Immunity boosting foods

Carina Norris (www.carinanorris.co.uk) is a registered nutritionist, and her book, The Food Manual, is published by Haynes. Carina shares her advice on the top 5 immune system boosting foods for kids which will help to protect them from coughs and colds when they go back to school (and they won’t do parents any harm either!)
Good nutrition is vital for keeping bugs at bay, and if your child’s diet isn’t what it should be, their immune system will be below par as well, making them more vulnerable to every cough and sniffle going around.
This means adopting a good balanced diet, based around lean protein, moderate amounts of healthy unsaturated fats, and reducing the amounts of unhealthy saturated fats (the kind you get in fatty meat and full-fat dairy products). Add starchy carbohydrates (wholegrain rather than refined where possible) which are the body’s preferred energy source, and plenty of fruit and vegetables, to give them all the vitamins and minerals they need.
There are some nutrients that have particular immune-boosting properties, so try to get these inside your children.
Citrus fruit - packed with vitamin C, the best-known immunity vitamin. Vitamin C is also involved in wound healing, which is important for all those playground scrapes and grazes. If your child is too small to manage big oranges, try easy-peeling clementines.
Lean meat  - lean meat and poultry, (and to a lesser extent, fish), is an excellent source of the mineral zinc, which plays an important role in supporting the immune system. If your child is vegetarian, eggs can be a valuable source of zinc.
Nuts and seeds - nuts and seeds (especially pumpkin seeds and Brazil nuts) are another source of zinc, as well as the mineral selenium, which is also a good immune booster. Nuts and seeds are also great for vitamin E, which is important for immunity, as well as healthy skin. Sunflower seeds and almonds are particularly good for this vitamin. Remember that small children can choke on nuts and seeds; but you can still give them the benefits by grinding the seeds and sprinkling them on cereal or blending them into a smoothie. Also bear in mind that some children may be allergic to nuts and seeds.
Wheatgerm - another fantastic source of vitamin E. Sprinkle it on cereal, or blend into smoothies, or add it to baking recipes.
Red peppers - packed with vitamin C (orange and yellow peppers are good too), and also antioxidants which help protect the body’s cells from damage. Serve them raw and sliced into strips as a snack, perhaps with a low-fat yogurt dip, or a mild tomato salsa. Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C too.
Garlic - don’t assume that children won’t like spicy foods – but ease them in gently if they’re not used to the taste, perhaps by putting a little bit of garlic in a pasta sauce, or mixing it into the topping of a healthy home-made pizza. Garlic has antibacterial and antiviral properties, and as a bonus, it’s good for the heart. If your family really won’t eat garlic, you can get some of the benefits from onions.
Strawberries - although oranges and other citrus fruits are the best known sources of vitamin C, strawberries are good too, and few children can resist them! Make the most of the summer when they’re in season in this country, and serve them as they are, sliced onto cereal, or crushed and stirred into low-fat natural yogurt (with a teaspoon of honey if you like) to make a healthy fruit fool.
Try this yummy bug-busting smoothie
Blend about six strawberries with half a banana, and thin it down with some fresh orange juice (use as much as you like – it depends whether you want a thin ‘drinking smoothie’ or a thicker one). Stir in (or sprinkle on top) a heaped teaspoon of wheatgerm, and / or another of ground seeds. You can throw in other berries if you like – blueberries work well (and the frozen ones, which are generally cheaper, are just as good for recipes like this). If the portion looks too big for your child, just use a smaller chunk of banana and fewer strawberries. It’s best not to have a massive portion, anyhow, as although they’re power-packed with nutrients, fruit juices and smoothies are also high in sugars (even though they’re natural). So don’t let your child drink this and nothing else – even though it’s delicious!

6 Weight-Loss Tricks That Don’t Involve Dieting or (Much) Exercise

The advice for losing those stubborn extra pounds seems so simple: Eat less, and exercise more. But as anyone who's ever tried to lose a few pounds knows, putting that advice into practice is very tough. Cut back on calories too much, and you're overwhelmed by hunger and your metabolism may slow. Exercise like crazy, and the hunger pangs you feel a few hours later may trigger you to eat back all you've burned off—and then some.
And let's be honest, no one really wants to keep track of every bite of food. My teenage daughter, while reading this U.S. News article on restricting calories to live longer, asked me how many calories I ate each day. I told her I had no idea—though probably more than my body needs. Truth is, despite having ghostwritten a slew of bestselling weight-loss books in my previous life as a freelance writer, I've never actually been on a diet; I know my lack of discipline at sticking to a prescribed eating plan would make me fail miserably. Still, I'd like to shed the 10 pounds that I've gained over the past decade, and I'm wondering if there are a few tricks that can help me along. I asked Adriane Fugh-Berman, a physician and associate professor of complementary and alternative medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, to give me some tips that have been backed up by solid research. (She previously helped me decipher the ingredients in QuickTrim, a weight-loss product being endorsed by the Kardashians.) Here's what she recommends:
1. Eat hot soup before a meal. Research suggests doing so before lunch or dinner helps people eat less. "That's probably because you can't eat hot soups fast, which gives your digestive tract time to send satiety signals out to your brain" before you begin the next course, says Fugh-Berman. She recommends eating a soup that is not cream based to save on fat and calories.
2. Don't eat heavily just before bed. Sure we've all heard the credo that body weight is all about calories in, calories out, but it turns out it may also matter when you eat. Fugh-Berman says she has seen preliminary research suggesting that taking in sweet, high-fat foods (ice cream, anyone?) right before bedtime appears to decrease calorie burning and increase fat storage during sleep. "Consuming that same snack earlier in the day doesn't appear to have the same effect," she says.
3. Live like a city dweller. People who live in cities weigh less than those who live in the suburbs probably because of "incidental walking," says Fugh-Berman. "Those few blocks that you walk to grab lunch or run an errand really do add up," she says. Plus, the daily activity is incorporated into your life so it doesn't feel like exercise. It's easy to do and not like a workout that you can skip or quit altogether. Don't live or work in a city? You can mimic the effect by parking a few blocks away from the drugstore, dry cleaner, or post office. Fugh-Berman says she has a slim friend whose only exercise is using the stairs instead of the elevator to get to his office on the ninth floor. Going up and down once or twice a day gives him a fairly good calorie burn.
4. Try a dash of chili pepper: If you can stomach it, try a chili-laced appetizer right before your meal. It "appears to have appetite suppressant activity," says Fugh-Berman. "One study found that those who ate a chili-pepper-spiced food right before their meal ate less at the meal." Mix a teaspoonful of chopped chili pepper into mashed avocado, or sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of chili powder into chopped tomatoes for a pre-dinner dip.
5. Limit caloric beverages. Drink 260 calories in a Starbucks grande caffè mocha (or a smoothie, or any other sweetened beverage) before lunch, and you'll still eat the same number of calories at your meal. But eat a bagel or handful of jellybeans containing 260 calories, and you'll actually consume less at lunch, according to one study. It's not clear whether our stomachs actually feel fuller from solid food or whether we trick ourselves into thinking that we haven't actually "eaten" if we're drinking calories rather than chewing them, says Fugh-Berman.
6. Weigh yourself once a day. This certainly helps me maintain my weight because I make a point to cut back on snacks if I've gained a little. And research backs me up. A 2006 study from Cornell University found that college freshmen instructed to weigh themselves every morning gained almost no weight during the school year compared with a 7-pound gain for those who weren't given a scale. Though I'm not sure how much the scale helps me personally. I find that every time I've lost a few pounds, I give myself a little permission to indulge—and the pounds come right back on.

