John Tesh

Daylight Saving Time is ending! And turning back the clock is actually good for your heart! Typically, there are 20% more heart attacks on Mondays, according to the British Medical Journal. It’s a combination of a lack of sleep from the weekend, increased activity, rising blood pressure, and the stress of a starting a work week. But the switch back to Standard Time actually changes that dynamic.

In March, when we “spring forward” and move our clocks ahead one hour, there’s a 5% increase in heart attacks on Monday, and 10% on Tuesday. Researchers figure it’s because we’re already sleep-deprived – and the extra hour of lost sleep pushes those prone to a heart attack over the edge. However, in November when we “fall back” and move our clocks back an hour, there’s actually a 5% drop in heart attacks that week. Again, it’s because a lot of people take advantage of that extra hour and sleep longer. Or do something relaxing, like reading the morning paper until it’s time to get ready.

So, what’s the takeaway on this? It’s simple: Get more sleep! Dr. Lori Mosca, the director of preventive cardiology at New York Presbyterian Hospital, says getting the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night improves blood sugar, and reduces your blood pressure, blood clotting, cholesterol, and inflammation of your arteries. All of which reduce your risk for heart disease and heart attack. On the flip side, the disappearance of Daylight Saving Time can make you more tired. Why? Studies show that earlier sunsets, and long, dark evenings make fatigue worse, and can make you feel draggy all day.

The fix: Stop hitting the snooze button and get moving the moment your alarm goes off. Take advantage of the extra morning light by opening your blinds, or taking a walk outside. Sunlight suppresses the sleep hormone melatonin, and helps boost your energy and your mood.

We recently turned the clocks back an hour and even though sleep experts say that the time change is good news – because we typically get more rest – it can also trigger Seasonal Affective Disorder. And it can hit anyone, no matter how healthy you are. The disorder makes you feel tired, have less energy and feel hungrier – and your risk of depression jumps. So, here are a few ways to fight off Seasonal Affective Disorder:

• Load up on light. The idea is to get your mind out of “it’s getting dark outside, time to sleep mode.” So, go outside during your lunch break to get your daylight fix! And as soon as you get home, turn on the lights so your brain doesn’t get lulled into “sleep zone.”

• Go for a nighttime workout. Studies show that early evening exercise can help keep you energized during the evening. The key? Work out two hours before bed. That way, your brain has time to come off the dopamine exercise high so you’ll actually be able to fall asleep.

• Don’t sleep late on weekends. Dr. Michael Terman, a psychologist and SAD specialist, says that oversleeping allows your body clock to drift later. And when you’re out of sync with local time, it can make you sluggish and depressed.

• Use a light-therapy box. This mimics natural outdoor light. Dr. Terman believes that half the population would benefit from 30 minutes of light box therapy every morning. It’ll help increase your energy by mimicking natural sunlight, so a regular lamp won’t do the trick.

Do you love roller coasters, horror movies, and haunted houses? You’ve got a lot of company. The fact is, most people like a good scare. At least, when they know – deep down – that they’re not in any real danger.

Behavioral scientist Dr. David Rudd says that most adults and teens can realistically gauge how dangerous something is, whether it’s a roller coaster, or a zombie in a haunted house. They understand they might have nightmares afterward, but they still feel relatively safe. So, instead of experiencing real fear, they feel excitement instead. That’s also one reason people scream when they’re make-believe scared by a movie, or a Halloween attraction, and then laugh immediately afterward. Because the enjoyment is bubbling right below the surface.

But not everybody enjoys being scared. Some adults and most young children can’t tell whether something is scary-fun, or genuinely scary. It’s because they have less experience gauging how dangerous things are, whether it’s a monster in a movie, or a skeleton on someone’s lawn that screams as they walk by. So, they’re more likely to feel like they’re in real danger.

That’s why kids get scared so much more easily than adults. And why they may not find the scarier-parts of Halloween enjoyable at all.

Why is it that so many people choose NOT to save money? It has very little to do with your income and expenses. Researchers at Dartmouth and Harvard Universities studied people with lower incomes who easily outsaved higher-income earners – by an average of $100,000 as well as people with huge incomes who didn’t save a dime.

So what did they learn?

