Depressed? Feeling fat? Stressed? Read on...

Depressed? Try turning off the TV at night. Artificial light at night is thought to affect your biological clock's natural rhythm according to scientists at Ohio State University. If you're feeling a bit down lately, make sure you're not falling asleep to the TV! Of course, most relationship experts and sleep coaches recommend that you keep the television out of the bedroom. Period. If your kids have TVs in their rooms, reconsider the wisdom (or lack thereof) of this. Teenagers, in particular, battle with depression on a regular basis. Perhaps their television viewing habits (and sleeping-to-the-glow-of-the-TV-screen habits) are to blame.

Feeling fat? Here's a discovery I'm loving. Drinking green tea = a smaller waistline! Seriously. I recently found myself dropping weight and inches and was a little concerned about it. Not that I didn't need to lose weight -- I did. But after years of trying unsuccessfully, I couldn't help but wonder what was going on. 5 1/2 inches off my waist without a major effort caused a bit of concern. I did think it might have to do with the amount of tea (green, white, mint and orange pekoe) I was drinking. Now I know there was something to that. Apparently green tea contains compounds known to boost energy expenditure. These catechins actually rev up the release of fat from fat cells and get the liver working harder to burn fat after meals. This is especially effective with the stubborn belly fat so many of us struggle with. And it's not about the caffeine because green tea boasts only one half of the caffeine in coffee. Decaf green tea is still beneficial, but not as much as the regular brew. Four to five cups a day can produce some awesome results. Next time you hear, "It's tea time," jump on it!

Stressed out? Swiss researchers have good news for you! Eating an ounce and a half of dark chocolate every day for two weeks can help -- by reducing the levels of teh stress hormone cortisol. Is that the best news you've heard all day?!

Speaking of chocolate -- did you hear the news about chocolate milk? Apparently researchers in Spain have discovered that drinking chocolate milk (low-fat or skim) produces similiar benefits to heart health as red wine. Both men and women who imbibed regularly had higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and reduced inflammation in their arteries than people who didn't. Of course, the benefits are there for kids as well. Woo hoo! Chocolate's getting better and better!

Just a few tidbits to help you have a healthier life. Love to hear from you if you try out any of these suggestions. Did they work for you? Stop back in a couple of weeks and post a comment! We're all in this together....let's encourage each other to be the best we can be.

Keeping it healthy,

Hana