10 Mistakes You May Be Making When Brushing Your Teeth

By Erika Remmington

 

You’ve been brushing your teeth at least twice a day since you were a toddler. So it’s hard to imagine that you could still be making mistakes. But when things get routine, we stop paying attention to how we do them. Here is a quick list of mistakes that easily crop up in brushing habits.

 

1.    Too Much Brushing

Brushing allows you to scrub away layers of plaque and harmful bacteria, but you can scrub away tooth enamel as well if you aren’t careful. To avoid brushing too hard, grip your toothbrush like a pencil. Brushing too often has the same harmful effect—limit your tooth brushing to 2-3 times a day.

 

Toothpastes with whitening beads or baking soda are especially abrasive. Using a whitening toothpaste for a while is fine, but rotate back to a regular fluoride paste when it’s gone.

 

 

2.    Not Enough Brushing

At the other end of the spectrum, not brushing enough is equally as harmful to your dental health. Brush at least twice a day, preferably right after waking up and right before going to bed (source: smithfamilydental.com).

 

 

3.    Cutting it Short

How much brushing is enough brushing? When you’ve swept over every surface? When your mouth feels adequately minty? The ADA would say no—it’s all about time. A person should spend two minutes brushing, they say. Here are three techniques to help you brush for the full two minutes:

 

• Hum a song to yourself—one you know is at least 2 minutes long.


• Keep a timer or stopwatch in the bathroom next to your toothbrush.


• Divide your mouth into four parts and spend 30 seconds on each section

 

 

4.    Missing Surfaces

Even if you brush with the right pressure for the right amount of time, it’s still possible to miss surfaces. In fact, if brushing is your only dental-hygiene strategy, you are certainly going to miss surfaces. Floss after or before you brush, or use a small dental brush to scrub the surfaces between your teeth.

 

 

5.    Sticking to Routine

It’s easy to fall into routine when brushing your teeth and always start in the same place in your mouth. If you start in the same place, you could be unevenly cleaning. Brushing takes time, and by the end, we just want to finish the job and be on our way. So whichever parts of your mouth you brush last might not get adequate attention. Try to mix up your brushing pattern every few days.

 

 

6.    Brushing Right After Eating

It seems like a good idea at first—you’ve just eaten and you want to clean your teeth before any bacteria has a chance to grow. However, sugary or acidic foods weaken your enamel;if you brush immediately after eating them, you could be brushing precious enamel away.

 

Don’t brush your teeth any sooner than about 30 minutes after eating. The role of saliva in your mouth is not only to break down food particles—it also helps re-calcify and strengthen enamel. Waiting to brush gives your enamel time to re-harden so it can withstand toothbrush bristles.

 

 

7.    Using a Dirty Toothbrush

Several factors will make your toothbrush a breeding ground for germs—storage in a warm, moist, dark place, cross-contamination, and improper cleaning.

 

Let your toothbrush air dry in an upright position if possible. Don’t share toothbrushes, and don’t store toothbrushes together in the same spot unless you have a way to separate them. Always rinse the brush out thoroughly after you use it, and put it through a cycle in the dishwasher every once in a while—especially if you use it while you are sick.

 

Next time you pull out your toothbrush and squeeze that pea-size dollop of whatever toothpaste you found in the drawer, pay attention. Notice your brushing technique, identify any mistakes you might be making, and alter your routine accordingly.

 

 

Categories: Brushing, Mistakes, teeth

The Classic Weight Loss Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Why is weight loss always so temporary? Sure, you shift a few pounds in the beginning but then you turn around and you’ve put it all on again from nowhere. Still, according to Jillita Horton, a certified personal trainer and fitness writer, ‘Permanent weight loss seems unachievable until you nail down a plan and avoid making some classic diet and exercise mistakes.’ So what are these classic mistakes you’re making, and how can you guard your wellbeing against them?