Even 1 Soda a Day Can Hike Your Diabetes Risk

It's not just soda, either. A study fingers energy drinks, sweetened tea, and other sugary beverages.

A soda a day? That's not so bad—a 150-calorie blip, burned off with a brisk half-hour walk. But it's not only your waistline that's at stake. A study released today in the journal Diabetes Care found that people with a daily habit of just one or two sugar-sweetened beverages—anything from sodas and energy drinks to sweetened teas and vitamin water—were more than 25 percent likelier to develop type 2 diabetes than were similar individuals who had no more than one sugary drink per month. Since the overall rate of diabetes is roughly 1 in 10, an increase of 25 percent raises the risk to about 1 in 8. One-a-day guzzlers in the study also had a 20 percent higher rate of metabolic syndrome, a collection of indicators such as high triglyceride levels suggesting that diabetes is not far off.

"Previous studies have shown that sugar-sweetened beverages are strongly associated with weight gain," says lead author Vasanti Malik, a research fellow in the Harvard School of Public Health Department of Nutrition, who says the decision to examine the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of diabetes was "the logical next step."
[To Cut Diabetes-Related Heart Risks, Diet and Exercise May Beat Drugs]
The researchers conducted a study of studies—a meta-analysis—to reach their conclusions. They identified eight studies with enough data to let them check for a link between sugary drinks and type 2 diabetes and three similar studies of metabolic syndrome. The largest diabetes study, which followed more than 91,000 American women ages 24 to 44 for eight years, made the strongest case for a relationship, and it wasn't just because higher consumption of sweetened drinks added excess calories that turned into pounds. While weight gain is a known diabetes risk factor, the diabetes-beverage link persisted even after adjusting for that. "Other factors independently put you at risk for developing diabetes," says Malik.
The main one is spikes in blood glucose and insulin because sweetened drinks are often consumed quickly and in large quantities and their sugar content is rapidly absorbed. Frequent spiking can lead to insulin resistance, inflammation, and hypertension—often precursors to diabetes. High-fructose corn syrup, the sugar in many sweetened drinks, is emerging as possibly riskier than other sugars because it seems to produce more belly fat. Fat that accumulates around the middle is closely tied to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.
Americans love sweetened drinks. Consumption climbed to an average of 142 calories a day, or nearly one 12-ounce can of soda, in 2006, from 65 in the late 1970s. And many people down far more than that, notes Frank Hu, a senior author of the study and a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard, which puts them at a much greater risk of diabetes. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released earlier this week projects that by 2050, 1 in 3 Americans will develop the disease. "Soft drink consumption has significant public health implications in terms of the diabetes epidemic," says Hu.
[Why Diabetes May Triple by 2050]
Earlier this year the American Heart Association issued a recommendation advising consumers to set a limit on sweetened drinks of 450 calories a week, or three 12-ounce sodas, in a 2,000-calorie diet. Calorie-counting is a convenient way to keep track, but it can be misleading. "Consumers are overly focused on calories," says Constance Brown-Riggs, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, who would like people also to understand that a 12-ounce can of soda contains the equivalent of 15 teaspoons of sugar. "They think it's not that bad, without taking into consideration the other components that are putting them at risk."
Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome aren't the only risks of a one-a-day habit. In a 2004 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association of 88,000 women followed for 24 years, those who guzzled two or more sugary drinks a day had a risk of coronary artery disease 35 percent higher than non-guzzlers, even after adjusting for other unhealthy lifestyle factors. "You receive no benefits out of drinking these beverages," says Malik, who lists additional hazards from dental cavities to gout. "It's a wake-up call for the American public."

18 Exercise

What if you could instantly make any exercise 10 times more effective? Chances are, you can. That's because most men—including longtime gym rats—make tiny but key technique errors on even the most basic movements. And as it turns out, these seemingly minor mistakes may be preventing you from achieving the body you want. You see, an exercise may feel right, but smart lifting isn't just about moving a weight from point A to point B. For big-time gains, you need to master the small details.

The good news: The best fitness coaches need only one sentence to tell you how to improve your results. Apply their words to your workouts, and you'll upgrade your routine instantly. Use these 18 tips from the top trainers in the industry to help you perfect your form, engage the right muscles, burn more calories, and lower your risk of injury. Think about it this way: It takes the same amount of time to do an exercise right as it does to do it wrong. So start squeezing more from every second of your workout.

For more expert tips on how to perfect every exercise and build muscle faster, check out the best new exercises for every part of a man's body.

Pushup
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're letting your hips sag as you raise and lower your body.

Perfect your form
1. "When you're in a pushup position, your posture should look the same as it would if you were standing up straight and tall," says Vern Gambetta, the owner of Gambetta Sports Training Systems, in Sarasota, Florida. "So your hips shouldn't sag or be hiked, and your upper back shouldn't be rounded."

2. "Before you start, contract and stiffen your core the way you would if you had to zip up a really tight jacket," says Kaitlyn Weiss, an NASM-certified trainer based in Southern California. Hold it that way for the duration of your set. "This helps your body remain rigid—with perfect posture—as you perform the exercise."

3. "Don't just push your body up; push your hands through the floor," Gambetta says. You'll generate more power with every repetition.


Bench press
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're thinking only about pushing the bar up from your chest.

1. "Every time you lower the weight, squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull the bar to your chest," says Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S., a fitness coach at Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, California. This will help you build up energy in your upper body so that you can press the bar up with more force.

2. "As you pull the weight down, lift your chest to meet the barbell," Rasmussen says. "This will aid your efforts to create a springlike effect when you start to push the bar back up."

3. "When you press the weight, try to bend the bar with your hands," says Pavel Tsatsouline, a fitness expert and the author of Enter the Kettlebell! The benefit: You'll activate more muscle fibers in your lats and move the bar in a stronger and safer path for your shoulders.

Compare how much you can bench to the Men's Health standards and see if you're weak, ordinary, or if you rule on the bench.

Squat
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're starting the movement by bending your knees.

1. "Sit back between your legs, not on top of your knees," says Dan John, a strength coach based in Draper, Utah. Start your squats by pushing your hips back. "Most men tend to bend their knees first, which puts more stress on their joints."

2. "When you squat, imagine you're standing on a paper towel," says Charlie Weingroff, director of sports performance and physical therapy for CentraState Sports Performance, in Monroe, New Jersey. "Then try to rip the towel apart by pressing your feet hard into the floor and outward." This activates your glutes, which helps you use heavier weights.

3. "Instead of raising your body, think about pushing the floor away from your body," says Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., co-owner of Results Fitness. "This helps you better engage the muscles in your legs."


Straight-leg deadlift
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're rounding your lower back as you bend over.

1. "To lower the weight, pretend you're holding a tray of drinks and need to close the door behind you with your butt," says Cosgrove. This cues you to bend over by pushing your hips back instead of rounding your lower back—a form blunder that puts you at risk for back problems.

