If you’re just joining us, this post is part of the Mood of the Month series. This powerful approach to eating can help make meals (and snack times!) way less stressful, a lot more purposeful…and even fun.

 And you do it with one simple question: “How do I want to feel?” Once you know the answer, you simply cook and eat accordingly. So, until the end of the year, we’re spotlighting a monthly mood exploring ingredient ideas (along with some totally doable lifestyle shifts) that can help you feel how you choose. Read more about it here.

With the arrival of darker, shorter days, many of us end up feeling…meh. (I do!) We all know about the Monday Blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which impacts over 10 million Americans every single winter. But, there’s a much more common version of low mood that happens to all of us at some point or another: we feel “stuck” or can’t seem to shake our grumpy outlook. We get irritated, annoyed, or just a little down about everything and everyone.

And while food can’t solve all our problems, there’s no doubt that what’s at the end of your fork impacts how you feel. So for this month’s mood, it’s all about feeling HAPPY!

Get the most out of your meals by feeding your body these happiness-inducing ingredients to help you feel extra joy and bliss right now:

Create a Colorful Plate

No surprise here: eating the rainbow both looks and feels great! Adding more colorful ingredients to your meals is instantly uplifting. It is truly the easiest place to start – to have more fun, without counting, measuring, or feeling totally stressed by “rules”…!

From vibrant autumn hues (looking at you, red beets, orange pumpkins, and yellow curries!) to wholesome green veggies and nutrient-rich colorful berries, when you pack your plate like an artist’s palette, your visually vibrant meal will energize you more than a bland colorless one ever could. Try the bright coconut curry soup, rainbow chopped salad, or an autumn-hued sweet potato smoothie to kick up your energy – and lift your mood right along with it.

Choose Uplifting Foods

Once you have a colorful base, add a few ingredients that are known for their rejuvenating or energizing properties. Healthy fats from avocados, nuts and seeds, homemade nut butter, or fatty fish help fight free radicals while balancing your blood sugar. Legumes can support and boost production of the happiness hormone serotonin. (Make this signature lentil soup!)  Beets can increase your mood with a hefty dose of folate. And seeds such as chia, flax, and hemp are rich in depression-fighting omega-3s.

Other mood-boosting foods include L-theanine-packed matcha tea, B vitamin-rich Brazil nuts, and polyphenol-loaded dark chocolate. (No joke!) Meals that include just a few of these ingredients can make you feel immediately revitalized and restored. And besides being loaded with good-for-you nutrients, they happen to taste amazing, too!

Go with Your Gut

Here we go again with those gut-healing foods, I know! I’ve written a lot about the “brain in your belly”  and how keeping your gut happy is directly related to your mind and your mood. With an estimated 90 percent (or more!) of the “feel-good” neurotransmitter serotonin manufactured in our digestive tracts, it’s no wonder when you improve your gastrointestinal health, you simultaneously improve your mental health, too! Integrate probiotics, fermented foods, and lots of plant fiber into your gut-healing protocol for maximum impact on your happiness level.

De-Stress with Magnesium

No “eat yourself happy” post would be complete without “the anti-stress mineral”…! Magnesium helps you release tension and also sleep better. And when you’re relaxed and well-rested, you're more likely to have a positive outlook on life!

A few easy ways to load up on this miracle nutrient? Toss spinach or kale into soup, add avocado to salads and smoothies, spread nut butter onto whole grain toast (grown-up PB & J, anyone?), and whip up some banana nice cream for dessert! And good news: Chocolate is an easy-to-eat source of magnesium, too!

Voilà! Your monthly menu is now ready to go! But there are also some behaviors that will double down on the benefits of all that mood-boosting food and drink:

Add Pops of Color

It’s not just for your diet…! When you pick out your clothes in the morning, reach for something more than basic black. Adding brightness also applies to your surroundings: Treat yourself to some gorgeous fresh-cut flowers to lend a bold burst to your home or office. Channel happiness all around you by adding color to your life both on and off the plate.

Declutter

When your home is filled with stuff, it’s easy to feel weighed down and overwhelmed. Nothing impacts my energy quite like an overwhelming pile of disorganized messiness! But reorganizing your environment can immediately serve as a real mood-booster, and creating a serene scene around you helps make internal space for inspiration to flow again. So spend a little time tidying up and releasing anything that doesn’t serve you. Remember, when you lighten up your space, you lighten up your mind. (Really and truly: it’s all connected!)

Get Moving

Need some motivation to move? Here it is: When we move around (in any way), we’re more patient, more focused, and more relaxed. Movement releases endorphins, which can reduce stress, bust bad moods, and promote restful sleep. Exercise of any kind also strengthens the mind-body connection, so you can tune into how you’re truly feeling.

If you’re already committed to daily movement, there’s a chance you’ve gone into autopilot and aren’t really present for your workouts. Mix things up! Just a small change in your routine can inspire you to want to move more… and make you feel happier.

Perform a Random Act of Kindness

The best kind of happiness is the kind that’s shared! Look for little opportunities to bring joy to those around you: compliment a colleague on a job well done, pay for the coffee of the person behind you in line, or hand-write a postcard to a far-away friend. When you send happiness out into the world, you’ll find it surrounding you more than ever. Never underestimate the power of making someone else’s day to lift your own.

See how easy (and delicious!) it is to bring more joy to your plate and to your life? Try it this month and learn just how powerful it can be to choose your mood, then choose your food! Stay tuned here for December’s mood of the month. Until then, Happy November…