Boost your mood with exercise

Excerpts from Boost Your Mood, Drop Pounds article found in Family Circle 1/10

Feeling stressed out is your body's way of telling you to take a break or make a change for the better.

Karen Matthews, Ph.D., professor psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine says stressed-out people often do themselves more harm when the change they do make is cutting back on enjoyable activities.

Instead, you should do the opposite, get yourself out there and bump up the fun in your life. Take a walk and stop to talk to neighbors, call a friend and go to the movies. Getting out, moving more is a surefire recipe for weighing less, having lower blood pressure and lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Plus you become more satisfied with life.