Bad Habits in the Morning Can Ruin Your Day

For most of us our brain is not exactly 100% alert right away in the morning. So don't start out on the wrong foot with those same bad habits.

• Hitting the snooze button. You disrupt your sleep cycle, and end up sleepier than if you'd just gotten up in the first place.
• Checking your phone before you get out of bed. Research from the University of British Columbia found that people who checked email throughout the day were more stressed than people who checked it just three times a day. And checking Facebook before you get out of bed can cause you to compare your life to your friends, and make you feel jealous and agitated.
• Putting off exercise. Exercising any time is better than not exercising at all, but research has found that people who exercise in the morning have lower blood pressure and get better sleep.
• Taking a shower that's too hot. A hot shower in the morning will raise your body temperature and increase alertness. But if the water's too hot it can cause dry, irritated skin that can become inflamed and itchy.
• Eating a breakfast high in carbs. A donut or muffin makes you more likely to feel sleepy and hungry before lunch. But it's still better than skipping breakfast, which makes you much more likely to eat more calories later in the day.

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