Good news for early birds! The best way to lose weight is to exercise early in the morning – between 7 and 9am.

After looking at exercise habits, a new study shows those who work out in the morning tend to have slimmer waists, and a lower BMI. Plus, they eat fewer calories overall and have healthier diets.

Maybe working out early encourages healthy habits, or because the day begins with a workout, they’re more focused on health. And those in the study who worked out early spent more time sitting behind a desk than others.

So even if your workday is sedentary, you can still be healthy – just make sure you get moving first thing!

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If you had trouble getting your day started today, and it had nothing to do with staying up too, there are some easy morning habits you can start doing right away that’ll start your day off right.

First thing in the morning is to write down something you’re grateful for – if you begin being thankful, you’ll be in a better mood.

Instead of reaching for coffee first thing in the morning, go for water – whether you sip it or chug it, you’re hydrating, because we tend to get dehydrated while we sleep.

After you get up, make your bed – it’s easy to skip doing it, but if you spend a minute and make it, studies show that you’ll be more focused and task-oriented the rest of the day.

Now that the days are longer, go get some sun. Even if you open the shades, sunlight in the morning can help combat Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Finally, get exercise – even if it’s just light stretching, five minutes of engaging your body can make a big difference.

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The final work week of spring is over and now it’s summer! But if you found yourself stressed out, here’s some ways to wind down as we head into the weekend.

First, make sure you say goodbye to work – log out of your e-mail and any work apps this weekend, turn off your computer if you need to.

When you get home, change your clothes – something that you can relax in out of your work outfit – it can help your mind accept the fact that the work week is truly over.

Also, keep work talk at work – when you’re home, find something else to discuss.

Finally, plan something fun – if you’ve got something to look forward to, you’ll get into weekend mode even sooner.

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If you have high blood pressure, your doctor will likely suggest going for walks to bring it down. But there may be a better option – and something you can do just as easily. Stretching.

A new finding shows that those with hypertension show be stretching more. High blood pressure is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is among the top preventable risk factors affecting your lifespan. And most of us think that stretching is simply about your muscles, but stretching also stretches the blood vessels, including all your arteries.

Doing that will cause less resistance to blood flow and that will lower blood pressure.

Previous studies have shown that before, but this was the first time stretching head-to-head with walking to see which was more effective.

using two groups of adults – one group did a whole-body stretching routine for 30 minutes a day five days a week; the other group briskly walked for the same duration – and the group that stretched was found to have far lower blood pressure at the end of the 8 weeks.

But walking still does your body good – the walkers lost more body fat off their waists.

The doctors recommend for those walking to reduce blood pressure to continue to do so, but to add in stretching – it does not even have to be at the same time – the stretching can be done wherever you find the time, even when watching TV at night instead of just sitting on the couch.

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We’re gonna have a stretch of particularly hot, sunny weather is ahead of us – and when you head outside during the summer, it’s so important to keep your skin healthy.

Here are some skin tips for the season:

First and foremost – use sunscreen! Sunburns are never fun, and years of too much sun leads to premature wrinkling and skin aging, and an increased risk of skin cancer.

And don’t forget your lips – as you would with sunscreen, there are lip-specific products as well with SPF protection.

If you wear makeup, try to find oil-free products that are breathable on the skin during the high humidity.

Summer’s a good time to exfoliate to help improve hydration from moisturizers. And hydration also comes by drinking plenty of water throughout the day to help prevent headaches or dizzy spells.

Keep your skin protected for a safe summer!

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