2. "Try to 'shave your legs' with the bar," says Weiss. The reason: Every degree the bar is away from your body places more strain on your back, which increases your chance of injury and limits the emphasis on your hamstrings and glutes.

3. "As you lift the bar, squeeze your glutes like two fists," says Nick Grantham, a top strength and conditioning coach in the U.K. and the owner of Smart Fitness. You'll ensure that you're engaging your butt muscles. This helps you generate more power, lift more weight, and produce better results.


Rows and pullups
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're ignoring the muscles that retract your shoulder blades.

1. "When doing bent-over and seated rows, and any pullup variation, create as much space between your ears and shoulders as you can," says Rasmussen. Pull your shoulders down and back and hold them that way as you do the exercise. This ensures you're working the intended middle- and upper-back muscles.

2. "As you row the weight, stick your chest out," says Mike Boyle, M.A., A.T.C., owner of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, in Winchester and North Andover, Massachusetts. This allows you to better retract your shoulder blades, which will lead to better results.

3. "Imagine there's an orange between your shoulder blades," says Grantham. "Then try to squeeze the juice out of it with your shoulder blades as you pull the weight or your body up."

Discover six muscles you ignore—but shouldn't.

Lunge
WHAT YOU'RE DOING WRONG: You're leaning forward, causing your front heel to rise.

1. "When you lunge, keep your torso upright, and focus on moving it up and down, not backward and forward," says Rasmussen. This will keep your weight balanced evenly through your front foot, allowing you to press hard into the floor with your heel and target more muscle.

2. "Drop your back knee straight down to the floor," says Boyle. Consider this a second strategy to help you remember that you should drop your torso down, not push it forward, as you do the exercise.

3. "To work your core harder, narrow your starting stance," says Gray Cook, M.S.P.T., the author of Athletic Body in Balance. The smaller the gap between your feet, the more your core has to work to stabilize your body. Your goal: Lunge so that it's almost like you're walking on a tightrope as you perform the exercise.

Crank Up Your Metabolism

Have you ever watched a slender woman take down a big bowl of ice cream and wondered, Where does she put it? She doesn't put it anywhere, actually. Most likely, she has a Maserati-fast metabolism that incinerates fat before it has a chance to take up residence on her thighs.

Jealous? Don't be. While genetics counts for part of your metabolic efficiency, you can give Mother Nature a kick in the pants by simply tweaking your fitness regimen. "Your body adapts to exercise over time, which causes your metabolism to fall into a lull," says Geoff Bags haw, group fitness manager at the Equinox fitness club in Miami. "Adding variety to your workouts will help you break through plateaus so you continue to see results."

Intensity matters too: Exercising harder promotes the growth of lean muscle, which burns more calories during and after your workout, says Craig Ballantyne, owner of Turbulence Training.com. The three strength-training techniques on these pages will inject a powerful double shot of variety and intensity into your usual routine. Replace one of your regular workouts each week with one of these training methods and watch those extra pounds melt away

Crank up your cardio and burn more fat with this workout.

Contrast Training

This technique involves doing a resistance exercise with weights, and then immediately following it with an explosive body-weight exercise that works the same muscle group. "In contrast training, the movement pattern of the second exercise should always mimic the first one," says sports performance specialist Barry Lovelace, owner of Fit Quest Fitness in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In other words, chest presses should be followed by explosive push ups, or dumbbell squats followed by squat jumps.

Fat-trimming trick: Busting out an explosive move after a strength move trains your body to recruit more muscle fibers. Researchers at the University of California at Santa Cruz found that this type of workout (also called concurrent training) increases lean muscle mass while it decreases body-fat percentage.

Try it Hold a 10-to 20-pound dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet hip-width apart, and lower into a squat (as if you're sitting into a chair) for five to 10 reps. Then ditch the dumbbells and do five to 10 jump squats: Lower into a squat, then push through your heels to jump off the ground; land softly and immediately lower into another rep. Rest for one to three minutes, then repeat the sequence, working your way up to five or six sets.

A guide to weight-lifting and strength-training for women.

Pyramid Method

You'll do three or more sets of the same exercise, starting with light resistance and high reps, then increasing the weight and decreasing the reps with each set. A full workout of pyramid sets can be tough (and time consuming), so start by working one upper-body and one lower-body exercise into the end of your workout, says Ballantyne. This way, you won't exhaust the key muscle groups you need to complete your regular routine.

Fat-trimming trick: Unlike other intense workouts that build strength, this technique emphasizes muscular endurance (the rate at which your body can continually produce force), which can increase your fat-burning rate.

Try it Holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, step forward with your right foot and lower your body until your right knee is bent 90 degrees. Return to standing, and continue for a total of 15 reps. Repeat with the left leg, then rest for 20 seconds before doing the second set: 10 to 12 reps, using a slightly heavier weight. Rest, then increase the weight again and do six to eight reps.

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Tabata Method

Fast-and-furious intervals—20 seconds of all-out effort followed by 10 seconds of rest—are repeated a total of eight times (for a grand total of four minutes). Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario found that exercising as hard as you can for short periods of time is as effective at improving muscle and metabolism as sweating it out longer at a lower intensity.

Fat-trimming trick: All-out effort keeps your heart rate zipping for the entire workout (even during the rests) and for hours after you kick off your sneakers. The end result? You burn extra calories.

Try it Bags haw suggests this three-move sequence: Starting with exercise one, do as many reps as you can with proper form in 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, then continue for a total of eight intervals. Rest for two minutes, then go to exercise two and do eight intervals. Take another two-minute breather, then do eight intervals of exercise three.

1. Lunges with biceps curls: Holding dumbbells at your sides, step back and lower into a lunge, curling the weights up to your shoulders. Stand and repeat, alternating legs.

2. Squats with overhead presses: Hold dumbbells at shoulder height and lower into a squat. Press the dumbbells directly overhead as you stand.

3. Push ups: From a push up position (or modified push up position, with your knees on the ground), bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor

SELF 5 Top Trendy Foods for January

No one would ever call me a cook, but I truly enjoy learning about nutrition and healthier ways to eat, order out and prepare simple meals that are better for my body and mind in general. I also try to stay on top of the latest food-related stories and anticipate new ones coming down the pike. Of course it’s impossible to know exactly what will be hot in the future, but it’s fun to anticipate! So I polled some of the editors at SELF on what they think will be among the top food fads this January and beyond and here are our predictions. Sounds tasty and healthy to me!

Gluten-free grains
Whether you’ve been diagnosed with Celiac disease—a digestive condition triggered by sensitivity to gluten, a protein in wheat, barley or rye that can bring on symptoms like abdominal pain and bloating—or just suspect you’re intolerant to gluten, you’re probably relieved to see that the number of gluten-free food options on grocery store shelves is growing. But just because you’re sidestepping wheat and its grain relatives doesn’t mean you don’t crave tasty carbs—or need heart-healthy whole grains in your diet! Fortunately, restaurants are beginning to cater to the taste buds of gluten-avoiding patrons by offering dishes made with flavorful gluten-free grains like nutty-tasting quinoa, millet and amaranth, which has a pleasant, peppery taste. Rice is also naturally gluten-free, but it depends on how it’s prepared (for instance, it may be cooked in chicken broth, which sometimes contains wheat gluten), so be sure to ask your server (or read the label if you’re cooking at home). You might also request a gluten-free menu, which many chain restaurants including Outback Steakhouse and Olive Garden now offer.

