8 worst health mistakes even smart people make

1. You Always Order a Salad
Don't assume that bowl of lettuce is always the healthiest menu pick. Add-ons like fried chicken, croutons, and full-fat dressing pack major calories, fat, sodium, are unhealthy nutrients.

The Fix: Avoid high-fat add-ons such as sour cream, extra cheese, croutons, bacon bits, and creamy dressings like Caesar and ranch.

2. You Avoid the Scale
Doctors call scale-phobia an avoidance behavior. The idea behind it: If I don't know for sure that I gained weight, maybe I didn't. If you're trying to lose weight or maintain weight loss, you may need the kind of feedback the scale provides..

The Fix: If you're trying to lose weight, get on the scale monthly. Do it first thing in the morning, naked, after you use the bathroom, and at the same time in your menstrual cycle—not when you're likely to have water-weight gain.

3. You Wear Contacts No Matter What
It's safer to switch to glasses when you're under the weather. Fighting a cold? If you normally wear contacts, switch to eyeglasses. Your eyes don't work as well when you're sick. A decline in tear production makes contact lens wearers more prone to conjunctivitis—a.k.a. pinkeye. So can using antihistamine meds, which also dry out eyes.

The Fix: Wear your specs until you're feeling better, experts advise, or switch to daily-wear disposable lenses

4. You assume home cooking is always healthier
Making your own meals is usually healthier than takeout, but your cookbook may not be as slimming as you think.

The Fix: Use our portion control finder to make sure you can gauge realistic meal sizes; then freeze leftovers in individual containers so you eat one portion at a time, not two or three.

5. Your Faucet's Always at the Same Temp
When you cook or drink, keep it cool. When you wash your hands, turn up the heat.

The Fix: If you haven't turned on the faucet for 6 hours or more, let it run cold for a minute before using, the EPA advises—and use only water filters bearing a seal from NSF International, a company that certifies products' lead-removing abilities.

6. Your Friends Have Bad Health Habits
If a close pal had an unhealthy amount of weight gain, your chances of packing on pounds increase by 57%. Having heavyset friends around appears to stretch your own notion of what's acceptable for body size.

The Fix: Maintain your own beliefs about what is healthy—and avoid being swayed by friends and their weight gain.

7. You Drive With the Windows Down
Commuting may be hazardous to your lungs. Car commuters are exposed to up to 45% of the air pollutants they encounter in a 24-hour period.

The Fix: During a trafficky commute, driving with windows shut and air recirculating helps somewhat.

8. You Don't Check Your Doc's Track Record
Having an operation? An overachieving surgeon could save your life. A review of the medical records of 474,000 surgery patients found that their doctors' experience was the strongest predictor of who survived and who didn't.

The Fix: To check your surgeon's experience, call her office and ask: Is she a fellow of the American College of Surgeons? Is she board certified in her specialty?