Dr. Andrew Belaveshkin

Nobody wants to be sick and weak. Why then do people make many attempts to change and still fail to do so? One of the common reasons is getting into a vicious circle, which over time worsens health and makes breaking out impossible. A vicious circle is like a swamp—the more you try to get out, the stronger it sucks you in. In this case, it is important to understand where it can be broken, and on which link to act. Thoughtless heroic efforts to change at any cost can only worsen the situation.    In medicine, a vicious circle is a situation where the disorder itself becomes a factor that supports the same disorder. Cause and effect are connected: for example, with blood loss, the blood supply worsens, which leads to heart failure, which worsens the blood supply even further. The same goes for our habits. For example, the worse we feel, the less we want to move. The less we move, the worse we feel. Don't wait for a "convenient moment" or "inspiration"—just star...

 1. Oral health. In addition to regular brushing and flossing, pay attention to tongue cleaning and oral probiotics. These simple measures can help improve the oral microbiome, reduce inflammation, and eliminate unpleasant breath. Tongue cleaning can be done with a specialized scraper or a piece of gauze. Oral probiotics for both children and adults should contain at least two well-studied strains: Streptococcus salivarius K12 and M18.    2. Dynamic working postures. Varying your working posture helps prevent fatigue, reduces excessive sitting, and improves overall work efficiency. Sit when maximum concentration is required, stand during calls, information searches, or reading, and lie down when creative thinking is needed.   3. Self-stimulation through thoughts. Escapism is a common procrastination mechanism that involves retreating into thoughts, reflections, or activities to avoid discomfort or artificially elevate mood. To assess whether your thinking is healthy ...

The Peak–End Rule as a practical principle for behavior change. The peak–end rule explains how an overall impression is formed: it is determined by the most intense moment (the peak) and by how the experience ends.    Why? Our brains do not have the capacity to remember everything. From an evolutionary perspective, it made sense to retain only those memories that most strongly supported survival. Remembering the most painful and the most pleasurable moments helped us avoid danger or seek out beneficial experiences in the future.      How the rule works. The most important moment in lifestyle change is not when you are training in the gym, but when you decide whether or not you will do your next workout. In that moment, you subconsciously weigh many factors: how important your goals are, how well they align with your identity and values, how pleasant or unpleasant your previous experience was, and how pleasant or unpleasant you expect the next one to be. If you...