How to make a healthy habit stick | Winter blues, explained | A pricey medical mistake

Scientists discover the link between light, our eyes and mood

Tools to help you get it together Introducing Life Kit, NPR's new family of podcasts for navigating your life. Our reporters bring you the latest research-backed advice on everything from your finances to diet and exercise to raising your kids. Look for new podcasts and episodes each month. Sign up for the Life Kit newsletter to get alerts when new episodes are released, plus bonus content. And follow @NPRLifeKit on Twitter.    Cameron Pollack/NPR How to build a better exercise habit  Why is it that for most of us, a few days or weeks into a new fitness routine, our good intentions fall apart? NPR's Allison Aubrey and the Life Kit team asked Katy Milkman, a professor at the Wharton School of Business who studies human decision-making. She gave us six tips, backed up by science, to help nudge people toward better, longer-lasting habits. Read on for her advice, including permission to binge-watch your favorite TV show (not kidding!).    Omikron /Getty Images/Science Source Researchers discover new link between light and mood Just in time for the winter solstice, scientists may have figured out how short days can lead to dark moods. NPR’s Jon Hamilton reports on two recent studies honing in on a brain circuit that connects special light-sensing cells in the retina with brain areas that affect mood. The studies offer a strong argument that seasonal mood changes, which affect about 1 in 5 people, have a biological cause.   Read more to learn how researchers made the discovery -- and for some advice from a scientist for how to ward off winter depression.   Should you have to pay the bill for a medical mistake? Sarah Witter, a retired teacher and ski buff, never expected to get a $99,000 bill for a broken leg. Witter took a bad fall in Vermont last February, fracturing two bones in her lower left leg. A few months after a surgeon put them back together with two metal plates, one of the plates cracked. Why did a second surgery to fix the faulty equipment get billed to her insurance, and to her? Read on to learn more about the loopholes that force patients and insurers to pay for failed medical hardware. And check out the rest of our Bill of the Month series.    More of this week's health stories from NPR Could you survive a fall from a plane without a parachute? Researchers put it to the test to make a point What’s behind America’s high drug costs? What to do when college students have a breakdown We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism on Shots and follow us for daily stories at @NPRHealth. Your Shots editor, Carmel Wroth   You received this message because you're subscribed to our Health emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002