Yogurt twists
I love good old-fashioned yogurt—I often enjoy cup midday to tide me over between lunch and dinner—but the creamy stuff is undergoing multiple makeovers. For instance, Yogourmet sells a freeze-dried version you can use to make your own yogurt at home, and smoked yogurt is popping up in Indian and Greek recipes and restaurants. We’ll also likely see more imported variations like skyr, an Icelandic strained yogurt that’s supposedly been around since the 9th century, and labneh, a well-drained yogurt that’s common in Middle Eastern and Lebanese cuisine. This is a trend I can get behind, since yogurt is full of beneficial bacteria that have been linked with keeping your digestive system healthy, brightening your complexion and calming mild eczema. All that, and it’s delicious!

Crudo
Craving sashimi? You don’t have to go to a Japanese restaurant to get your fix. Try the Italian version, called crudo, which is raw fish typically prepared with olive oil and citrus flavors like lemon, lime or orange. Or Peruvian ceviche, raw seafood marinated in citrus juice and flavored with onions, chilies and fresh herbs and spices. Or tuna or salmon capriccio, thin slices of the raw fish prepared in citrus or mustard sauce, a style that supposedly originated in Venice in the ‘50s, but with beef. These dishes are showing up in more restaurants around the country, and not only do they pack a ton of savory flavor, they’re also a great way to get omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked with improved energy and memory, a stronger heart and immune system, healthy skin and more.

Peppers on ice
The chilly month of January is a great time to heat things up—good thing, too, since spicy cocktails are all the rage right now, reports Natalie Hancock, R.D., a culinary nutritionist for Rouge Tomato, a restaurant here in New York City where they offer the Maracuya Sunrise, a habanero pepper–infused tequila with passion fruit, pear, lemon and blood orange juices. It does seem that mixologists are adding a kick to their happy hour offerings across the country: Zengo (which has locations in Denver; Washington, D.C.; New York City; and Santa Monica) serves up the Tamarind-Togarashi Margarita, a blend of tequila, tamarind and citrus in a glass rimmed with togarashi salt, a seven-ingredient spice made with chilies. Several restaurants in Chicago also feature spicy beverages, including Sunda; their Chocolate Sensation is a vodka, macadamia and chocolate liqueur concoction blended with cocoa and chili powder. And of course there’s always the tried-and-true Bloody Mary (regular or virgin) made with a dash of Tabasco sauce and available just about everywhere. All of these drinks have one healthy ingredient in common: capsaicin, a compound that gives Chile peppers their heat and has been linked with bringing down blood pressure. Give one a try during your next night out if you’re the daring sort!

Veggies for dessert
Cooking with local and seasonal produce was popular in 2010 (I’m all for it!), and it looks like the trend will continue to grow in 2011, with more restaurant menus highlighting their favorite go-to farms, says Hancock. So keep an eye out for more vegetable-based dishes, sides and yes, even desserts in January and beyond. Don’t think veggies make for a good after-dinner sweet? Check out Self’s mouthwatering recipe for tomato sorbet with avocado—and get ready to change your mind!

5 Inside Secrets From Top Fitness Pros

Freeze and squeeze
Momentum is a great thing in life, but in strength training, it can cheat your muscles out of toning. "When you get to the connecting point of an exercise—the moment in which you go from contracting your muscle to releasing it, before lowering a biceps curl or rising out of a squat, for example—freeze for a second, then squeeze and contract the muscle you're focusing on for a second or two," says Lalo Fuentes, a top trainer in Los Angeles. "Stopping releases the momentum of the movement, so you can't rely on it for the second part of the exercise. When you freeze, then squeeze, it fires up more muscle fibers for better toning."
Maximize each minute
Blast fat during set breaks. "I think up a move of the day and do it for one minute between each set," says Blahnik. "Explosive, plyometric moves such as jump squats or side leaps or jumping rope boost your heart rate, burn a few extra calories a minute and firm your lower body." You can burn up to about 100 extra calories a session.
Make like a superhero
Transform standard strength training into a super-duper sculpting session as easily as Wonder Woman slinks into her shiny one-piece: While doing any move in which you grip a bar or both feet touch the ground, imagine trying to fold the bar or floor in on itself. Without actually moving your hands or feet, engage the muscles you would need to bring your hands or your feet together as if you were infused with extraordinary power and could, in fact, crumple the objects. You will feel the extra contraction from trying to exert force on the bar or floor. During your next session, exert the same type of force, but in the opposite way: Instead of trying to make hands and feet meet, pretend you're trying to stretch the bar or floor like taffy. "The exercise looks the same, but adding these forces will work additional, new muscles in your arms or legs," says James Bowman, co-owner of Next Step Conditioning Systems on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Be a class act
Up the calorie-burning ante of any cardio class such as dance, kickboxing or step aerobics by imagining you're being graded on participation and form. "Following steps and learning new ways to move makes me forget I'm exercising until I realize I'm sweat-soaked," says Coopersmith. Strive for an A and at the end of the "semester," you'll have a 4.0 body.
Feel the slooow burn
In strength training, you contract a muscle, relax it and start again. "Try taking as many as six counts on the release phase. If you don't let the weight simply drop, the muscle fibers stay more engaged during the entire move because they can't relax," says Michelle Kennedy, an exercise physiologist in Washington, D.C. You'll spend a little extra time on each move, but the better-body results you see are worth it!

Surprising new cleaning solutions

Related: All-Natural Cleaning Solutions


Baby Oil as Chrome Polish

Forget keeping skin soft, baby oil also polishes chrome. Apply a dab to a cotton cloth and use it to shine everything from faucets to hubcaps. You'll end up with shiny, happy surfaces from a medicine-cabinet staple. (Who actually owns chrome cleaner, anyway?)

Broom as Long Distance Duster

To dust crown moldings, place a microfiber rag over the broom's bristles and secure with a rubber band. Then use the long handle to dust areas that your arms can't reach. No more circus acts (starring you, on a rickety, wobbly stool).


Related: 8 Surprising Household Deodorizers

Rice as Coffee Grinder Cleaner

Mill a handful of grains in your grinder and the fine particles will absorb stale odors and clean out residual grounds and oil. Discard the rice and wipe clean.

Toothpaste as CD Cleaner

To restore a damaged CD, apply a dot of non-gel formulat toothpaste to a cotton cloth and rub in a straight line from the center of the CD outward, covering any scratches. Rinse off the toothpaste with water.


Related: The Worst Cleaning Jobs Made Easy

Masking Tape as Scuff Preventor

Keep baseboards free of skid marks when you vacuum. Cover the edges of the vacuum head with masking tape so they won't leave dark smudges when you inevitably bump into the walls. There will be no more black marks on your cleaning record.


