I have struggled a ton with various mental issues in my life, between depression and years of being a drug addict I have really beaten myself up when there is nothing going on and I can safely say it's the absolute worst feeling in the world. By gods grace, I am now almost 5 years sober but I still deal with the ups and downs that depression can provide. Another thing I suffer from is emotional eating and overeating. I eat to feel better now that I can no longer use drugs or alcohol to feel better and I eat in excess. A serving for me is the entire package of whatever I am indulging in. Those few minutes of binging food feel great, the rest of my day feels terrible after eating like that. It's not a fun way to live.
I was talking to my mom a few months ago who is a total health and fitness fanatic, she has been my entire life. She told me when she was my age, 31, that she was just beginning to get out of her own depression and weight issues doing two simple things, eating healthy and exercise. It changed her life, doctors had prescribed her antidepressants and she loathed how they made her feel so while at a bottom she started taking better care of herself and to this day swears off fitness and a healthy lifestyle as her 'medication'.
It makes sense really when you think about it. Exercise releases endorphins naturally which overall improve your mood and eating better can keep you from feeling sluggish all the time. I'm not here to get into to science into it but it clicked with me that it was just common sense that if I take better care of myself I will feel better. The hardest part was getting started so I found a personal trainer to my liking and downloaded an app that would tell me the number of calories I need to eat and allows me to track all the food I eat.
It has been only about a month and a half of doing this consistently and my overall mood has increased significantly. I have lost more weight than I ever have before already which is an extremely gratifying experience and I find my social interaction with everyone to be a lot more pleasant and organic. I still face my issues, i'm hungry often and get a strong urge to binge something really bad but when I do I just drink some water and find a healthy snack and then within an hour I'm laughing at how crazy that urge can be just for a pack of Oreos!
I'm not here to tell people to get off medication and just eat better, but challenge you to take a real honest look of how well you take care of yourself, what can you do better? What small achievable goals can you set to start a journey to a happier healthier life? In just a short couple of months, I have a lot more energy, confidence in myself and am excited about the future because in my heart I know I will stick with this and once I reach my goal weight it will be as great as the feeling was when I hit a year sober. However, I continue to do this one day at a time, one meal at a time, one pound at a time.
Comments (1)