1. Turn off your electronics about an hour before you go to sleep.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the bright light from televisions, phones, and other handheld electronic devices mess with people’s biological clocks, so their brains don’t know when it should be asleep and when it should be awake.

2. Get enough sleep.

It’s recommended for teenagers to sleep somewhere between 8 and 10 hours a day. Lack of enough sleep makes a person more prone to memory loss, poor decisions, unhealthy eating, and mood swings.

3. Set small, attainable goals.

For example, try to eat more fresh fruit every day for a week or start drinking more water.

4. Eat slightly healthier versions of things you already like.

Replace deep-fried french fries for oven baked ones, try whole-grain bread instead of white bread, or cook with olive oil instead of butter.

5. Eat slowly.

When a person eats slowly, it’s easier to tell if he/she is actually full or if they need to eat more. This leads to eating less food, and by extension, eating less unnecessary calories.

6. Remove yourself from as much stress as possible.

Too much stress can cause people to have headaches, sleep problems, anger issues, lack of motivation, muscle pain, or even eating problems.

7. Keep yourself as happy as possible.

According to ABC News, being happy increases immune health and is generally linked to better health and well-being.

8. Save your comfort food for when you actually need comfort.

Comfort foods tend to be fatty, sugary, or generally unhealthy, so save them for when you really need them.

9. Eat dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants, so it’s good for your heart, and contains caffeine, which is helpful for those late-night homework sessions.

10. Pick out a TV show that you’ll like on Netflix (or just on TV) and make yourself watch it only while you’re exercising.

This will give you motivation to exercise, which can be difficult to find.

18kweisenborn@usd489.com