Quick and Easy Ways to Get Healthier Fast

Little moves, big results

Being healthier doesn’t have to mean overhauling your entire lifestyle. Sometimes all it takes is a few simple changes. From eating more carrots to watching puppy videos (that’s right, puppy videos), these quick-and-easy tweaks to your daily health regimen can make a huge difference in the way you feel.

Grab your toes and pull

This boosts circulation after your feet have been cramped in shoes all day. Without proper circulation, the muscles and nerves in our toes don’t work properly. And that can cause pain in your knees, hips, and back.

Wash the linens

Dust mites, a major allergy trigger, love to hang out in your bed. Zap ’em by laundering sheets and pillowcases every week in hot water. Also smart: Use mattress and duvet covers designed to keep mites out.

Fly right

Flying? Turn on the air vent above your seat. “I fly a couple of times a week,” says Travis Stork, MD, an emergency medicine physician and co-host of The Doctors. “Part of the way I stay healthy is by being very conscientious about all of the germs that are on planes. I turn on the air vent and angle it so it blows air down in front of my face—that’s filtered air and it creates a little bit of a barrier to keep the germs going around the cabin from getting into my nose or mouth.”

Do 25 jumping jacks

Move your body, no matter how briefly, to stop the stress response in its tracks and change the channel on your mood, says Lisa Oz, author of US: Transforming Ourselves and the Relationships That Matter Most.

Silence your phone at night

Don’t let your loved ones interrupt a deep sleep. “I alerted friends and family to when I would be sleeping so I could minimize noisy calls and texts,” says Marni Hillinger, MD, a medical resident in New York City. “Turning the phone off works, too!”

Get your shots

Get a yearly flu vaccine? Great. Now add a TDaP booster. TDaP stands for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis—and that last disease, also known as whooping cough, is a particularly dangerous respiratory illness. In fact, cases of pertussis in the U.S. have risen about 137% since 2000.

“For most adults, that means a nasty cough; in children, it can be worse,” says Ana Pantoja, MD, staff physician for AltaMed in Boyle Heights, California. “So if you have kids or are around kids, it’s essential to get vaccinated.” Even if you got the shot as a child, you still need one booster as a grown-up. (You’ll also need a tetanus booster every 10 years.)

Drop your underwear

Going commando once in a while (say, overnight) couldn’t hurt, especially if you’re prone to UTIs. “Wearing no undergarments—or just cotton ones—allows the external genitals to dry and reduces bacteria growth that could otherwise make its way into your urethra and cause a bladder infection,” says Sherry Thomas, MD, an OB-GYN and surgeon at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, California.

Keep medical info handy

Put a card in your wallet that lists any allergies you have and medications you’re taking, in case you end up in the ER and are unable to speak for yourself. Says John M. Kennedy, MD, co-author of The 15-Minute Heart Cure, “It could just save your life.”

Crank down the volume

MP3 players can create sound up to 120 decibels—loud enough to cause hearing loss over time. “Follow the 60/60 rule: Keep volume coming through your headphones to no more than 60 percent of the max, for no more than 60 minutes a day,” says James Foy, DO, an osteopathic physician in Vallejo, California.

Nuke the dish sponge

“This is the germiest thing in your house,” says germ guru Charles Gerba, PhD, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “About 15 percent of sponges contain bacteria that can make you ill.” So toss them in the dishwasher once a week or microwave them damp on high for 30 seconds.

Don’t lose sleep

Are your nerves keeping you up at night? “When my mind starts racing in bed, I think about the next day’s challenges. Then, I take long breaths, thinking, Breathe in, breathe out,” says Olympic swimmer Rebecca Soni. “It takes practice, but if you do it regularly, your body learns how to relax.”

Check yourself out

“Do a full-body skin check once a month in a well-lit room,” advises Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. “Grab a hand mirror if you have one. Ask a family member to check out your back if you can’t see it. Look for new moles or old ones that have changed or grown (then have a dermatologist take a look). I also recommend a total-body check with a derm yearly—twice a year if you have a personal or family history of funny moles. Early detection is key in treating skin cancer”—the most common cancer in women.

Munch on carrots

The humble carrot never got much attention, but it’s now a nutritionist favorite, thanks to its high vitamin A content—just one half cup has almost double the amount you need for healthy eyes. They’re hot with chefs, too, making it easier to get your good-vision fix.

Wear an activity tracker

Whether it’s a Fitbit, a Nike FuelBand, or any old pedometer, studies show that people who wear a device that tracks the number of steps they’ve taken each day get moving more than those who don’t.

Take a ticker test

You may not think about your cholesterol, but you should: Having high numbers is a major heart-disease risk factor that even slim women can have. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, you may be able to score a screening without paying one cent for it if you have a family history or other risk factors, according to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For a list of more preventive screenings that now have no co-pay, go to healthcare.gov.

Fight daylight savings blahs

When we “spring forward” this month, the lost hour can have a bigger effect on our bodies than we might think: “You might feel jetlagged, and it can take two to five days to adjust,” says Meir Kryger, MD, professor of medicine at Yale University.

His fix: “Get some sunlight as soon as possible”—by raising window shades or making a coffee run—”to help re-synchronize your body clock. Luckily, the switch-over happens on a Sunday morning, so many of us don’t have to go to work that first day!”

Stay rested on the road

“At hotels, I keep lighting soft and bring lounging clothes and my Dream Sack, a thin, silk sleeping bag,” says flight attendant Tracy Cristoph. “On planes, I close the shades and wear an eye mask and noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs.”

Say yes to puppy videos

Pets are a proven stress-buster, but you knew that. Head to wimp.com/littlepuppy, stat, to melt even the gnarliest of bad moods.

Make instant hot cocoa

Research, including a study published in the journal Appetite, shows that even a bit of chocolate can boost your mood almost immediately.

Go outside!

“Fresh air is full of feel-good negative ions, which may boost oxygen flow to the brain,” says Kathleen Hall, PhD, founder of the Stress Institute in Atlanta. “If you can, combine it with exercise, like a brisk walk—activity boosts endorphins and energy.”