Related: How to Fake a Clean House

5 Simple Ways to Improve the Quality of Your Life!

As a new year begins, most people decide to change something about their lifestyles to improve the quality of their health, relationships, and/or working life. Some of those desired changes can be daunting, however. Fortunately, there are many small steps all of us can take to help us live a better and more fulfilling life. Here are eight ways to get started:
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables. It’s advice we have all heard but instead of just acknowledging the benefits (among them, reducing your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and eye problems, as well as keeping your blood sugar steady, thus reducing your appetite), actually do it. For both fruits and vegetables, the most nutritious are the colorful ones: orange, yellow, red, and dark green. Add fruit to your cereal; take a piece or two with you to work. Make sure both lunch and dinner include fresh vegetables.

Make Time for Good Friends. Your well-being is not only connected to your physical health; it is also highly dependent on nurturing relationships. Make it a point to spend time with people you enjoy and those who bolster your sense of self-esteem. Put the coffee, lunch, or dinner date on your calendar and make that time a priority.

MOVE! Our society, with all its technical marvels, has had a decidedly not-so-great downside: we have reduced our mobility to the point where 63% of our nation is either obese or overweight. The good news is that there are simple things you can do: take the stairs instead of the elevator, park farther away than necessary, pace while you talk on the phone, and use part of your lunch hour or break for a quick stroll.  

Turn off the Electronics. Televisions, laptops, texting… your family may all be in the same room yet they are worlds apart. Set aside at least one evening a week to have an “electronics free” night. Play a board game, throw a football, or work a puzzle together.

 Eat Together. This can apply to both family and co-workers. Food is much more than fuel. It is a time to relax for a few minutes and talk to one another. While it may not be possible to eat every meal together every day with your family, aim for at least 3-4 meals a week to catch up and stay in tune with one another. With co-workers, try to eat with at least one of them once a week, and vary with whom you go to lunch or dinner. It’s a great way to foster camaraderie and stay on top of things that may not be in your direct line of expertise.

10 Foods That Can Help You Sleep

Trying to get more shut-eye? Take a look at your diet. Eating the right foods in the hours before you hit the hay may help you fall asleep faster, say experts, and even improve the quality of your sleep. Keep reading for your get-sleepy grocery list, and remember to stop noshing two hours before bedtime to give your body enough time to properly digest.
Almonds

“Almonds are a winner,” says Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, medical director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers, and author of the bestselling book From Fatigued to Fantastic! “They contain magnesium which promotes both sleep and muscle relaxation,” he says. “And they have the added benefit of supplying proteins that can help maintain a stable blood sugar level while sleeping, and help promote sleep by switching you from your alert adrenaline cycle to your rest-and-digest cycle.” Try this bedtime snack: Have a tablespoon of almond butter or a 1-ounce portion of almonds to help your body relax. Photo: Shutterstock

Tea

Yes, avoiding all caffeine in the evening hours is key, but some decaf varieties can help get you into sleep mode, says Dr. Teitelbaum. “Chamomile tea is a very helpful and safe sleep aid,” he says, adding that green tea is another good choice. “Green tea contains theanine, which helps promote sleep. Just be sure you get a decaf green tea if drinking it at bedtime.” Experts recommend trying a 1-cup serving of the hot stuff. Photo: Thinkstock

Miso Soup

You love to order this comforting, broth-based soup in Japanese restaurants, but keeping a few 8-ounce packs of instant miso soup at home may be key when you’re having trouble falling asleep, says Stella Metsovas, CN, a nutritionist in Laguna Beach, California. Here’s why: Miso contains amino acids that may boost the production of melatonin, a natural hormone that can help induce the yawns. Bonus: Research shows that warm liquids like soup and tea may also relieve cold symptoms, helping you sleep better when you're feeling under the weather. Photo: Shutterstock

Find out 9 surprising facts about your dreams and what they mean.
Banana

Worried about falling asleep tonight? Have a banana before bed, says Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD, an internist and the author of Set Free to Live Free: Breaking Through the 7 Lies Women Tell Themselves. “Bananas are an excellent source of magnesium and potassium, which help to relax overstressed muscles. They also contain tryptophan, which convert to serotonin and melatonin, the brain’s key calming hormones." Try this tasty and incredibly simple bedtime smoothie: Blend one banana with one cup of milk or soy milk (and ice, if desired). Pour and enjoy! Photo: Shutterstock

Dairy

Yogurt, milk and cheese do contain tryptophan, notes Dr. Dalton-Smith, but also have a surprising sleep-inducing nutrient: “Calcium is effective in stress reduction and stabilization of nerve fibers, including those in the brain." That means a serving of your favorite Greek yogurt before bed can not only help you sleep, but also help you stop worrying about the weird thing your boss said earlier at work. Photo: Thinkstock





Oatmeal

You eat it for breakfast, but could a bowl of warm oatmeal help you get more rest? Yes, says Stephan Dorlandt, a clinical nutritionist based in Southern California. “Think about it,” he says. “Oatmeal is warm,soft, soothing, easy to prepare, inexpensive and nourishing. It’s rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon and potassium—the who's who of nutrients known to support sleep.” But go easy on the sweeteners; too much sugar before bed can have an anti-calming effect. Instead, consider topping your bowl with fruit, like bananas (see above). Photo: Shutterstock

Hard-Cooked Egg

If you have trouble staying asleep at night, it may be because you didn’t eat a pre-bedtime snack high in protein, or perhaps your snack was too high in simple, high-sugar carbohydrates, like cake and candy. “The problem with simple carbs is that they can put you on a ‘sugar roller coaster’ and drop your blood sugar while you're sleeping, causing you to wake at 2 or 3 in the morning,” says Dr. Teitelbaum. A better bet? “Eat an egg, cheese, nuts or other protein-rich snack instead,” he says, “so you can not only fall asleep, but stay asleep.” Photo: Shutterstock

Edamame

Craving a salty snack before bed? Turn to lightly salted edamame, says Dr. Dalton-Smith—especially if you’re dealing with menopause-related symptoms. “The natural estrogen-like compounds found in soy-based products can be very beneficial in controlling those nighttime hot flashes that can disturb your sleep,” she says. If it’s crackers and dip you’re craving, try making this easy edamame recipe: In a food processor, blend together 2 cups of shelled, cooked edamame with 1 tsp salt, a drizzle of olive oil and 1 clove garlic (optional) until smooth. Photo: Thinkstock

Cherries

Oddly, a glass of cherry juice may be an effective way to fall asleep faster, says a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and University of Rochester. In their study, they found that cherries, particularly tart cherries, naturally boosted the body’s supply of melatonin, which helped people with insomnia. While the jury is still out on how much juice or how many cherries are needed to make you sleepy, experts say sipping a glass of cherry juice (available at most natural foods stores) or having a serving of fresh, frozen or dried cherries before bedtime couldn’t hurt. Photo: Thinkstock

Cereal

There’s no need to feel guilty about having a small bowl of cereal before bed, especially if it’s a low-sugar, whole-grain cereal. Not only is it a healthy snack (make sure you top it with milk to give your body the protein it needs), but it may also help you snooze. “Complex carbohydrate–rich foods increase the availability of tryptophan in the bloodstream, increasing the sleep-inducing effects,” says Dr. Dalton-Smith. Bonus: Top your bowl with a sprinkling of dried cherries (see above) for extra help catching your zzz's. Photo: Thinkstock

Original article appeared on WomansDay.com.

