Taking 2,000 mgs. of vitamin C daily can slash allergy-symptom-triggering histamine levels 40% dramatically improving breathing and reducing uncomfortable airway inflammation in allergy sufferers.

Take the herb that clears congestions

In one study, 100 mg daily of butterbur extract improved nasal airflow 13% making it as effective as the drug Allegra. Butterbur shuts down leukotriene, a compound in the body that kickstarts many allergic reactions. Find standardized butterbur under the brand name Petadolex.

Sip green tea to stop sneezes

The brew is packed with EGCG, an antioxidant that blocks production of histamine and immunoglobulin E, two key allergy-symptom triggers. Aim for two cups daily.

Wear shades to shield your eyes

Donning wraparound sunglasses or a similar style that covers the sides of your eyes helps block pollen from getting into – and irritating- your eyes and the inner surface of your eyelids.

Drink lots of water to ease discomfort

Dehydration, even if mild, activates histamine production. What’s more staying well-hydrated keeps mucus membranes moist and thins secretions, dampening allergy symptoms for 38% of women, research shows.

1 Need to get a shot? Schedule it in the morning!

If  you have to get a vaccination or need to get through another potentially painful task, you’ll feel the least discomfort if you do it first thing in the morning, according to research out of the U.K.’s University of Sussex. Scientists say that upon waking, your body’s level of cortisol – a hormone that blocks pain – is at its highest. In fact, thanks to its energizing effect on your body systems, it peaks between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. to give you the pep to start your day. However, if you have a dental procedure that requires numbing, schedule it for 3 p.m. French researchers discovered that local anesthetics block pain two to three times longer at this time because your body’s blood vessels are at their narrowest. That means the anesthetic is less likely to circulate around your body, so it stays concentrated in your mouth.

2 Trouble sleeping? Take your multi vitamin in the morning!

If you’re struggling to get the sleep you need, the problem could be when you take your multivitamin. In fact, popping it any time after 12 p.m. can actually prevent you from dozing off at bedtime! Why it works: Scientists have discovered that certain vitamins found in a majority of multis can make the brain more alert for hours, which interferes with your natural sleep cycle. Instead, take yours immediately after breakfast and enjoy a better night’s rest tonight!

3 Need a favour? Ask at midday!

Next time you want to ask your boss for a raise, you need your friend to do a favour or you want to hear a “yes” from someone else, ask them between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. A study reveals that at this time of day, you’ll be able to come up with more persuasive reasons so they’ll be less likely to turn you down. Why it works: Brain scans reveal midday is when your logical reasoning skills – the same ones needed to make a persuasive argument – are at their optimum level.

4 Want to lose weight? Eat dinner earlier!

Turns out, it’s not just how much you eat but when you ear that’s key to shedding pounds! The proof: The journal Obesity reports that folks who eat a meal of snack within three hours of their bedtime lose less weight than those who eat the same thing earlier! Why it works: As you get closer to bedtime,your body prepares for sleep, which prompts your metabolism to slow down. Result: Fewer calories are burned off, and more are stored as fat. By eating earlier when your metabolism is still going strong, you’ll slim down sooner!

5 Want a healthier workout? Do it in the evening!

Not only does exercising between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. zap the stress of a hectic day, but new research proves it also reduces your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes more than exercising earlier in the day! Why it works: It reduces your body’s glucose level at a time of day when it tends to rise. That’s important since continually high glucose can lead to diabetes.

2 Supercharge your mood with strawberries They’re loaded with vitamin C, and new research proves that getting more of this vital antioxidant lifts your mood by raising your levels of the feel-good hormone oxytocin.

3 Stop mood swings with milk Drink four glasses daily during the week prior to your period, and you can say goodbye to mood swings and other PMS symptoms. Credit goes to milk’s rich supply of calcium, a nutrient that helps balance your levels of estrogen and progesterone, the hormones believed to trigger PMS.

4 Buck up with a burger Feeling cranky? You may be one of the millions of women who have a zinc deficiency. Even small shortfalls of this nutrient cause mood swings. Luckily, a 3-oz. serving of lean beef has nearly a full day’s supply, reversing the symptoms.

