Depression

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I seem to be on a roll. I tend to write what's on my mind. That's a scary statement lol

I guess this is kinda tied into yesterday's post in a way.

I have fought mild depression during the winter mostly for many years. And then there was probably a 7 or 8 year span that I didn't realize what I was going through until I was through it.

Most of my family has fought depression to varying degrees and with varing degrees of success.

About 2 years ago (right around the time my mom died) I decided enough was enough ... I had to do something about my weight and my health (physical and mental) or I was either going to die a slow death or they would be locking me up somewhere. I had recently been freed from a tyrant of a manager who did more to damage my confidence and self esteem than even my mom. In fact, the day before my mom's wake, I was meeting with a personal trainer. And I got to work. I was fairly consistent for a while and then I spent the winter sick. The following March started I started my "road to recovery" in ernest.

It;s amazing the difference regular exercise and healthy eating makes. The problem is, when you feel like crap, when you can't seem to get out of bed in the morning, when you just eat for comfort and convenience and not health, its awfully hard to break that habit. It starts small and then just spirals out of control. And unless you find a way to stop it, you can end up tired, listless, fat, no energy, unhappy, the list goes on. You get my point.

We all need a lifeline. Whether it's a spouse, a child, grandchild, health, whatever .... we all need to grab hold of something and hang on for dear life.

So I threw myself into the Body for Life program. I started eating more fruits and veggies, fewer bad carbs, lots of water (I still have my coffee habit but more on that in a bit). I got up every morning at 415 (THAT is brutal sometimes) to work out. I started to make a point of complimenting people, encouraging them. That was about the same time as this blog was born. And slowly, I started to feel better. You have been one of my lifelines. I made a commitment to you and I hate to let people down.

And I learned to open up and talk about stuff that was on my mind.

So I would encourage anyone who is dealing with depression, to eat healthy, get regular exercise, lots of water, fruits and veggies, limit your intake of sugar and caffeine, and talk to someone.  Start with your doctor, a teacher, a friend, a helpline.

The drug companies would have you take pills and in severe cases, its not a bad idea, combined with lifestyle change. But for mild cases, changing your lifestyle will make a world of difference. 

We need to start making our mental and physical health a priority.  Everthing else comes second.

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