Depression & Exercise
When I think about it, I started this journey several years ago. My sister was struggling and after reading "The Hormone Cure" by Sara Gottfried, she met with a hormone specialist. Although now she doesn't feel she got a lot out of it, she did learn a few things about her body that benefited both of us. I figured if she wasn't able to absorb certain formulas of vitamins, I probably couldn't either. I also decided to see an OB/GYN who specialized in hormones. We talked about what was going on and due to the fact that I was nursing, she kept it simple. She had my blood work run, and based on the results recommended that I take magnesium*, calcium, iron, and vitamin D. Through my sister's experience, I added the methylcobalamin form of vitamin B. I have since learned that some of the formulas I was taking weren't the best. Turns out buying your vitamins from regular grocery stores isn't the best idea. They tend to have fillers which limits the benefits with greater risk of side effects. Always read the ingredients! That will make a huge difference on the results you're trying to get.
Another thing my sister and I talked about was how much better she felt when she exercised. Her back and knees aren't the best due to injuries so at the time she was working out at Curves. She saw a lot of benefits without experiencing the pain so I joined too. I really enjoyed my time there and soon realized that I, too, felt better when I exercised. In addition to strength training at Curves, I started running. Now, I should include that, like my sister, my knees aren't the best. I've had issues with them for as long as I can remember and it's only gotten worse as I've gotten older. I ignored the aches and kept running because I was feeling great! That led to the decision to run a half marathon which proved to be a bad idea. I didn't train for it properly and it was downhill. Around mile 9 my right knee became compressed and I was barely able to walk. I finished, but I probably shouldn't have. It took years and a lot of therapy to fix what I could. Some damage is permanent.
Between taking my vitamins and exercising, I was able to handle my issues with depression. That is, until my mom died.
December 2015 I received a call from my parents informing me that my mom's cancer wasn't responding to treatment anymore and they were running out of options. I had just moved 1000 miles away and now my mom was dying. I knew that I had better step up my exercise game to combat the emotions that were coming. I grabbed my yoga mat, a notebook, and got started. I started exercising every day and wrote it down to track my progress. This was great until she became terminal. I knew yoga wouldn't be enough. On a recommendation from a friend, I bought PiYo by Beachbody. I took the before pictures, wrote down my weight and measurements, and followed their eating guidelines. The only thing I didn't do was buy their protein shake. I couldn't justify spending that much money for a month's worth of shakes. Although I didn't see any real results with the diet portion (I only lost about 5 lbs), I really enjoyed the workout. It was challenging and I could feel my muscles getting stronger. Unfortunately, it proved to be too much for my poor arthritic knees (too many squats) so I had to stop. I'm still bummed about that and often think that maybe I should try again. Then I remember that I could barely walk after about week 5 due to knee pain. Time to find something different. Again, from a recommendation from a friend who also has knee issues, I looked into Barre. Conveniently, I already had a BarreAmped DVD that I had bought while pregnant with my last baby.
Here's a picture of what I'm doing now:
The DVD's are Yoga Shakti by Shiva Rea. I'm a fan because it has a matrix so you can design your own vinyasa. I'm not creative enough to actually create my own, so I stick to one of the pre-set vinyasas, but I could create one if I wanted to. Next is BarreAmped Boot Camp by Suzanne Bowen. This one kicks my butt. It's very low impact and it burns! Doing the whole thing is too much right now so I've broken it up into Barre 1 (arms and core) and Barre 2 (thighs and seat) with the warm up and stretch before each one. My week looks like this:
Last is Suzanne Bowen's Slim & Toned Prenatal Barre Workout. Don't let the "prenatal" throw you. This sucker is hard. I have to take breaks because my legs start to give out. I don't feel like the stretching segment in Boot Camp is very effective so I'll add the stretching from Slim & Toned because I really like it.
Rather than spend the money and buy hand weights, I use cans from my pantry. I started with the 8 oz tomato sauce cans, but was able to move up to 15.25 oz black bean cans for some of the arm exercises after a few weeks. In the last week or so I've moved up again from 8 oz to 11 oz cans and 15.25 oz to 2 pound weights.
