39 things you should never do

Men's Fitness, March, 1999

As a guy, there are some things you instinctively know you should never do. No junior-high coach ever had to take you aside and tell you, for example, "Now, listen carefully, son: Never take the urinal directly between two other guys if there's one open on the end." The no-adjacent-peeing rule is something you just know (along with every other guy in the Terminal 4 men's room at O'Hare).

Of course, not all knowledge is so inborn. But fortunately, you can steer clear of trouble by following a few guidelines, detailed here. Consider this compendium of "nevers" your personal rulebook. Never stray from it, and you'll be fine.

Never SHAVE YOUR HEAD IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER

1 Since your face will already be several shades darker than your head, you'll end up looking like you have a white swim cap on your noggin. A more serious reason: The sensitive skin on your scalp hasn't built up any resistance to the sun's harmful rays. "No one knows why, but skin cancers on the scalp are far more aggressive than those anywhere else on the body," says Arnold Klein, MD, a Southern California-based dermatologist.

At Home

2 Never skip breakfast. The morning is when your body really needs calories - and if you don't eat, it will break down your muscles to get them. Also, if you skip the a.m. meal, you'll build steam until lunch, when your body will go into full-tilt "famine mode" and you'll devour everything in sight. Bonus: Studies show that people who eat a healthful, low-fat breakfast are more likely to eat healthfully throughout the day.

3 Never try to neutralize odors with air-freshening sprays. Air fresheners don't get rid of smells in the air; all they do is cover them up and make you less sensitive to them. What's more, many leading brands contain potentially carcinogenic compounds as well as "natural" oils that can be harmful to inhale. If the air in your home smells bad, buy an electric air cleaner with a HEPA filter - or at least do the laundry.

4 Never go more than 24 hours without flossing your teeth. Everyone's heard this message, but many don't realize its importance. Your dentist will be happy to tell you that unflossed pearly whites can lead to excess plaque buildup and gum degeneration, possibly necessitating painful tooth scraping and even excruciating root-canal surgery.

5 Never take antibiotics for a cold, Unless you have a sinus infection, they won't make you feel any better. And the more often you use antibiotic medications, the less effective they're likely to be when you really need them.

6 Never use anti-redness eyedrops for more than 72 hours. Like those in anti-sniffle nose sprays, the decongestants in eyedrops can have a "rebound" effect, causing the problem to come back worse than before. When eyedrops are overused, they can produce a kind of chronic redness called non-infectious conjunctivitis. Drug-free "artificial tears" can help with red eyes, as can cold compresses, getting enough sleep and not staring at a computer too long.

7 Never pay your phone bill (or any bill, for that matter) without reading it carefully. Doing so will help you avoid being "slammed" (having your long-distance carrier switched without your permission, resulting in higher rates) or "crammed" (being billed for services that you didn't authorize).

8 Never put up with unwanted telemarketing calls, The first time someone calls you, simply request that your number be put on the "do not call" list. Find out whether the telemarketer's employer makes calls for other companies (a common practice) and insist that they never call you on behalf of any organization.

9 Never take food cravings at face value. When you're dying for candy or a soda, your body is actually asking for energy, not sugar. "if it's the middle of the afternoon and you really want a candy bar, you have to ask yourself, 'Did I eat enough lunch today?' Probably not," says Nancy Clark, RD, author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. Beat those cravings by eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day - at, say, three-hour intervals.

10 Never take medications together with grapefruit juice without a doctor's OK. Chemicals in grapefruit juice have an odd effect on medicines, possibly because they interfere with liver enzymes. This can cause either decreased or increased concentration of a drug in your bloodstream, making it less effective or increasing the risk of side effects.

Never TAN IN A TANNING BOOTH

11 There really is no such thing as a safe tan - in fact, a U.S. government panel recently recommended putting ultraviolet light, whether from the sun or a tanning lamp, on the official list of known carcinogens. The booths that emit only UVA radiation are no safer - it's even more likely than UVB to cause melanomas. If you must have a tan, get it from a bottle.

12 Never completely obliterate fat from your diet. Most fit guys follow a simple nutrition parameter: Fat is bad. But this isn't the case. A study conducted at SUNY-Buffalo showed that athletes' performance and immune systems suffered when they got less than 15 percent of their daily calories from fat. Try to get 20 to 25 percent of your calories from fat, focusing on natural, non-saturated choices such as olive oil, avocados, nuts and cold-water fish such as salmon.