Purple potatoes may sound like a Willy Wonka inventions, but they’re all natural- and good for you. Eating violet spuds daily can help lower blood pressure, likely because they contain high concentrations of antioxidants that have been shown to relax blood vessels. Hit up the produce aisle for more bright bites and reap benefits.

red (blood) oranges Your body uses the betacryptoxanthin in them to make vitamin A, which helps bloster your immune system.

yellow carrots Packed with lutein, they keep your peepers healthy.

orange honeydew It contains 28 percent more beta-carotene than its orange counterpart, cantaloupe.

green cauliflower It provides double the amount of vitamin C found in the white varitey, on par with broccoli.

1. Feet get larger with age. Its recommended that you get your feet measured once a year.

2. Running shoes traditionally fit at least a half size smaller than your dress shoes, which means your should go up in size for your running shoes.

3. Your left and right foot may differ by as much as a full size. Fit the larger foot.

4. Women’s feet may become a half size larger or more during and after pregnancy.

5. Feet tend to get longer with age.

Before trying on new shoes keep in mind that:

1. You are trying on your new shoes with the type of socks you’ll wear with the shoes. Different socks may alter the fit.

2. Feet swell up during the day. Try on your new shoes later in the day, when your feet are their largest.

5-Point check to ensure your new shoes fit properly:

1. The heel should fit snugly with no slippage.

2. The mid-foot (the area under the arch and over your instep) should fit comfortably snug but not too tight.

3. The toe-box should have enough room to wiggle your toes.

4. Because feet swell during a run, allow a thumbnail’s width between the length of your longest toe and the end of the shoe.

5. Moving from the ankle forward, the material of shoe around your foot should go from fitted, to relaxed, to loose around the toes. The material should not be taut around the ball of the foot. If it is taut, then you need a wider shoe.

Low-arched, flat feet runners:

People who have low arches or flat feet will usually strike the ground on the outer edge of the foot when running.

The weight then transfers from the heel up the foot and the foot excessively rotates inward, this is called overpronation. This needs a specialist running shoe as overpronation can cause injuries as the weight transfers unnaturally.

Motion control running shoes help a runner with this foot type as the shoe is more rigid and prevents the excessive rotation. It does this having a medial post in the sole, the shoe will have a slightly wider sole and be slightly bulkier to prevent the excessive rotation.

The runners action is not affected but they may notice less pain and strain in the feet after the run and will see less injuries in the long term. For this reason motion control running shoes for this foot type are essential.

Normal or medium-arched runners:

Stability running shoes are designed for people who have normal or medium arched feet. There is an arch to the foot and in height is around the level of the toes. The foot would leave a print like the one on the left.

When running the foot strikes the ground at the middle to outside of the heel. The weight then travels along the foot and rolls slightly inward on to the ball of the foot and leaves through the toes. This is a totally natural running action for the normal foot type.

Stability running shoes support the running action as the runner has a normal pronation or foot rotation when running. These shoes are still required and will enhance the running action far better than a lateral motion shoe such as basketball or tennis shoes.

The stability shoe has elements of all types of running shoes in them. Some rigidity is required but not too much so normal pronation is allowed. Some cushioning is required to absorb the shock. These elements will help prevent injuries that the wrong footwear can cause. For this reason stability running shoes are essential.

High-arched runners:

Cushioned running shoes are designed for people who have a high arched feet. Their foot print will leave a thin band at the edge of the foot. Some will not have a band at all and the arch will expand the whole way across the foot.

When running the weight travels from the heel strike along the outer edge of the foot and through to the small toes which bare the brunt of the lift off. The foot has barely any rotation and this is called underpronation or supination.

The lack of rotation creates allot of shock on the joints. The cushioned running shoe will absorb this shock. The shoe will be flexible and allow more natural pronation as it contains no devices like medial posts found in other shoes to prevent rotation.

Runners with this foot type will find they get shin splints and knee problems allot more than other runners lack of shock absorption their foot type causes. For this reason cushioned running shoes are essential.

When you hold the treadmill or stair-climber handles so tightly that your knuckles turn white – because you can’t keep up with the speed, perhaps – your body is forced into an uncomfortable position, which can put strain on your muscles.

And “because your legs don’t have to work as hard as when you lean on the machine, the number of calories you burn plummets.

Maintain proper form. On the treadmill, you should be able to stand tall and pump your arms. On the stair-climber, keep your body centred over the pedals, with your head up and shoulders relaxed. It’s OK to hold the handrails lightly, as long as your posture is correct.

