Do you bounce out of bed ready to face a new day, or are you dragging yourself up and grumbling toward the coffee pot each morning? A new study from the University of Toronto suggests that early morning risers are happier than their late night counterparts, and they have a more positive and upbeat outlook on life. 

If you'd like to brighten your outlook by changing your sleep habits, Cathy Beggan, founder of Rise-N-Shine, LLC, recommends the following tips for transforming night owls into early birds:

Avoid chocolate, red wine and coffee in the evening hours. These specific foods have been shown in scientific studies to upset the intestines and disturb sleep pattern more than other foods. 

Eat dinner at 3-4 hours prior to bedtime. This allows your food to digest before you lie down. 

Get enough sleep and try to be consistent. Everyone's sleep allowance is different, so judge accordingly, but it's more important to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

Prepare yourself the night before. Facilitate the transition to morning person by getting some of the everyday tasks out of the way the night before.

Try a delayed released energy pill before bed. An all natural rooster pill can help you wake up alert, refreshed and energized without morning grogginess or sleepiness. 

Drink a glass of water. The body becomes dehydrated during sleep and lack of water causes many fatigue symptoms in the morning. Water also helps kick start the body's metabolism.

Think positive thoughts. The night before, write down one positive thought, memory, goal or affirmation and read it when you wake up. Happy thoughts make happy people.

Breathe deeply and stretch. Inhaling and exhaling deeply while stretching increases both the oxygen and blood circulation to help increase your mental and physical energy levels.

Founded by Cathy Beggan in 2006, Rise-N-Shine is a New Jersey-based all-natural supplement company engaged in developing proprietary, targeted supplements on the basis of meeting everyday needs naturally. 

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.