Destructive editing
Destructive editing means your adjustments change the pixels of your file directly, so the original data is lost. Save such an edit and close the file, and you can't go back to the original. The opposite of non-destructive work.
Classic examples are painting directly on the background layer in Photoshop, flattening a layer or saving a JPEG after every edit. Avoid this by working on separate layers or a copy and saving as PSD or TIFF. Never save as JPEG repeatedly while editing, because each time the file recompresses and you lose quality. Edit destructively only as a final, deliberate step, such as at the actual export.
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The presets on this site set these adjustments up for you as a starting point, which you then fine-tune to taste.