 

1. Wearing a weight loss suit: While you may think that rocking the Neil Armstrong look when exercising will help you to lose weight faster, the only thing these weight loss space suits do is make you sweat more, which makes you lose water faster. Horton explains, ‘You’ll end up thirsty and gain back the sweat weight by drinking water. These suits look very uncomfortable, and probably are; uncomfortable attire will inhibit your exercise output, and you’ll end up burning fewer calories – and as you can see, this will surely sabotage weight loss efforts.’ As these weight loss suits restrict your movement and make you feel overly hot, they impair your ability to work your hardest or run your fastest. ‘Wear light, loose workout clothes,’ Horton advises. ‘And focus on a rigorous workout, and drink plenty of water.’

 

2. Thinking that weight loss and weight gain take the same amount of time: This misconception is at least fairly logical; it took three years for you to gain 100 pounds of fat, so surely it takes three years to get back to your original healthy weight. However, Horton explains, ‘A person can gain weight for a variety of reasons, and major weight gains usually do take time. A change in eating and exercise habits, due to large loads of life stress, can still take a few years to result in a 100-pound weight gain. But with a complete turnaround in dietary habits and a renewed commitment to rigorous strength training and vigorous cardio exercise, a person can lose excess body fat in far less time than it took to put it on.’ Still, if you don’t commit to your new wellness programme, your progress will be much, much slower.

 

3. Believing it’s not safe to lose more than two pounds a week: 3,500 calories is equal to a pound of fat. Let’s say you’re an obese person with a sedentary lifestyle, who consumes 5,000 calories on an average day. You then decide to add an hour’s daily exercise to your lifestyle, and cut your calorie consumption down to 3,000. This means you’ve created a daily calorie deficit of 2,000, which means you consume 14,000 fewer calories a week – this doesn’t even include the ones you burn off from the added exercise. When you divide 14,000 by 3,500, it turns out you’re losing four pounds every week. Then, assuming your hour’s exercise a day burns an extra 500 calories, that makes for a weekly weight loss total of five pounds. But what’s with all the numbers? ‘To say this is unsafe is to say that it is unsafe to consume 3,000 calories a day and exercise one hour a day,’ Horton clarifies. ‘However, if a person goes from 3,000 calories a day to 1,000, then yes, this is very unhealthy and will ultimately screw up metabolism and cause other problems.’

 

4. Avoiding nuts for weight loss: Horton asserts, ‘Nuts have always gotten a bad rap from the dieting camp. But nuts are super-healthy and improve cholesterol profile.’ She adds that two or three teaspoons of cashews, pecans, peanuts or walnuts can kill your appetite for hours.

Categories: calories, exercise, horton, loss, Mistakes, nuts, weight, weight gain, Weight Loss, Weight Loss Suit

Fitness Foolishness: How to Avoid the Major Workout Mistakes

Whether you’re a fitness freak or brave new beginner, the chances are you’re not taking care of your wellbeing at the gym. This is according to John Porcari, PhD, FACSM, a professor in the Department of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, who says, ‘Roughly 85 to 90% of the people in the gym are NOT getting the maximum benefit from their workouts—they’re basically window shopping.’ So if you’re not working out properly, is there any point in exercising at all?

 

There’s no denying that exercise is good for your wellness, and this is the point made by Dr. Lewis Maharam, a physician specialising in sports medicine and the medical director of the New York City Marathon. He notes that working out – even if you’re not doing it as well as you could – is ‘certainly better than sitting on the couch in front of the television munching on a pizza, but realistically, if you’re not working both your heart and muscles—well, you will not see much return on your time.’ So, let’s take a look at the main mistakes that people make when training, and see whether you can, well, not make them.

 

1. 100% Cardio, 0% Strength Training: Dr. Porcari explains, ‘Strength training is a necessary part of a balanced workout—it increases your strength, balance, coordination and calorie-burning power. People don’t realise that muscle mass drives your metabolism better than aerobic training. In fact, if you lose ten pounds doing aerobic exercise alone, 30% of what you lose is much-needed muscle mass, not fat. But if you lose ten pounds by using both aerobic and strength training, you’ll only lose about 10% muscle mass—this keeps your metabolism moving at a fast pace.’