20 Simple At Your Desk Exercises For Web Workers

Not everyone has the time to make it to the gym during their lunch break. But just because you can’t get out of the office (or your cubicle) doesn’t mean that you can’t get some exercise, or “deskercize” during the day. Here are some suggestions for web workers who want to get a work out and get their work done at the same time.
1. Buns of steel
No, you don’t need a shiny lycra bodysuit or big hair to do this popular glute workout. All you have to do tighten and squeeze your buttocks, hold five to ten seconds, and release. Repeat these squeezes 8-10 times, as many times during the day as you feel up to, and notice your newfound buns of steel in just a few weeks.
2. Upper back stretch
The upper back can be a place where tension accumulates throughout the day. By taking just a few seconds to stretch it out, you can release tension and work your muscles. What you need to do is extend your arms in front of you, grab onto your wrist with the other hand and gently pull your arms forward as you round your upper back. Hold it for twenty seconds and then switch sides.
3. Body lift
This is a really easy one. Just place your hands on the arms of your desk chair and lift yourself up. Repeat (if you can).
4. Chair squats
This is another simple “deskercize” as it simulates a motion we’re all pretty used to: standing up and sitting down. To do the “chair squat”, place a chair behind you and stand in front of it with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and squat toward your chair until you’re hovering just over it. Hold it for a second, then stand back up. You can do this throughout the day, or just try to hover each time you sit down.
5. Cherry picking
This exercise can help release tension in your upper body and looks just like it sounds. Stretch your arms up, one at a time, as high as you can, as if reaching to pick fruit out of a tree. Repeat 10 times, alternating sides as you go along.
6. Neck stretch
All you have to do for this one is relax your shoulders and let your head roll forward. Slowly rotate your head in a circle and repeat five times.
7. Inner thigh squeeze
A great trick for working on your inner thighs while you’re working on that spreadsheet is to stick a full water bottle between your legs and squeeze against it with your thighs. The bottle offers some resistance (and is there for hydration should you over exert yourself!)
8. Use an exercise ball
Here’s a list of ten reasons that you should consider swapping out that uncomfortable office chair for a healthier alternative. Using an exercise ball can improve posture and give you a work out.
9. Side stretch
Eating too many hot pockets for lunch and looking for a way to get rid of those love handles? Here’s an easy stretch you can do to work out your obliques: with your arms raised over your head, lean gently over to each side as far as you can safely go. Just be careful if your chair has wheels!
10. The funky chicken
This is an exercise that can help loosen up your upper body. You just might want to wait until none of your coworkers are looking. Put your fingertips on your shoulders and lift your elbows up and then push them down to your sides, as if you’re trying to fly. Repeat 10 times. Here’s some inspiration if you need it.
11. Leg lift
This exercise is made for web workers. Just straighten your knees and lift your legs out in front of you.
12. Seated crunches
Put your feet flat on the floor, and make sure that you’re sitting up straight. Then, rest your hands in your lap. Breathe in deep through your nose, “crunching” your upper and lower abs, pushing your lower back against the chair.
13. Yoga
Ever find yourself holding your breath or gritting your teeth as you get through the work day? You might want to try some desk yoga. It’s a way to use your breath to work for you, not against you. You can check out all sorts of desk yoga poses at this site.
14. Shoulder shrugs
If you’re feeling less than ambitious but still want to give yourself a gold star (or early happy hour) for getting your exercise in, just replicate that gesture you perfected as a teenager when your parents asked you a question. With your head at your chest, shrug your shoulders up and down.
15. Push ups
Technically you can’t do this one at your desk. And technically it’s not really a push up. But work with me here. All you have to do is stand facing a wall, with your feet shoulder-width apart and about a foot away from the wall. Rest your palms on the wall at about shoulder height. Bend your elbows and lean toward the wall as far as possible. Keep your legs and back straight. Then push yourself back to starting position.
16. Hug your hamstrings
This is a great exercise for working out the muscles in the backs of your legs that don’t get much use when you’re sitting at a desk all day. And you can do it right where you’re sitting. Just sit back and place your hands under your thigh. Then pull your knee toward your chest and extend the leg straight in front of you. Hold it (if you can) and then switch sides. Do it a couple of times with each leg for maximum results.
17. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee
Did you get an email from your boss that’s making you livid? Put that energy to good use and get some muscle tone out of it. Just scoot your chair back (so you won’t actually punch a hole in your computer screen) and do some tae-bo action, punching your arms out in front of you and switching sides.
18. Touch your toes
Another easy exercise that will help you work out some tension and maintain flexibility. Stand up in your chair and let your body hang forward, touching as far down on your body as you can. Then, take your right hand and touch it to your left toe and vice versa.
19. Balancing act
You can put that budget report sitting on your desk to good use. By sitting with something on your head, it forces good posture and works your inner core muscles. And hey, you might even learn by osmosis.
20. A-OK
And last but not least, we can’t forget a web worker’s best friends: his fingers. Just touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of each finger in turn, making the circle as round as you can. Straighten your fingers in between touching each finger. This will keep your fingers nimble and increase mobility.

 Ways to Get More Energy

If you’re tired all the time, a change in what you eat (diet) or what you do all day (activity pattern) may be all you need to turn things around 180°.
You won’t be able to do everything on this list all the time — you’d tire yourself out trying to get more energy — but do try them all to see which ones work for you and your schedule. Add a few of these tips to your regular routine. Or mix them up to keep things interesting.
1. Change your socks for refreshment.
It’s an amazing trick. Bring a change of socks to work, and change your socks midway through the day (say, after lunch). You’ll be amazed at how much fresher you’ll feel. This trick is especially handy on days with lots of walking — like during a hike or family outing to the amusement park.
2. Rock out loud.
Whether you work alone or in a room with coworkers, a quick one-song rock out loud session is an effective way to beat back exhaustion.
In a cube farm? Get everyone to sing along! The key is to choose a song that everyone can sing along with. (I like Kokomo.) The energy boosting effect comes from bobbing your head and singing out loud. One song, 3 minutes. That’s a quick boost of adrenaline that lasts for a bit. You’ll be singing to yourself the rest of the never ending project delivery night.
3. Get rid of the stuffy nose.
If allergies have your sinuses blocked, you may be feeling more tired and cranky. An over-the-counter allergy medication should clear up your sinuses (and your mind).
4. Work with your body’s clock.
There is a natural ebb and flow of energy throughout the day. We start off sluggish after waking up, even after a solid 8 hours of sleep. Our energy peaks mid-morning, and it’s natural to want a siesta in the afternoon. We get a second spike of energy in the early evening, followed by our lowest energy point just before bedtime. Once you understand this natural rhythm of energy throughout the day, you can work on the important tasks during your peak hours and avoid early afternoon snoozefests (meetings).
5. Have a piece of chocolate.
Not too much, but if you’re going to have some candy, it might as well be chocolate. We get an endorphin buzz from chocolate (not to mention the energy boost from the slight bit of caffeine chocolate contains). Dark chocolate has more caffeine than milk chocolate.