For one, some people simply check out. The researchers say many of us don’t save because it’s easy to spend in our culture, and we’re on autopilot. We don’t think of money management as something we need to do. We’ll schedule things like laundry and movie night, but neglect to sit down and focus on our finances.

Also – we procrastinate. We know that someday we’re going to need money, but our lives are so hectic and things are so expensive, that we keep putting it off until things settle down – which, as we know, never happens. Or we’re convinced that our “million dollar idea” – that business we’re going to start or the novel we’re going to write – is going to take care of our retirement needs. When it comes to money, we have to be more practical than that.

So, ready to give your bank account a boost? Here are a couple of tips:

• Bank your raise. Mary Hunt is a financial expert and author of Live Your Life For Half the Price, and she says the next time you get a raise, or a bonus, save at least half of it. Let’s say your raise gives you an extra $200 a month. If you save half of that – $100 a month – at 6% interest for 10 years, that money will grow into more than $16,000! You won’t miss it, because you never saw it in the first place.
• Save the payment. When you pay off something, like a car loan or a credit card, take the amount of money you were paying each month and add it to your savings instead. A $330 monthly payment to yourself over five years turns into more than $23,000! Enough to buy your next car with CASH.

In the fall season, do you tend to feel happier? Here’s what’s going on, according to psychology professor Dr. Jason Brunt from Biola University.

First, your brain is more ALERT in fall than any other time of year! Because where winter is mostly white and snowy – and spring and summer are dominated by green – fall brings a burst of vibrant yellow, orange and red shades in nature. And Dr. Brunt says our brain interprets the visual contrast as something “significant.” Like a loud noise in a quiet room. It wakes us up mentally.

Then, fall foliage can also fight stress! According to the University of Washington, stressed out people who gazed at trees with brightly-colored fall foliage had a significant drop in heart rate and stress hormones. Plus, focusing on the changing colors of the leaves can be an exercise in mindfulness – which relaxes us, too.

And when the temperature drops, we have less anxiety. Hot and humid weather increases our heart rate, breathing rate, and other metabolic reactions. And our brain can interpret that as an anxiety attack. So in fall, we feel calmer.

That’s why Dr. Brunt says, autumn activates our brain in a way that makes us feel happier… calmer… and more connected to nature!

You might encounter a few scaredy-cats this Halloween, but one thing you don’t want to see is a sick or injured pet. That’s why the ASPCA asked us to remind you of these animal safety tips for the spookiest night of the year.

• Keep an eye on the candy. Chocolate can cause seizures and even be fatal to dogs and cats, and the artificial sweetener xylitol can cause liver failure in dogs. It’s also important to pick up the trash. Ingesting tin foil and candy wrappers can pose a choking hazard or cause intestinal blockage.

• Pet-proof your decorations. Chewing an electric cord can damage your pet’s mouth – or cause electrocution. Candles may look spooky, but they’re a big injury risk to curious cats and kittens.

• Leave the costumes for the kids. Liam Crowe is a dog behavioral therapist and co-founder of Bark Busters USA. He says that while you may think those antlers or sunglasses look adorable on Fido – they could drive him crazy. If you decide to put a costume on your pet, have a dress rehearsal to make sure it doesn’t restrict their movement or breathing.

Holidays like Halloween can be overwhelming to pets. You want to make sure yours can’t get to the candy or decorations. If your dog or cat seems nervous or agitated, put them in a quiet place away from trick-or-treaters.

North Americans will buy and carve about 70 million pumpkins this Halloween. These days, farmers are discovering that nothing sells faster than pumpkins that are warty, twisted or oddly colored. As our more experienced trick-or-treaters know, that wasn’t always the case. For at least 50 years, industry experts say pumpkin breeders tried hard to get rid of imperfections – like warts, disfigured stem handles, or deep ribs. That’s because ugly pumpkins didn’t sell as well as perfect, round, orange ones. In fact, the ugly ones were usually sold off cheaply to make pumpkin pies. Now, the opposite’s true. Where pumpkin seeds typically sell for about $25 a pound, today’s farmers willingly pay up to $200 for a pound of seeds that are likely to turn out warty and weird. That’s because a single ugly pumpkin can sell for $50 or more, and the uglier the better!

