep this in mind. 

Your health can get complicated, on multiple levels. Being aware of this makes management easier. 

5 Unique Baby Gifts

Babies are very precious and it is our duty to look after them by showering them with love and affection. If you are buying gifts for a new baby or for a baby’s birthday party, you want the present to be unique and meaningful.

There are a vast number of baby gifts available to buy today; in both shops and online. If you use your imagination, you can make sure that your gift is special and different from the usual and boring gifts that are out there.

The following are five baby gift ideas that will be both special and unique for the recipient.


Birth charts are an excellent idea as they make a distinctive baby gift. The baby’s childhood and all their details can be recorded on this making it a very memorable and precious keepsake gift.



Personalized gifts such as photo frames, trinket boxes and birth certificate holders etc. are another wise option. These gifts usually come in sterling silver so they can be engraved with the baby’s name, date of birth and any other details that you would like to include. Personalized gifts should be treasured and minded until the baby gets older and he/she can understand and appreciate the sentimental value that it holds.



Diaper cakes are a relatively new craze and are a great option if you would like to give something that is of great use to the baby. Diaper cakes are made up of baby gifts like blankets, diapers, clothes, baby combs, teething rings, baby bottles and toys. All the gifts are arranged in such a way that they look like a tiered wedding cake.



Personalized baby bracelets have always been very popular, and they have not lost their touch. You can buy them in either silver or gold and get a message engraved on it; name, date of birth or maybe who it is from. There are a vast number of different bracelets on sale; from plain silver to yellow or white gold, to pearl or diamond encrusted pieces. They are a lovely idea for a baby gift, especially if you are buying for a girl as we all know how much women love their jewelry!



Candles – personalized candles are meaningful in their own right. The baby might not be able to wear it or use it as such, but it will hold great sentimental value when the baby gets older. You can buy lovely baby pink or sky blue ones, and they come in all different shapes and sizes too. The candle can then be used for the baby’s Christening, Communion and Confirmation which makes it a lovely keepsake to have.


These gifts are unique, give a personal touch to your gift and at the same time, they are inexpensive. These are only some examples of gifts available today which can be used for baby showers, newborn babies, toddlers and babies birthday parties.

If you don’t have children of your own, it can be very difficult to choose a gift that is suited to a particular occasion. With the guidance given above, you should have no problem in finding the most unique gift for that special baby.

Brenda O'Brien is a full time mother and part time parenting blogger based in London writing on behalf of Sleepymoon Cards a start up business selling unique, top quality baby thank you cards.

Taking Control Of Your Health And How You Can Do It

Life can get too hectic at times. We can all be riding the wave where we have things to do, work, life, and often we can end up burning the candles at both ends, which can then lead to health concerns and not feeling our best. But what can we do to change this? Sometimes we need to take back the control and when it comes to our health, there really is no time like the present. With that in mind, here are some of the things you can think about doing. 

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Spot the warning signs 

When it comes to your health it is important to be vigilant and to keep an eye on what you would say is normal for your body and what is out of the ordinary. There are many ways you can spot something might not be right and there could be an underlying issue. It might be that you have a lump appear somewhere strange. Maybe you have started to experience hearing loss due to the workplace environment. It could be a change with headaches, how you eat, trying to start a family and finding nothing is happening. These could all be things that your body is trying to say something isn't quite right. Listen to it. 

Change your diet

If you are not feeling as healthy as you would like to look at the things you are putting in your body each day and learn to nourish it with the good stuff instead of the bad. The thing is, give your body a load of junk, sugary treats and rubbish, and ultimately you will get out what you put in. Give your body the fuel it needs to function properly and you will start to feel better in yourself. Food and drinking plenty of water are key ways to keep you feeling at your healthiest. 

Consider being more active

Along with the food you eat another thing to be conscious of is how much you exercise. It may sound like basic advice, but being more active can really help you to feel more healthy. It doesn’t mean you need to be in the gym everyday, sometimes that just isn't for everyone. But it can mean just choosing to be active each day. By walking somewhere, doing an at home workout, or practicing yoga in your living room, you can be more active if you put your mind to it. 

Keep track of those regular check ups

Finally, we all can lose track of those health appointments that we need to keep up with regularly, so you may want to try and keep track of them a little better. From eye and hearing tests to gynecology appointments we would rather avoid, they can go a long way to be part of preventing any health issues to form, before any symptoms manifest themselves. 

Let’s hope that this has made you more aware of some of the ways you can take control of your health.