Are you a morning person or an evening person? Are you most likely to jump out of bed by 7am and get straight into your ‘to do’ list or do you prefer to wait until 9am to start your day?
Dr Joerg Huber of Roehampton University says: “There are morning people and evening people and morning people tend to be healthier and happier as well as having lower body mass indices.”
Over 1000 adults took part in an online survey about their levels of happiness and anxiety, their physical health, and their eating and sleeping habits.
Results showed that it is those who are highly motivated in the morning who thrive at work. The evening people who like to lie in are more likely to be stressed, depressed and overweight. This could be because those who get up and get going in the morning feel satisfied that they have got their jobs done and out of the way. They feel good about themselves and this in turn makes them happy. Happy people tend to be healthier.
Although researchers found a difference between morning and evening people the difference was quite small and of course there are advantages to being an evening person, for example for those who have evening jobs. The results also showed that evening people tended to miss breakfast – this may well be because whilst up late at night it is more tempting to snack. This would encourage a less healthy lifestyle.
So, if you are an evening person try to use the evening constructively. If you do not work late at night perhaps this is the best time for you to have your daily dose of physical activity. Not only will this distract you from snacking late at night but will also lead you to a healthier lifestyle.