How Your Morning and Nighttime Routines Affect Your Health

What you do: Mindlessly grab whatever's around for breakfast

Why that's bad: We all know how important breakfast is—but if whatever's within reach isn't nutritious (like a doughnut), you may be better off skipping your first meal entirely, says Elisabetta Politi, MPH, RD, Nutrition Director at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center. How do you decide? If you're someone who's all-or-nothing (i.e., you can't help but follow the doughnut with a day's worth of junk and say you'll start fresh tomorrow), then you're better off holding out until you can grab a healthy snack or lunch.

One more thing: There's an exception—If you've got the willpower to course correct, and a track record of actually doing it, taking the doughnut now and then isn't a big deal.