An afternoon snack of yogurt, berries, and nuts will provide the boost of energy to carry you through the day. Photo by lepiaf.geo / Flickr

6. Have an afternoon power snack.
A small healthy snack that is low in sugar and has protein and/or fiber a couple hours after lunch helps you finish off the day strong. Some suggestions:

• mixed nuts
• nonfat yogurt
• apple and peanut butter
• frozen berrie smoothie
• trail mix
• granola bar

7. Hit up the water cooler for inconsequential banter.
A little midday gossip and random banter is a great pick-me-up for your tired mind. It works because it gets your mind on zero-stress thoughts for a while. The mental break for just a few minutes will revitalize you.
8. Eat lots of berries.
Especially berries that are blue, red, or purple. The color comes from anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant, that boosts energy. Any kind of berry will contain tons.

All types of berries help fight fatigue and are delicious to boot! Photo by Zabowski / Flickr

9. Wear brighter colors.
This trick is related to the mood you project to people, and the reciprocating mood they project towards you. If you wear dark, somber colors, you project a dark, somber attitude, and people will respond to you with a somber attitude. If you wear bright, happy colors, you’ll get that attitude projected towards you, which will boost your own mood and energy levels.
10. Take a power nap.
But do it in your chair. Don’t lie down on the sofa or you won’t get back up. Keep it short: 5-10 minutes max. Any longer and it will have the opposite effect of knocking you out for the rest of the day.
11. Flirt.
It’s fun, it’s harmless (keep it innocent), and it’s effective. Nothing quite gets the heart pumping like a little flirting.

12. Aromatherapy with lavender.

Research has shown that the lavender scent increases alertness. Test subjects were given math tests before and after 3 minutes of lavender aromatherapy. The group completed the tests faster and more accurately after aromatherapy.
13. Wake up at the same time everyday.
Including weekends. This sets your body clock. Otherwise, you’ll be wide awake when you should be asleep. Or worse, asleep when you should be awake (dozing off in a meeting is embarrassing). The key is to go to bed at the same time every night. If you need to reset your sleep cycle in one day, stop eating for the 16 hours before the time you want to wake up.
14. Drink lots of water.
Dehydration is a sinister cause of fatigue because it slowly creeps up on you. If you consistently drink less than 8 cups of water a day, you may be sluggish all the time. Get a 32 oz (1 quart, 4 cups) water bottle. Your goal is to polish off 2 of those a day. Try it for a week and see if your general energy level increases.
15. Use caffeine wisely.
Coffee and caffeinated sodas can boost your alertness, but be careful about letting it be a habitual crutch. The temptation to drink more caffeine to get even more energy will be strong. Eventually you’ll be downing 5 double-shot espressos a day just to function. Drink coffee earlier in the day to avoid insomnia, which will make the next day worse.

Use caffeine in moderation. Coffee provides a shot of energy, but can also become a counterproductive dependence. Photo by visualpanic / Flickr

16. Avoid energy drinks.
Energy drinks provide a near-instant hyperactivity boost, but they always result in a crash. Energy drinks are like energy credit cards — you’re spending future energy to get short-term energy. The resulting energy deficit gets worse until you hit energy bankruptcy.
17. Eat low glycemic (low or complex carb) foods.
Trade in good, complex carbohydrates (low glycemic index) for the bad, simple carbs (sugar). Carbohydrates with a high glycemic index means the sugar is more easily digested by your body. That results in a spike in energy followed by a low-sugar crash.
High glycemic index foods to avoid include white bread, potato, and high sugar foods (like sodas). Low glycemic foods (the good carb foods) include fruits and vegetables, grains (eg., whole wheat bread), low-carb foods (eg., meats), and pasta. Check this chart of foods and their glycemic index before your next trip to the grocery store.
18. Eat more soluble fiber.
Soluble fiber is the kind that slows down the rate of absorption of sugars. It evens out your energy levels by preventing a sugar high and crash. (By the way, insoluble fiber is the kind that prevents constipation.) Don’t worry too much about which kind of fiber you’re getting — they’re both good for you. Rotate more high soluble fiber foods like nuts, grains, fruits, plant matter (vegetables), beans, and oats into your diet.

Eat and sniff more citrus fruits for an energy boost. Photo by Steven Fernandez / Flickr

19. Get your Vitamin C.
Get a daily dose of citrus fruits (eg., orange juice in the morning) or a vitamin C tablet. Study after study shows the correlation between citric acid deficiency and chronic fatigue. Vitamin C also helps you absorb more nutrients from food.
20. Sniff some citrus.
In addition to the Vitamin C, citrus scents (like orange, lemon and lime) stimulate alertness. So lather on some of that lemon scented lotion.
21. Cover the B Vitamins.
B vitamins cover a range of bodily functions, but most B vitamins are involved in the process of converting blood sugar into usable energy. To ensure you get the proper amount of B vitamins, eat a balanced diet.
22. Quit smoking.
Ex-smokers frequently report an energy boost of 2-3x when they quit smoking. Nicotine affects your sleep, so you don’t get as good a night’s sleep. That makes you cranky, frustrated and tired the next day. Which leads to more smoking. It’s a vicious energy sapping cycle.
23. Play to relax.
Playing a game keeps your mind working (versus, say, watching TV), but doesn’t have any of the energy-sapping stresses of work. Go ahead and play that quick game of Scrabble on Facebook, but have a strict time limit if you don’t want your boss to say something.

Play a game to relax. It keeps your mind active without the debilitating stress. Photo by Sukanto Debnath / Flickr

24. Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
Snack throughout the day. By eating smaller but more frequent “meals”, you will maintain a steady dose of energy instead of experiencing food comas. Don’t snack on fatty and sugar laden junk food though. You may get a short 30 minute burst of hyperalertness, but it’ll be quickly followed by a debilitating crash.
25. Enjoy a cup of tea.
In a recent study, University College London researchers noted that drinking a cup of tea 4-6 time a day reduces stress hormone levels in your body. The study’s results suggest “drinking black tea may speed up our recovery from the daily stresses in life.”
26. Splash some water on your face.
Just letting the cool water hit your face washes off the grime and stresses of the day. You could also jump in the pool or take a shower for the same effect. Showers stimulates the circulatory system and metabolism. Get wet to feel more energetic.

Get wet to freshen up and get a shot of energy. Photo by Liz Noise / Flickr

27. Stand up, stretch and take a couple of deep breaths.
Stretch your arms, back, legs, and neck. Take a deep breath through your nose, hold it, and let it out slowly and forcefully. Repeat several times. This will take 30 seconds and will be an instant fix. When you sit back down, you’ll have the clear head and fresh feeling needed to power through the tough/boring task in front of you.
28. Get your world organized.
When your world is organized, you don’t have to expend mental energy keeping track of a million things. Here’s how to take back control of your time and productivity:

• The Getting Things Done (GTD) FAQ – Beginner’s guide to GTD
• Zen to Done (ZTD): The Ultimate Simple Productivity System – Leo’s even simpler system
• 7 Productivity Tips for People that Hate GTD

29. Look on the bright side.
A generally upbeat and optimistic outlook on life will keep your energy level up. Yes, the worst thing that can happen might actually happen, but giving it too much worry will only drain you. Look for the positive in every situation and you won’t be so tired.
30. Take a mini-vacation.
Take one day and just do whatever you want. No work, no chores, no errands. Enjoy your one full day of vacation, then come back to work more motivated and energetic.
31. Eat a satisfying breakfast but a light lunch.
A heavy lunch, especially one with lots of carbs or fat (like a burger combo) will hit you as soon as you get back to the office. And it’ll be a sluggishness that lasts to the end of the day. Eat a big breakfast instead. It provides the fuel you need for the day, at the time when your body needs it the most. Not only will you avoid the afternoon food coma, the big breakfast will make you more productive in the mornings. Double win.

