Look your best by tapping into the health perks of your hormonesBy Leslie Pepper

Hormones have a bad reputation. Feeling bloated? Cranky? Craving carbs? Blame it on that time of the month. But hormones provide a host of health benefits and can help you lose weight, sleep better and stay sharp. Learn five ways they can help you be your best-and how to harness their positive power. Photo by Getty Images.

Soothe stress with endorphins

HOW THEY HELP: These "feel-good" hormones can ease pain and create an overall sense of well-being.

Kick up the heat. Spicy foods can activate the nerve endings on your tongue that prompt your body to produce endorphins. Add a dash of cayenne pepper to roasted potatoes or popcorn, try hot sauce in scrambled eggs or on grilled cheese, or add chopped pickled jalapeños to sandwiches or potato salad.

Mellow out with mint. Chewing peppermint gum or smelling potpourri that includes mint can help stimulate a nerve near your nose that signals your brain to make endorphins.

Focus and stay alert with dopamine

HOW IT HELPS:

Read More »from 5 Surprising Ways to Lose Weight and Feel Great

You have one week until your beach vacay--here's one tweak you can do every day to look lighter and feel firmer Tank tops, shorts, and swimsuits… oh my! It's almost the end of May, which means you'll have to peel off your winter clothes soon. While only you know what you've been hiding underneath all those layers, you're not the only one who feels insecure this time of year.

"Going hungry isn't good for anyone. Eventually, you'll end up breaking down and overeating," says nutritionist Carrie Wiatt. With a week until Memorial Day, here's one tweak you can do every day to look lighter and feel firmer.

Related: Rev Your Metabolism in 8 Minutes

SUNDAY
Eliminate Processed Foods
They're easy to get sucked into, yet unsatisfying. "They make you crave more food than your body needs," says Wiatt. If you can't pronounce the ingredients, the food is off-limits. Or hit the produce aisle for foods with no label at all.

MONDAY
Lay Off The Sauce
Not only are alcoholic drinks dehydrating and high in calories, they also make resisting unnecessary nibbles incredibly difficult. (No shocker here: Studies Read More »from Get Swimsuit-Ready in 7 Days

By Megan Segura, Daily Makeover

Looking good is just part of the job when you're a celebrity, but it doesn't stop us from wondering how they do it. See the extreme diets some celebs try in the name of a bikini body.

More From Daily Makeover:

Getting Rid Of Cellulite: What Works And What Doesn't

9 Fitness & Diet Myths Debunked

We Tried It: Jennifer Aniston's Weird "Cupping" Therapy

Read More »from Celebrities’ Favorite Fad Diets

My daughters and I are huge fans of the TV show, The Office (the American version). We have the DVDs, we've watched every episode several times, and they get funnier each time.

Now, admittedly, you may question the wisdom of allowing an eight-year-old to watch the show. But I always watch with her, and I skip through the inappropriate parts.

One thing that my happiness project has taught me is that my own frame of mind can significantly boost (or diminish) the amount of happiness I get from something.

Therefore, one of my aims has been to boost my feelings of pleasant expectancy-to make little things into real events, so that I can look forward to them and revel in them, instead of letting them pass by only half-noticed. With a little mindfulness, I can often re-frame activities to help myself anticipate them more.

So when I read that the finale of The Office would air on May 16, I first thought, "Oh, too bad, the show is over." Then I thought-wait! This is an

Read More »from The Happiness Lesson from the Finale of the TV Show “The Office”

by Keri Gans, R.D., for SHAPE.com

Should you drink flavored water?You know water is super healthy and important to drink, but if you don't like the taste, you're not alone: About 20 percent of Americans dislike the flavor of plain H2O, a Wall Street Journal article says.

Now many beverages companies are focusing on this group of non-water drinkers, offering alternatives that they believe are healthier than regular soda and diet soda, which both have gotten a bad wrap over the years. But sorting through all these new options can be overwhelming. Deciphering between what is a healthy choice and what might be another soda in disguise can lead many to think a Ph.D. in food science is needed.

Lots of these new waters are sweetened, some naturally and others artificially, to attract the taste buds of those who at heart may prefer soda. Current research still supports that artificial sweeteners are safe to consume, and I have always told my diet-soda drinkers that one a day is fine, but if they are drinking a lot of them

Read More »from Are Flavored Waters Diet Soda in Disguise?

Seems like mushrooms truly are magical.

Mushrooms may not be a fruit or a vegetable, but science says they are a boon to your health. You may already have a hunch that they pack a pretty nutritious punch: "They're a good source of fiber, they also are low in calories, and they offer unsaturated fatty acids," says registered dietitian Heather Bauer, founder of the nutrition subscription service Bestowed. But recent studies have shown that mushrooms have even more benefits than we previously realized.

MORE: Why You Can't Stand Certain Foods

Not a fan of mushrooms? You may change your mind after we walk you through these fungi findings and the myriad of ways mushrooms boost your health:

Lose Weight
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University studied a group of adults who were trying to lose weight. Over the course of a year, half of these dieters substituted mushrooms for meat in their meals. The researchers found that these mushroom-eaters lost more weight than those on the meat diet, and they were able to keep

Read More »from Eat This to Burn Fat & Boost Your Immune System

Photo: Getty ImagesWant to really enjoy your day in the sun? Start by choosing the best sunblock out there so you don't have to worry about getting burned. Luckily, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has just released its 2013 Guide to Sunscreens, which rates more than 1,400 sunscreens, lip balms, and SPF moisturizers and cosmetics for safety and effectiveness. And some of their findings might surprise you.

More on Shine: The Truth About Homemade Sunscreen Recipes: A Beauty Don't

The EWG report found that only 25 percent of products on the market offer both broad sun protection and low-risk chemical ingredients. "Consumers are understandably confused about sunscreens," Sonya Lunder, lead author of the EWG report, told Yahoo! Shine. "And, unfortunately, they are facing some bad choices."

While sunburns are caused mostly by relatively short but intense ultraviolet B rays, longer UVA rays, which penetrate the body more deeply, inflict more insidious damage and may contribute to or cause cancer.  But all

Read More »from Sunscreen Ratings: The Best and Worst for Beach Season 2013

zoe moon astrologyIf you've been feeling something big building towards this week then pat yourself on the back, your intuitive energy is highly developed and you are feeling what is coming. I wrote in the May Monthly forecast that this was Monster May with 3 major configurations taking place and this week holds 2 of them! So...are you ready?!

First we have the 3rd of 7 URANUS/PLUTO SQUARES that are absolutely ringing change in each individuals' life along with reshaping our major governmental and corporate structures around the globe. This occurs on Monday and is part of a long process that began in June of 2012 and ends in March of 2015 to help you free yourself from old ways of being, awaken to new levels of personal excitement, move through upheavals to some of the old structures that have supported your world up until now, and evolve on very deep levels where sex, intimacy, divorce, death, power, and any major financial interests are concerned.

If the world changes on you and you must

Read More »from ZOE MOON ASTROLOGY WEEKLY HOROSCOPE FORECAST May 20-26