Health Tips for November 2

Health Tip: Negative Body Image Can Affect Your Health

Your body image describes your appearance and the way you see yourself. This isn't a superficial concept, warns Planned Parenthood. The group says a negative body image, if severe enough, can: Increase your risk of depression and anxiety. Trigger feelings of low self-esteem. Make it difficult for you to concentrate. Lead you to engage in risky behavior. Lead to social isolation. Spawn mental health issues, such as an eating disorder. Lead you to avoid a healthy lifestyle, including eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise. Health Tip: Prevent Burnout When you're under too much stress, your emotional and physical health can suffer. And when your stress level maxes out, burnout occurs. Symptoms of burnout may include lack of desire, feeling unhappy, and frequently feeling sick. Helpguide.org offers these suggestions to help ward off burnout: Get stress under control, and keep stress from taking over your life. Pick up a creative new hobby that you enjoy. Every now and then, give yourself a break from work and chores. Don't take on too many responsibilities -- either at work or at home. Get plenty of sleep, exercise regularly and eat healthy foods. Wake up a little early and give yourself 15 minutes to relax -- meditate, write in a journal, stretch or do something else that helps you feel better. Step away from e-mail, phones and computers for a bit of time each day.