Experts say the ugly pumpkin trend is a reflection of how commercial Halloween’s become. Demand is so strong that Martha Stewart has talked about carving ugly pumpkins on her TV show. It’s also inspired farmers to bring back some rare pumpkin breeds that were common a century ago – like blue-green pumpkins from Australia, or an extremely warty gourd known as the “Knucklehead.” In fact, industry experts say warts are the one trait customers ask for the most when they buy pumpkins for carving, but a lot of people are still squeamish about eating pumpkins with warts. That’s also true of the pumpkin’s distant cousin, the squash. In case you’re worried: Those lumpy or warty pumpkins and squash are perfectly safe to eat and taste no different than smooth, perfect pumpkins.

Couples: I have great news if you met your partner online!
First, a new study says you’ll have a happier, longer-lasting relationship, compared to couples who met face to face. And it gets better if you’re married because the same study shows that your marriage is less likely to end in divorce, compared to married couples who first met in person. That’s the surprising conclusion of research from the University of Chicago. They tracked more than 19-thousand married people for almost a decade.

So why are couples who meet “virtually” happier than couples who meet face-to-face? Psychologists say it has to do with the fact that we’re generally more willing to open up and be ‘real’ online. Because even though online daters may lie about their height or weight – they’re online because they want to be in a relationship. So going into it, you already know that the other person is looking for the same thing you are.

Plus, online dating allows you to see someone’s hobbies and interests right off the bat – and even filter out people who don’t have your same views. And that’s key – since having things in common is huge factor in relationship satisfaction.

Also, people who meet online disclose more about themselves in emails, messages and phone calls BEFORE they even start dating. And that “opening up” helps couples bond. But it’s not all bad news for couples who meet each other in person. Because this study found that where you meet can also make a big difference in how happy your relationship turns out to be.

For example: Couples who meet through school, work or church tend to be happier than couples who meet through friends or at bars. Again, it’s because couples who meet through school or church already know they have something in common.

Now, here’s how you can get an extra edge during your interview. These insider secrets come from hiring expert Tina Hamilton.

• Pretend your interview starts in the WAITING ROOM! We’ve talked before about how some hiring managers rely on their receptionist to help choose the perfect candidate. Companies may also plant a waiting room “spy” – an employee who’ll pretend to be waiting too, while the boss intentionally keeps you cooling your heels for up to an hour! They’re looking to see how you’ll react to stressful situations. So, experts say the best way to impress any potential spy is to sit quietly reviewing your résumé, or reading something related to your industry.
• Beware of the Gossip Trap. During an interview, some managers will intentionally say something negative about one of your former colleagues, just to see how you’ll respond. It’s their way of singling out office gossips. So, resist the urge to jump in and agree with them. Instead, experts recommend saying something like: “Actually, I never noticed that about so-and-so while I worked with her.”
• Clean your car. It’s not unusual for employers to send someone out to the parking lot to glance at your car while you’re inside being interviewed. Why? Because employers view your car an extension of you! So, if your car looks cluttered, unwashed and sloppy – with junk-food wrappers on the floor – managers will assume you’ll bring those same sloppy qualities to your job.
• Ask questions. Surveys show that job candidates who ask questions about a company are more likely to get the job. That’s because you’ll appear more enthusiastic about the position, compared to people who only talk about themselves! So, ask something like: “What’s the one thing your company is looking to improve or tackle, and how will this position fit in with that need?” Then, after the interviewer describes their needs, follow up with: “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can do all that.”

You know a lack of sleep can lead to everything from overeating – to anger. Well, here are 3 simple things that can help you fall asleep and stay asleep:

• Your dog. Sure, they may crowd the bed – but according to the Mayo Clinic, dog owners who allowed their dog to sleep with them had improved sleep quality – because they felt safer and more secure. 
• Another way to sleep better: Have some pillow talk with your significant other. A study found that people were more likely to have restorative deep sleep when they felt cared for by their partners. So a little bonding before bed goes a long way for a better night’s sleep
• The third way to sleep better at night: Don’t nap during the day. University of Pennsylvania researchers found that when people were chronically under-slept – and took naps during the day – they slept worse at night. And sleeping during the day – when you can’t sleep at night – perpetuates the cycle.

So, if you have a hard time sleeping at night, hold off until bedtime and your sleep drive will be higher.