Start your day with a powerful breakfast that provides the fuel you need for the day. Photo by Charles Chan / Flickr

32. Choose protein over fat or carbs.
Foods with lean (low fat) protein help you feel fuller for longer. It also prevents blood sugar spikes, giving you more steady energy. Lean protein foods include fish and other seafood, lean pork, or chicken breasts (“white meat”).
33. Shed a few pounds.
The things you do to lose weight — exercise, drink water, avoid simple sugars — are actions that also have a positive effect on your energy level. Even better, the actual loss of excess fat provides an energy boost of its own. You’ll feel “lighter” and things that use to make you breathless will now seem much easier. Losing weight provides a double-impact to boosting your energy.
But be careful with fad and/or crash diets. Cutting out too many calories (ie., energy your body needs) too fast will cause you to be even more tired. Take small steps, and make it a lifestyle change so you shed the fat for life.
34. Listen to tunes while you work.
It’s well known that our brain’s pleasure centers light up when we hear music. Throwing on the headphones and listening to any music you like while working will give you a productivity boost.
35. Start exercising.
If you have a fairly sedentary life, just the idea of starting an intense exercise program is exhausting. But if you go slow, literally taking one step at a time, you can go from being sedentary to becoming a runner just like Leo.

Get moving! Getting some exercise will lift your energy levels all day. Photo by Hamed Saber / Flickr

36. Eliminate stress.
Stress is draining. Sometimes it’s worth it, like when you’re on a deadline to delivery a big project. Sometimes it’s just a waste of energy. Leo says,

Certain things in our life just cause us to be more exhausted than others, with less value. Identify them, and cut them out. You’ll have much more energy and much less stress. Happiness ensues.

Here’s how to eliminate stress from your life.
37. Have more sex.
Talk about an endorphin rush! If you keep those endorphins flowing regularly, you’ll have more natural energy. Literally, more bounce to your step.
38. Move gym time to the morning.
A lot of people go to the gym after work. Try going to the gym in the morning instead to get energy that lasts all day. Sure, you’ll have to wake up an hour or two earlier, but you get that time back at night. That exercise in the morning gets the endorphins flowing, which keeps you happy and productive the rest of the day. By exercising in the morning instead of at night, you spend the same amount of time at the gym, but get the added benefit of having more energy at work.
39. Purge low-value tasks from your todo list.
If you have a ridiculously long todo list that is impossible to get all the way through, you’ll feel tired just thinking about the todo list. If you want to actually cross off tasks from your todo list, you’ll need to throw out the crap tasks that you don’t want/need to deal with. Either delegate those tasks, move them into a second “nice but not critical” list, or just admit that they’re probably never going to get done and move them to the “maybe/someday” list. Shortening your todo list to just the most critical, must-do tasks will give you the “energy” to start knocking out those tasks.
40. Avoid the mid-day cocktail.
If you want to function in the afternoon, avoid alcohol at lunch. Even if it’s just one beer. Alcohol’s sedative effects will take hours to recover from, killing the rest of your afternoon.

Skip the alcohol at lunch if you want to make it to 5:00. Photo by ktylerconk / Flickr

41. Get a massage.
Loosen up those tight muscles and you’ll feel more relaxed. A more relaxed you means a happier and more productive you. Trade a quick shoulder rub with a coworker after lunch to perk both of you up for the rest of the afternoon.
42. Dress up.
Feeling better about yourself has a magical way of giving you more energy. Put just a tad more effort into looking your best for work, and you’ll get compliments from coworkers that will make you feel better — and make you a perkier, more energetic worker bee.
43. Don’t drink yourself to sleep.
Alcohol keeps your body from entering deep sleep, so even if you get the same hours of sleep, you won’t feel as rested. Limit alcohol the hours before bedtime to get the best night’s sleep.
44. Get a thyroid test from your doctor.
If you are chronically fatigued, it may be a symptom of hypothyroidism. That’s when not enough thyroid hormone is produced, with fatigue as one of its symptoms. Visit the doctor if you’ve been tired for a long time and haven’t had a checkup in a while.
45. Take a walk outside.
Getting outside for some fresh air, a change of scenery, and a quick walk to get your blood going will do wonders for your mood and motivation. Seeing the sun is a signal to your body that it’s not bedtime yet.

Take a walk outside to clear your head. Photo by vshioshvili / Flickr

46. Lower your blood pressure.
Besides being a risk factor for a heart attack, high blood pressure makes you fatigued. If you haven’t seen your doctor lately, go in and get your blood pressure checked.
47. Rotate yogurt into your diet.
Yogurt with live cultures keep your digestive system clean, which helps your body absorb all the nutrients from food. That makes you healthier and more energetic. Yogurt is also a good low-fat snack.
48. Have a laugh.
Laughter is great medicine for exhaustion. Make sure you laugh regularly to keep your mood up. Seek out funny people or subscribe to a daily email joke. I like the geeky comic xkcd for a quick smile. What’s your favorite quick funny pick-me-up?
49. Add more cardio to your gym time.
The aerobic exercise gets your blood pumping. It builds stamina and endurance, which is useful for both triathalons and neverending department meetings.
50. Take up yoga.
The stretching, slow controlled movements, and focus on breathing reduces tension (and stress). The benefits include better sleep, feeling more relaxed, and being mentally sharper.
51. Eat eggs.
When people have eggs (mostly protein) for breakfast, versus bagels (all carbs), they feel more energy and eat less at the next meal. Protein makes you feel fuller without feeling stuffed, and they provide a steady stream of energy for your body (versus the quick high and crash of carbohydrates). Eggs are a great for breakfast or as an addition to a lunch salad.
52. Get a good night’s sleep.
We need 7-8 hours of sleep to be fully rested. Consistently sleeping less than 6 hours a night builds up a “sleep debt” that is hard to recover from. If you’re getting enough sleep, it should take you up to 30 minutes to fall asleep. If you’re falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow (or while sitting at your desk), that’s a symptom of sleep deprivation.
53. Get more ginseng.
Ginseng is well-known to have energy boosting properties. It is an adaptogen, which means it build resistance to stress and boosts energy. A ginseng supplement or sipping tea with ginseng can help improve energy.
54. Socialize.
Turn off the Internet and go socialize with friends. Humans are social animals, and we need regular socializing to keep ourselves in peak health and energy.

Go out and play with your friends! Photo by Strocchi / Flickr

55. Get on your toes.
Roll up and down on your toes. This stimulates your circulatory system, which will deliver much-needed oxygen and fuel (glucose) throughout your body. You’ll be more energized and sharper. You can do this right now.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Greg Go, co-author of Wise Bread’s new book, 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small