 

2. 100% Strength Training, 0% Cardio: It’s important to build muscle with strength training, but you’re short-changing yourself by not exercising one of the most important muscles—the heart. Besides burning calories more effectively, you need to incorporate aerobic exercise into your workout in order to prevent heart disease, sleep disorders, diabetes, anxiety and depression.

 

3. No-Sweat Cardio: “Breaking a sweat” isn’t just a phrase for the sake of it; it’s important to your workout effectiveness. Dr. Maharam points out, ‘If you’re not sweating, you’re not working—if you haven’t raised your body temperature a half a degree, which causes sweating, then you haven’t worked out.’ You should be aiming to exercise within your target heart rate zone (between 60 and 80% of your maximum heart rate) for a minimum of 20 minutes.

 

4. Leaning on Fitness Machines: Leaning on the stair stepper, elliptical trainer or treadmill not only knackers your wrists and back, but it can significantly lower the intensity and effectiveness of your workout. In fact, studies have shown that if you lean on the machine, your body is utilising 25% less energy than it could, which also means you’re burning fewer calories.

 

5. Bad Form: Patricia Moreno, a celebrity trainer in New York City and Los Angeles, asserts, ‘Strength training requires intense focus and concentration on all aspects of the exercise, including breathing, technique, repetitions and amount of weight. If you ignore any of these components, you will severely limit the effectiveness of your training, not to mention put yourself at risk for injury.’

 

6. Just Going Through the Motions: ‘If you don’t challenge the body, the workout isn’t going to do anything for you,’ Moreno urges. ‘Doing the same old routine month after month can lose its efficiency—sometimes your body needs a bit of a shock to keep it moving. Try revising your routine about every 12 weeks.’

Categories: Aerobic Exercise, Bad Form, exercise, Heart Rate, Mistakes, muscle mass, nbsp, No Sweat, strength, Strength Training, training, york city

Health Mistakes You"re Probably Making Every Day

Drinking Fruit Juice

The fruit you consume should be fresh. Reading the ingredient list on almost any fruit juice’s nutrition label will reveal that what is in the container bears little resemblance to what was originally picked off the tree or bush. What remains is mostly sugar, which wreaks havoc on your smile, your waistline and, when you find out you have cavities that need to be filled, your bank account. If you continue to consume such sugary liquids, you will have no choice but to enlist the aid of Indianapolis dentures and dental services that can provide you with dentures. You should drink water, green tea or black coffee instead.

 

Not Flossing

Your smile cannot survive on brushing alone. Flossing does about 40 percent of the work that is required to remove plaque—which, just as a reminder, is sticky bacteria—from your teeth. Setting aside a few minutes each day for flossing may seem like a waste. However, when the alternative is a root canal or some other painful, expensive dental procedure, the time investment seems like a great trade-off.

 

Eating Low-Fat or Fat-Free Foods

Contrary to popular belief, eating fat does not make you fat. In fact, unsaturated fats are an essential part of a well-balanced diet. Saturated fats, on the other hand, should be avoided. Most low-fat or fat-free foods (for example, fat-free peanut butter) are loaded with sugar to compensate for their lack of fat. If you are going to purchase such foods, read the label to make sure they are low in sugar, salt and other nutritionally worthless additives.

 

Not Getting Enough Sleep

Sleeping less may marginally improve your productivity in the short run. In the long run, though, skipping out on even a couple hours each night will weaken your immune system and reduce your mental acuity. You will also likely be quite grumpy, which will have a negative impact on your coworkers, family members and friends.

 

Skipping Breakfast

You should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a commoner, and dinner like a pauper. Being in a hurry is no excuse for skipping breakfast, which truly is the most important meal of the day. You should be eating generous servings of complex carbohydrates, protein and good fats to start your day off right. Foods such as unsweetened oatmeal, wheat toast, whole eggs or egg whites, natural peanut butter and Greek yogurt will provide you with a beginning-of-the-day boost and prevent mid-morning snack cravings.

