1. DRINK WATER

Dehydration causes fatigue, so stay hydrated to stay bright-eyed. Caffeine can jump start your motor, but you don’t want to over do it. Energy drinks and coffee can give you a temporary energy boost by firing up your fight-or-flight hormones, but when they wear off, you crash. Start your day with a glass of water, enjoy your daily cup of coffee, and then switch back to water.

2. GET SOME PROTEIN

If caffeine jump starts your motor, protein keeps things on an even keel by keeping your blood sugar levels consistent. Try some of these super fast protein-packed breakfasts.

3. USE YOUR NOSE

Citrus smells can perk you up, so drop slices of grapefruit, orange, or lemon in your water (bonus: you feel like you’re at a super posh spa.) Suds up your hair and bod with citrus scents in the shower, or try the get-up-and-go smell of mint, which stimulates the area of the brain responsible for arousal and can make you more alert. Pop a peppermint as you walk out the door.

4. FIRE UP YOUR IPOD

Music can sharpen our mental focus and boost our mood. Put together a soundtrack to your life that you can listen to as you get ready in the morning, drive to the office, or dance to while you’re folding the laundry.

5. GET MOVING

A study from the University of George found that when sleep-deprived people exercised, their perceived level of energy increased by 20 percent and their fatigue was reduced by 65 percent. Take out the dog for a quick walk, power through some crunches and push-ups during the commercial breaks, or pop in one of our favorite workout DVDs.

GET MORE HERE

5 Easy Steps To A Healthy Kitchen

4 Simple Ways To Keep Your Portions A Healthy Size

GRAPES
Small clusters won’t fall through the grate and will get even juicier and sweeter over the heat. Serve as a garnish with pork or sausage.

CHEESE
Briefly grill small wheels of soft cheese (such as Brie) uncut, in their rind, until just melting. Haloumi or queso fresco cheese work as well. Serve with other cheeses and fruit as an appetizer or simple dessert course.

A “Handy” guide to portion control

SHELLFISH
Shrimp and lobsters are excellent grill foods–so too are clams and oysters. Place the freshest clams or oysters you can buy directly on the grill over high heat. Cover and cook until shellfish opens, 4 to 5 minutes. Eat straight from the grill with simply a squeeze of lemon and hot sauce.

MELONS
A few seconds on a hot grill does wonders for watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and other melons. Not only do the grill marks look appetizing, they taste good too–the heat caramelizes the sugars of the fruit resulting in a mildly smokey and nutty flavor.

CITRUS
Halved and charred, cut side down, limes, lemons, and oranges are a beautiful garnish for fish and chicken. The sugars caramelize and make a smoky-sweet sauce to squeeze over the food.

GET MORE HERE

Top 5 foods for that flat belly you crave

Say what you want about diet soda, but it might actually help your kidneys in the long run! A new study shows that drinking diet sodas may help ward off painful kidney stones. Read the Health.com article below.

[From Health.com]

Drinking diet sodas, especially those with a citrus flavor, might help ward off painful calcium deposits known as kidney stones.

The drinks contain citrate, which is known to inhibit calcium formation, according to the authors of a study that was to be presented Sunday at the American Urological Association annual meeting, in Chicago.

And there’s more good news in the drinks department: A second study being presented at the same meeting found that pomegranate juice might slow the progression of prostate cancer.

Some 10 percent of people in the United States will form these calcium deposits, known as kidney stones, at some point in their lives. In as many as a third of the cases, it’s because they do not urinate enough citrate, said study author Dr. Brian Eisner, a clinical fellow in urology at the University of California San Francisco and an instructor in urology at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, in Boston.

Potassium citrate and other pills can help alleviate the problem, as can a special lemonade drink (rich in citric acid) concocted by one of Eisner’s co-authors a decade or so ago.

To read the rest of the article, and arguments against this idea, click here.

Is junk food your friend or your enemy?

7 ways to boost energy

The best route to boosting your mood, banishing stress and beating cravings may well be right under your nose. More to the point, it is your nose. “Tapping into your sense of smell is one of the quickest ways to change your perspective or even your behavior,” says Alan Hirsch, M.D., director of The Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. “The body’s limbic center — the part of the brain that controls your emotions — is directly connected to the olfactory system.”

Wanted: A quick pick-me-up
Try: A little peppermint

This scent stimulates the region of the brain that controls wakefulness, says Bryan Raudenbush, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Wheeling Jesuit University.
How: When your energy is low, suck on a peppermint candy, suggests Rachel Herz, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Brown University. The aroma makes its way directly from the back of your throat to your sinus passages, where its restorative powers hit home hard.
AND: From easing foot pain to soothing arthritis, find out more good stuff peppermint can do!

Wanted: A sense of calm
Try: Lavender

Compounds in this herb have been shown to have a mildly sedating effect on the emotional center of the brain, Herz notes.
How: Soak in a warm bath surrounded by lavender-scented candles — the heat from the bath reinforces the herb’s stress-busting power
AND: Learn how lavender can help calm headaches and migraines

Wanted: A turbocharged brain
Try: A dash of cinnamon

Studies show that people are more alert behind the wheel when buoyed by the scent of this hearty spice. According to Raudenbush, cinnamon’s aroma appears to increase blood flow to the brain, which in turn supplies it with nourishing oxygen and glucose.
How: Top off your lipstick with cinnamon lip balm.

Wanted: A craving cutback
Try: Vanilla
In a Brown University study, researchers found that women who wore a vanilla-scented patch began dropping weight — without really trying. “Since vanilla is a common ingredient in sweets like cookies and cake, it provides the same sensory stimulation that consuming them does — without getting the extra calories,” Herz explains.
How: Keep a bowl of vanilla-scented potpourri as close as you can to the snack cupboard and sniff whenever you’re tempted to nosh.
AND: Crazy for chocolate? Lust after pizza? Find out the hidden meaning behind your cravings

Wanted: A better mood
Try: Citrus
It’s no surprise this tangy scent can lift your spirits. Because citrusy smells so often bring to mind fresh-squeezed juice, sun-filled mornings and the promise of brand-new days, they have a naturally “happy” association, says Herz.
How: Shower with a citrus-scented body wash or dab on a citrusy fragrance first thing in the morning.

(From quickandsimple.com)

Click here to read what foods puts you in the mood.

Want to boost your immune system? Find out how here.