When you open your fridge or pantry door, temptations abound. It's one thing to resist throwing chocolate-covered pretzels in your cart at Trader Joe's and another thing to dig around the crisper for carrot sticks when you've got a slice of cake staring at you from the top shelf.

Put good-for-you snacks -- veggies, fruits, fat-free yogurt, etc. -- in transparent containers on the top, or eye-level, shelf. Research indicates that you're much more likely to eat healthy foods when they're highly visible and easy to grab. Keep unhealthy foods on the bottom shelf in opaque containers -- except for when you eat them. Experts found that people generally eat less of bad foods when they're in transparent containers, probably because it makes them more aware of the amount they're consuming.

Oh -- and always keep a bowl of fruit near your food stash. Word is that being within sniffing distance of fruit makes people more likely to choose it over junk food.

You've probably sussed out that too much light makes it harder to sleep soundly. Did you know that light exposure at night increases your risk of obesity, too? Researchers came to this conclusion when researching links between nighttime light and breast cancer. Basically, light exposure in the wee hours kicks off an awful chain reaction in the body. First it interferes with your sleep patterns, aka circadian rhythms, which affects metabolism. The tweak in your metabolism increases your likelihood of obesity, which increases your likelihood of certain diseases -- breast cancer, depression, mood disorders and reproductive problems, among others.

How to deal? Position your bed on the side of the room farthest from the window and invest in thick curtains to block light sources. While you're at it, do away with as many light-emitting electronic devices as possible in the bedroom. Blue light -- the kind emitted from your computer, TV and digital alarm clock -- is known to disrupt sleep patterns.

You want the place where you hang with friends and binge-watch "The Walking Dead" to feel relaxing. Good news: With two easy tweaks to your space, you can feel more tranquil (while you worry about the possibility of a zombie apocalypse).

First, get rid of any overhead lighting fixtures, moving light sources to the perimeter of the room. Researchers found that placing warm, full-spectrum lighting around the perimeter of a space makes people feel relaxed. Also, pull your couch or armchair closer to the window. A study from the University of Hertfordshire suggests that the colors green and blue -- essentially, colors found in nature -- encourage dopamine production in the brain and reduce stress, respectively. That's a lot cheaper than buying a comfy new couch.

Open-plan offices are all the rage. So it's ironic that new research indicates that open plans erode workers' morale, satisfaction, concentration, motivation, creative thinking and relationships with each other. Also, the high rate of uncontrolled interactions -- e.g. your coworker dropping by your desk with persistent questions about that office memo -- makes workers' stress skyrocket while productivity tanks by 66 percent. Yay!

How to cope? Move your desk near a window. Workers who have exposure to white light in the office report higher quality of life, are in better health and get more sleep (46 minutes a night, on average) than their counterparts in windowless offices. Natural light exposure makes workers statistically more productive and satisfied, too.

If you can't park yourself near a natural light source, studies show that the arrangement of office workstations influences vibes. Do your duties require teamwork? Form a circle with your desks: Researchers at two Canadian business schools found this makes people better at collaborating with one another. Sitting in rows or angular arrangements fosters competition and independence, they say.

At work, odd knickknacks and photos of friends and family do more than make your sad, company-issued desk look a little less boring. Experts have noted that seeing familiar objects and people (or photos of them) helps workers fight mental fatigue and stress. Also, an article published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology finds that workers are happier and relate better to each other when they're allowed to decorate their spaces.

You might assume that toiling at a clean desk would make you do better work or do tasks faster. Surprisingly, a recent study showed that desk clutter didn't hamper their subjects' ability to generate ideas -- it only affected the type of ideas they generated. The researchers' conclusion: Tidy environments are ideal for performing organizational or data-driven tasks, but cluttered workstations are conducive to creative thinking. So if you're an accountant, keep that desktop clean; if you work in an artsy field, let your s$%# fly, guilt-free.