Exercise Your Way Happy (and sane) :)

One of my dearest friends told me an amazing story about herself last week that I really struck a chord. I asked her if I could share it on my blog because I feel like it is something that could benefit a lot of people. Let me begin by saying this pretty lady is amazing.

Meet Happy Girl, she is the one in the middle of SB and I. Isn’t she pretty?

Well, ladies and gents. She is more than just a pretty face. This fabulous girl is intelligent, extremely kind, and funny as all get out…and so begins her story.

“I woke up from another very long afternoon nap. Calling it a nap is a stretch.  I think we need to invent a new word describing the process of escape through sleep.  How about Idon’twanttolivemylifesoIsleep?  That pretty much sums up what I was doing. Excessive sleep was merely one of the many coping methods I had developed to survive the tremendous workload I was under.

In February of 2012 I was in my first year of teaching high school; I taught three sections of sophomore Honors English and three sections of regular seniors. I had 230 students.  Meanwhile, I was also teaching at the college level and had around 50 students.  Teaching was a serious time commitment, but why stop there? I was also working on my thesis to receive my MS.  I had finished my course work in a year and was expediting the process by working and writing at the same time.  My mom said it was too much, but really it was just par for the course. Confession: I am an overachiever. I don’t regret being driven and overwhelmed, in fact, it makes me feel like I am in control. But “it” had final caught up to me.

I was busy scholastically, but I was also overwhelmed emotionally. I was in a challenging relationship and in the last 11 months my five best friends were charmed by their princes and were off to find fortunes away from home–and me. (I am good at throwing bridal showers, and am a great bridesmaid.) But, to be fair, at this moment in my life I had “arrived.” I was settled in a charming city, after living in five apartments in three cities in the last18 months. Cue new word: Idon’twanttolivemylifesoIsleep.

My world was like a beautiful frost in the morning. It was bright and shined, but the frost stayed too long, and the flowers and grass and brush choked under frozen unforgiving water.

At this moment I was ready to start a permanent hibernation but I received some very divine and necessary advice to go to the doctor.

My doctor patiently waited while I explained by situation. He gave me an interesting prescription: exercise an hour a day.  He also have gave me the option of a prescription to increase my serotonin. Clearly I was suffering (and have always suffered) from anxiety. I believe in modern medicine. I believe it changes lives. I believe in my incredible friends who medicate their anxiety. But, I felt that my severe anxiety was due to the climate of my life and I did not feel like medicine was a long term solution for me. Instead, I gave exercise a try (and filled my prescription just in case)

I have been exercising daily for a year and it has changed my life.  Exercise quickly releases serotonin, the chemical my body needs to control stress.  Exercising daily allowed me to successfully teach my classes and publish my thesis.  While I  do not use medication, I realize that it is an option. Fortunately, exercise has been a very effective solution.  I treat going to the gym like a job; it is not an option for me to say no to the gym. Even though I have always been active, I have never enjoyed a daily workout. Going to the gym sucks. But it allows me to feel like my own self; a person free of frost.  

At the gym I look at all the gerbils running in their exercise balls, or treadmills, and it seems unnatural. Our bodies have been programmed over centuries to work in fields and use kinetic energy. But lately that’s changed. My students stare at screens for hours a day and sit in class, and then sit some more. It’s flawed but they need to learn so they can get jobs where they too can sit in front of a computer and feel their blood pressure and anxiety rise.  The solution probably isn’t tenet farming, but it certainly is more exercise.  I work out with Megan and at the gym down the street. It will be a habit I continue for the rest of my life.  My heart enjoys it and my sanity demands it. 

Keep up the good fight gym gerbils!”

Oh my goodness…thank you sweet girl. I don’t know if it could have been more beautifully put. Thank you Happy Girl for sharing your story because I know it will benefit others. I LOVE her story because I think…wait, actually…I know that so many of us can relate. There are so many positive benefits that come from exercising and eating healthy, but the truth of the matter is OUR BODY NEEDS IT! It IS worth it, it WILL benefit you, and the number on your scale is not the only manifestation of if it is benefitting you or not. Don’t you agree?