Energy boosters to kick off the new year

>>> now to "today's health" and boosts your energy in the new year. if you have a mile long list of things you want to do in 2012 you can hit the ground running with a few activities to get you moving. dr. raj is a "today" contributor and contributing editor to "health" magazine. happy new year.

>> happy new year to you.

>> everybody's resolution is to exercise more. you've got another reason why you need to do that.

>> at health.com we did a poll that showed women who exercise feel more energized, the vast majority after just exercising a half hour, 45 minutes a day.

>> even if you don't have that time you can still squeeze out something.

>> absolutely, even ten minutes a day helps you feel more energized for two to three hours. go for a brisk walk with a friend is better. even ten minutes a day makes a significant impact on your mood and energy level .

>> something as simple as stretching can help.

>> stretching is very important first of all it can prevent injuries, stretching before and after exercise but just stretching on its own can actually get the blood flowing through the muscles, get your nerves moving and energize you. you don't need to go to a gym. using your own doorway in the house, hold on to the doorway can get everything moving.

>> during your workout, you should see red?

>> it's interesting, a study showed that when you look at red, if you see something red it actually makes your muscles move more quickly and strongly so if you're wearing something red or if you have a red flower or something in the room exercising you'd get a more forceful workout and work out the muscles harder.

>> if you do the workout you may have a better night's sleep which is important to be energized. you need a good night's sleep.

>> yes.

>> how much are we talking to?

>> seven to eight hours a day. if you are working out more than normal you need to rest your muscles at night. get that sleep. if you can't get it at night, taking short naps during the day to help revitalize and reboost.

>> speaking about sleep and exercise, true or false, if you exercise before you go to bed, that's going to interfere with your sleep?

>> it could. overall exercise helps you sleep better but you don't want to exercise after let's say 3:00 or 4:00 in the evening or in the afternoon, because if you're really revved up with exercise late at night you'll have a hard time falling asleep.

>> as far as things that you can eat energy wise, i've been hearing about the chia seeds. is this the stuff like the hchia pet?

>> these are the same seeds and they pack a lot of fiber and protein as well as many vitamins and omega threes which are great but they're a great stub institute for other unhealthy foods because they make you feel full and healthy.

>> do you just eat them?

>> they don't have much of a flavor so they're easy to springle on to things, salads, whatever you want or pop a few in your mouth and go.

>> or put them on a paste on your head and poof! what about omega threes?

>> omega threes are wonderful. they're great for your heart but they can help improve mood, energy level , we think they may ward off dementia, so you really want to go for the fatty fish , salmon is a perfect one, but walnuts and flaxseed as well.

>> if you get caught at work watching the funny youtube video you can tell your boss this is good for me, this will help boost my energy.

>> exactly. it's a little bit of laughter a day can really help improve your mood. we don't often have time to see a matinee full comedy but a youtube video , five, ten minutes can improve your energy level for the rest of the day.