Categories: breakfast, foods, free, free foods, Fruit Juice, health, Mistakes, nbsp, peanut butter, Skipping Breakfast, Sugar

Married Strife: Mistakes that Married Couples Commonly Make

Families begin when two people fall in love, and so relationship wellness is intrinsic to family wellness overall. Marriage is not just a relationship with a piece of paper and more jewellery. Tying the knot means living together, day in, day out, and making hundreds of mistakes along the way that can, in the long-run, be costly to your relationship.

The first mistake that several married couples make is discussing everything with their parents. Yes, your parents love you and are concerned for your wellbeing, but when they interfere in your marriage they can actually cause more harm than good. Discussing a couples’ tiff with other members of your family can be really embarrassing for your partner, and so while you might need to consult an outsider for bigger issues, it’s better to solve the little things yourself and not involve anyone else.

Married couples can also make the mistake of prioritising friends and personal space. Whilst both of these things are important, going out with your friends every weekend and leaving your partner at home can be really problematic. You’re not just roommates, you’re married and you should not forget that your partner also needs to spend some time with you. As well as spending time together, you should make sure that you remain intimate with your spouse as much as possible. Engaged couples think that marriage means having sex on tap, but life gets in the way of sex during married life, and so couples need to make the effort.

There are also certain mistakes in communication that married couples often make. Let’s start with respect. This is not the 50s; when you’re married you are equal members of a team, and this means respecting each other and treating your spouse as an equal. Making your partner feel subordinate is not treating them in a loving way, and you both have equal value and parts to play to make this marriage work.

Finally, remember that there is no place for selfishness in a marriage, though this is a common mistake that couples make in the beginning. You are not just a ‘you’ anymore, but a ‘we’ and so you need to think of your partner’s feelings and preferences and not just your own. Marriage should be built on a competition of kindness, and, as W.H. Auden said ‘If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving one be me.’

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Married Strife: Mistakes that Married Couples Commonly Make

Categories: Advice, Marriage, Mistakes

Divorce Disasters: The Five Main Mistakes People Make

Divorce can take its toll on family wellness, as well as your personal wellbeing. It is a time of stress and hurt that means you aren’t thinking with your brain, but your heart and this can cause some dangerous complications.

The first mistake that people tend to make is refusing to throw in the towel. Yes, you should make every attempt to save your marriage, whether that involves couples’ counselling or trying to re-engage in romance. However, it takes two to make a marriage work and if your partner insists on the divorce, and refuses to try and make things work, then its better for everyone’s psychological and emotional wellness to let go – you just can’t do it alone.

After spending so many years with another person in your life, it can be hard not to give in to withdrawal pains. It’s hard to move on, and start a new life without the person that’s always been there, and so a mistake people make is sending constant e-mails, texts, or make repeated phone calls to their ex. While you don’t intend to harass your former spouse, they, and the courts, may see it that way.

Next, a lot of people medicate during the divorce process, not with alcohol or drugs, but with dating and sex. Whether divorce makes you feel lonely or liberated, dating too early is a bad idea as you are experiencing too many emotions, and that new person will most likely be collateral damage. Making decisions while you are in a state of emotional imbalance may even put your emotional wellbeing in even more peril.

Putting the kids in the middle is, perhaps most unfortunately of all, another common mistake that gets made. It’s natural to want someone on your side, but when you bad mouth the other parent or make it difficult for them to see the children, you’re dragging your kids into the middle of the divorce conflict and no one wins. Your kids, more than your ex, are the ones who suffer, experiencing everything from parental alienation to depression and anger.

Neglecting to get help is the last mistake on this list. Divorce doesn’t have to be a dirty word, and the reason it’s so difficult is that you are unprepared for the tsunami of stress and emotion that comes along with it. Though not paying attention to how your kids are feeling is a mistake, putting too much premium on their or other people’s feelings, and not enough on your own, is another one. To avoid or reduce the emotional anguish of divorce, you need to ensure that you consult a professional, or even open up to a close friend.

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Divorce Disasters: The Five Main Mistakes People Make

Categories: Advice, divorce, Mistakes