31 Sneaky Mood Boosters

Want to feel happier today, tomorrow and for the rest of your life? OK, OK, dumb question—of course you do!

But how? It turns out that some of your basic, everyday choices—what to eat, when to snack, what vitamins to take, how to exercise (or not)—have profound effects on your mood. Making small changes may even alleviate serious depression (which 25 percent of all women experience at some point) as well as garden-variety blues and blahs.

For example, researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., recently pitted the antidepressant Zoloft against exercise in a study of 156 subjects and found that 45 minutes of exercise three times a week worked just as well as the drug in treating depression and better than the drug in keeping the condition from returning. Regular moderate workouts and a healthy diet also reduce stress, anxiety and fatigue—three underlying causes of moodiness.

So here's the plan: Try a new tip each day. Work through the month, accumulating more changes as you go and make over your mood—to happy!

1. Believe in what you're doing.

Convincing yourself that by working out you're doing something positive for yourself can be as important to boosting your mood as the exercise itself, according to Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Santa Clara University in California. In one of his recent studies, 60 subjects exercised for a single session. Those who were told about the benefits of exercise before working out were better able to cope with stress and anxiety (key mood wreckers) than those who were not.

2. Eat the mood-booster-in-a-bowl.

Eat breakfast every morning; it's the most important thing you can do for your mood for the rest of the day, says registered dietitian Elizabeth Somer, author of the newly revised Food & Mood. "If you skip breakfast, you'll never be able to get your mood up to what it would have been had you eaten something." It doesn't have to be much: Just be sure to include both protein (eggs, low-fat milk or yogurt) and carbohydrates (fruits, whole-grain toast or cereal).

3. Rise and shine—then get moving!

To get the feel-your-best effects from exercise, you have to do it consistently. "Make exercise a nonnegotiable part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth," says Plante. "Morning is the easiest time to make this happen." If you wait until later, you run the risk of unexpected things popping up and interfering with your workout. And morning exercise is ideal for weight control. Research shows that after a morning workout, your mood is still elevated at bedtime.

And often. You should be putting something in your mouth every four to five hours. "People who divide their food intake into mini-meals and snacks evenly distributed throughout the day maintain a more even temperament and are less prone to depression and mood swings," says Somer. So stock up on quick, no-fuss snack-sized foods, fruits and vegetables.

5. Go social, not solo.

Plan to work out where there are other people around. Studies show that exercising near others—running in a park, walking next to someone on a treadmill—improves mood more than being out alone, even if you never actually talk to anyone. Why? The theory is that watching others inspires you to work out longer and harder, and you feel more committed to the activity, which makes you feel better about yourself.