10. the fat burning zone isn’t really a fat-burning zone.

If you’ve ever played around with the controls on a cardio machine, you may have experienced the “fat burning” program, in which you exercise at a low steady intensity. The idea is that low intensity is better for weight loss than more vigorous effort, because you can sustain it longer. But studies show that even in a shorter workout, boosting your intensity can burn as many, if not more, calories than long, steady-state cardio. And when it comes to losing or maintaining weight, it’s total number of calories that counts. Plus, by working harder, you can get out of the gym faster.

Slow, steady workouts are a good place to begin if you’re just starting a cardio routine. But as you get more fit, bump up the intensity. Try interval training once or twice a week on nonconsecutive days: Work at a high intensity for a short spurt, lower the intensity to recover and repeat for 20-30 minutes.

Bad form not only can diminish results but it can also lead to injury.

Even if you’ve been weight-training for a while, it’s a good idea to brush up on form. You can find videos that illustrate good lifting form on the internet. Or, even better, invest in a session with a personal trainer. A few general tips: count one-thousand, two-thousand as you lift the weight, and one-thousand, two-thousand as you lower it. If you lift too fast, you let momentum not your muscles, do the work. When doing upper-body exercises, keep your wrists straight; when doing squats and lunges, align your knees and ankles; and when bending over for an exercise (like a dumbbell row), keep your back flat. Always keep your neck aligned with the rest of your body.

8. working out on an empty stomach won’t burn more fat

A common belief is that if you exercise before you eat, your body will turn to its fat reserves for energy instead of the food in your stomach. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

When you eat before exercising, your body uses more oxygen, resulting in a metabolism spike and an improvement in fat burning.

Eat already! Even a small snack with carbohydrates, protein, and a little fat, eaten half an hour before, will power your workout. Good choices: low-fat yogurt and a banana, whole-grain cereal and low-fat milk, or oatmeal and fruit. Or make it really east and choose a fruit-and-nut bar such as a Lärabar.

They’re not the best exercise choice because they strengthen only a few of the muscles in your core. What’s more, if your abs are weak, doing crunches could cause a strain on your neck, since you’ll probably be pulling on it in an effort to lift your torso. 

Although you don’t have to eliminate crunches from your repertoire, you’ll get more bang for your buck with moves that work the entire core area. The plank is a good one: Lie facedown on the floor with palms down and forearms under your shoulders. Tuck your toes under and tighten your abs to lift your torso. Keep your body in one line from head to feet. Hold for 30 seconds.

6. a workout doesn’t merit a post-gym pig-out.

When you’re feeling virtuous after you’ve exercised, it’s easy to eat back all the calories you just burned (and then some). If you’re looking to lose weight, that won’t help you toward your goal. 

To stave off your grazing after exercising, have a healthy snack an hour or two after your workout. And stay mobile as much as possible. Take the stairs, do a loop around the office, or pace while you’re on a conference call.

According to the “overload principle”, for muscles to become stronger, they have to be challenged with a load that’s heavier than what they’re used to. (Think about the weight of your handbag – dinky three-pound dumbbells just don’t compare.) without challenging your muscles, you can’t substantially strengthen or tone them. 

Choose a weight that you can lift for only 10 to 15 repetitions before losing good form – trainers call this “working to failure”. (That doesn’t mean your arms should feel like noodles when you’re done, or that you can’t bang out a send set after a minute or two or rest) Don’t worry: You won’t bulk up. Women’s bodies have a biological limit on how much muscle mass they can build. It’s hard for women to get big without using steroids.

4. muscles come in pairs; train them that way

Most of us focus on what trainers call the mirror muscles – the ones you see when you look in the mirror (biceps, quadriceps). But just as every action has an equal and opposite reaction, every muscle has a mate that woks in the opposite way. For example, you use your triceps to extend your arm and your biceps to bend it. To avoid imbalances that can lead to injury, it’s essential to train both equally.

Consider doing weight training in what’s known as a split. Work, say, your biceps and hamstrings one day, hen your triceps and quadriceps the next. This way, you’ll hit every muscle pair over the course of a week. One exception: the back muscles.  Many women have weak back muscles from working at a computer all day. If you’re desk bound from nine to five, follow a two-to-one ratio when working your back and chest. That is, for every exercise you do for the chest, do two for the back.