Life just isn’t very much fun if you don’t stop to laugh every now and again. Ideally, you want to be able to laugh several times throughout the day as having a chuckle is not only good for your mood, but it also helps you get and keep a smaller waistline. Laughing reduces your stress levels which lowers your cortisol production (cortisol is largely responsible for creation of belly fat) and it also burns a few calories each time you giggle, which can add up over time.

So, what are some ways to add laughter into your day? Here are seven ideas to get you started:

• Play with a child. Some of the things that young children say and do are sure to get you to chuckle a time or two.

• Play with a pet. Just as a child’s innocent statements and actions can make you laugh quite easily, the same is true with a pet that gets caught up in a game of Frisbee or tug of war and lets their personality shine through.

• Have a staring competition with a friend. There is no way you can get through a staring competition without at least one of you, if not both of you, ending with a laugh.

• Watch YouTube videos. Depending on what tickles your funny bone, they have tons of funny videos that you can’t help but laugh at.

• Do something new. When you are engaged in a new and exciting activity, you’re sure to giggle at some point in time because you’ll be having so much fun.

• Make funny faces in the mirror. If you can look in the bathroom mirror and make faces at yourself without laughing out loud, then you’re seriously laugh deprived.

• Put laughter in your social media. Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter or any other form of social media, find people to like or follow that post things that literally make you laugh out loud.

Be sure to put laughter into each and every day and you’ll increase your life satisfaction levels tremendously, enjoy greater fitness and have quite a few memories to cherish for years to come. How can you pass that up?