10 Steps for Energizing Your Day

Rise and shine! Start every day feeling your best by making the most of the hour after you get up. Beginning your morning with the right moves and foods can give you the focus, stamina, and positive outlook you need to plow through your busy schedule. Plus, these small additions will kick-start your metabolism, helping you torch extra calories and melt more fat. Here’s how to rise and shine.

1. Cue Energy with Color
Seeing a bright, vibrant hue when you open your eyes gets your adrenaline going–and that sudden surge of energy helps clear the cobwebs and kicks you into gear. Put a red, orange, yellow, or fuchsia throw pillow, blanket, or piece of art in the area you first see in the morning, or slip on a robe in one of these shades. You can even make breakfast visually stimulating (and get a nutritional boost) by pouring yourself a glass of antioxidant rich pomegranate or cranberry juice with a sweet slice of orange.

2. Wake Up and See the Roses
Seeing a bouquet of blooms when they first woke up gave women in a new study a mood lift and energy boost that lasted all day.

3. Stop Hitting the Snooze Button
There's truth in the adage 'You snooze, you lose.' When you hit snooze, your brain knows it will go off again in a few minutes–so you won't go into the deeper, more restful stages of slumber. That means you'll be more tired than if you'd gotten up when it first sounded. A better strategy: Set your alarm for when you really need to get up. That extra, uninterrupted sleep makes you feel more rested and refreshed when you get out of bed.

4. Picture the Day Ahead
Once you're awake, close your eyes and picture yourself alert and energetic. Imagining an activity fires up the same parts of your brain that are used when you actually experience it. Thinking positively about the day ahead energizes you.

5. Drink Instant Energy
Drinking a big glass of water as soon as you get up is a good way to replenish the fluid your body loses overnight, and it provides instant energy. Everything that happens in your body requires water. Without enough of it, your systems have to work harder in every respect–which can cause fatigue. Indeed, even a 2% drop in water stores can tire you physically and mentally.

6. Let the Sunshine In
A splash of sunlight makes you feel more awake, so read the paper by a sunny window or step outside for a few minutes while having your coffee. Daylight signals your biological clock to stop the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy, and promotes wakefulness. It also increases the brain's level of serotonin, a chemical that boosts mood. If it's still dark when you get up, consider purchasing a dawn stimulator, a device that gradually brightens a light source at a preprogrammed time. Set it to create a dawn that breaks a half hour before your usual wake up time and grows to maximum brightness when your alarm goes off–even when your eyes are closed, the light that passes through your lids signals your internal clock to trigger waking neurons in your.

7. Give Yourself a Face Rub
Massaging your face boosts circulation, making it a surefire way to wake up. Starting at your forehead and working down to your chin, lightly flutter tap or drum your fingertips, varying the velocity, intensity, and location until you've touched your entire face. These moves give you a quick healthy glow.

8. Have a Romp in the Hay
Physical activity is one of the best ways to shake off grogginess–and having sex boosts your body's levels of chemicals associated with stamina (testosterone), energy (dopamine), and calmness (Oxycontin).

9. You Sleep Tight With Dust Mites
You could be sharing your bed with anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites and the residue they leave behind can trigger mild to very severe allergies. To reduce allergens, vacuum and dust regularly; use linens that block mites, and replace mattresses that are more than 10 years old. Finally, crack the windows and doors. Increasing a room's airflow is one of the most effective ways to cut down on dust mites.

10. You Let Fido In
We know–you love your pet, but more than half of dog and cat owners admitted that their animal disrupted their sleep every night. Put a crate next to your bed and have your pup sleep there. Dogs like to sleep in a safe, protected space. Do you have a cat? Lock her out but keep her entertained with special nighttime-only toys that get put away in the morning.