Exercise - in addition to being good for metabolism and weight loss, exercise is a great stress reliever and mood enhancer - another reason to get on the running shoes and get outside for a midday walk (that way you get your daylight exposure and kill two birds ). I turn it on for 30 minutes when I first go to my desk in the morning, and it has a remarkable effect on my energy and helps curb those winter carbohydrate cravings. I have a wonderful 10,000 lux lamp that sits right on my desk next to my computer. These lights can help alleviate depression, increase energy, and stimulate serotonin availability in the nervous system. Recently, powerful and portable 10,000 lux desktop light boxes have made light therapy even more convenient, and you need only 30 minutes a day, usually earlier in the day. Artificial lights have been used as a treatment for winter depression and seasonal affective disorder for more than a decade. If you can't get that sort of natural light exposure, consider investing in a light box. During wintertime, get outside for at least an hour each day in the afternoon without wearing sunglasses.

Light therapy - you need to make sure that you get sufficient exposure to light, especially during darker winter months. By using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers have established that meditation actually activates certain structures in the brain that control the autonomic nervous system. Meditation has helped to lower blood pressure, clear up skin problems, and increase melatonin levels. According to the Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, meditation training can help patients with chronic illnesses reduce symptoms and with stress, have an improved sense of well-being, reduce body tension, and increase clearness of thinking, which all benefit the immune system. There are a number of other ways to help relieve anxiety and stress, boost mood, and balance brain chemistry to create the optimal mind-body connection for weight loss.