WHY ‘BINGE-WATCHING CAN DESTROY YOUR HEALTH?

Why ‘binge-watching can destroy your health?

I love doing noting an hour before I sleep, while I am a disciplinarian when it comes to my bedtime and waking up early; recently I got caught in the trap of binge-watching stuff. It’s an addiction, just like coffee or any other such addiction would be. It’s actually reinforcing your dopamine the neurotransmitter which makes you crave more and more producing a high.

1. It has IMPACTED MY SLEEP for sure, and the fact that I still wake up early, so I am a little tired.
2. Seeps into other ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS, like wanting sugars, stuff that keeps you elated (artificially); while I didn’t do sugars, it pushed my need for satisfaction from normal natural foods to eating an occasional hard baked snack chivda, etc. which I usually do not do.
3. MADE ME ISOLATED, I stopped stepping out; preferred being in the comfort of my bed just watching one episode after the other
4. MY NECK WENT FOR A TOSS, as I prop up pillows and lie down in awkward positions to watch, causing a tight cervical area
5. KEPT MY MIND ACTIAVTED I was involved in the plot, thought about the characters, so sleeping as soon as I hit the sack was impossible
6. I LOST CONCENTRATION AND FOCUS I was not well rested, so staying true to one job and seeing it through became difficult for me; I powered through my workouts, but my brain did not support me at all. 

How did I come out of it?

1. HAVING A CUT-OFF TIME TO END MY WORK DAY – The way to combat it, which I did was just this one habit that I changed. I realized I also work till I drop dead, not great as I must have a cut-off time for work as well. So if I decided this early in the day, then I could start watching something I liked slightly early, and limit myself to one-to episodes only. This has helped in establishing some normalcy.
2. INCLUDING A WHOLE GRAIN AT DINNER – I also realized eating a whole grain at dinner worked wonders for me, I was not doing that before. I had cut out brown rice at night time; in the hope of not eating a heavy meal. But the benefits of eating a whole grain, will give you sustained sugars for the night, and all that great grain for your brain will promote a sound and faster sleep.
3. STOPPED ANY TEA (CAFFEINE) POST 5 PM – This made me less active in the head and also helped me ease into my evenings without stress.
4. AFTER WATCHING 1 EPSIODE, SHUT OF THE FAN – Weird but this was a good thing, as I feel hot and then get fidgety. Which was my signal to sign-off from watching the next episode (ha ha this is a funny one!)