Finally, in the middle is my notebook where I keep track of everything. I keep track of which exercise routine I've done, whether I did therapy, how many grams of fat, carbs, and protein I ate, and other notes. I've realized that keeping track is better for me because it keeps me accountable to myself. I'm going to add another level of accountability by posting here weekly what I wrote in my notebook. Even though I haven't done it yet, I can already feel it working. I napped this past week instead of exercising. The next day I wanted to nap again, but when I thought about posting here that I napped two days instead of exercising, it was enough to get me off the couch.
So that's where I am right now. I just completed week 5 of 6. I've already decided what I'm going to do next, but I'm determined to complete all 6 weeks. As I said above, I plan on posting weekly reports of my progress to add accountability. Here's hoping it helps!
*Magnesium citrate has no real redeeming benefits other than making your stool loose. Take magnesium glycinate.
Another thing my sister and I talked about was how much better she felt when she exercised. Her back and knees aren't the best due to injuries so at the time she was working out at Curves. She saw a lot of benefits without experiencing the pain so I joined too. I really enjoyed my time there and soon realized that I, too, felt better when I exercised. In addition to strength training at Curves, I started running. Now, I should include that, like my sister, my knees aren't the best. I've had issues with them for as long as I can remember and it's only gotten worse as I've gotten older. I ignored the aches and kept running because I was feeling great! That led to the decision to run a half marathon which proved to be a bad idea. I didn't train for it properly and it was downhill. Around mile 9 my right knee became compressed and I was barely able to walk. I finished, but I probably shouldn't have. It took years and a lot of therapy to fix what I could. Some damage is permanent.
Between taking my vitamins and exercising, I was able to handle my issues with depression. That is, until my mom died.
December 2015 I received a call from my parents informing me that my mom's cancer wasn't responding to treatment anymore and they were running out of options. I had just moved 1000 miles away and now my mom was dying. I knew that I had better step up my exercise game to combat the emotions that were coming. I grabbed my yoga mat, a notebook, and got started. I started exercising every day and wrote it down to track my progress. This was great until she became terminal. I knew yoga wouldn't be enough. On a recommendation from a friend, I bought PiYo by Beachbody. I took the before pictures, wrote down my weight and measurements, and followed their eating guidelines. The only thing I didn't do was buy their protein shake. I couldn't justify spending that much money for a month's worth of shakes. Although I didn't see any real results with the diet portion (I only lost about 5 lbs), I really enjoyed the workout. It was challenging and I could feel my muscles getting stronger. Unfortunately, it proved to be too much for my poor arthritic knees (too many squats) so I had to stop. I'm still bummed about that and often think that maybe I should try again. Then I remember that I could barely walk after about week 5 due to knee pain. Time to find something different. Again, from a recommendation from a friend who also has knee issues, I looked into Barre. Conveniently, I already had a BarreAmped DVD that I had bought while pregnant with my last baby.
Here's a picture of what I'm doing now:
- Monday - Barre 1
- Tuesday - Barre 2
- Wednesday - Yoga
- Thursday - Barre 1
- Friday - Barre 2
- Saturday - Yoga
- Sunday - Rest
Last is Suzanne Bowen's Slim & Toned Prenatal Barre Workout. Don't let the "prenatal" throw you. This sucker is hard. I have to take breaks because my legs start to give out. I don't feel like the stretching segment in Boot Camp is very effective so I'll add the stretching from Slim & Toned because I really like it.
Rather than spend the money and buy hand weights, I use cans from my pantry. I started with the 8 oz tomato sauce cans, but was able to move up to 15.25 oz black bean cans for some of the arm exercises after a few weeks. In the last week or so I've moved up again from 8 oz to 11 oz cans and 15.25 oz to 2 pound weights.
Finally, in the middle is my notebook where I keep track of everything. I keep track of which exercise routine I've done, whether I did therapy, how many grams of fat, carbs, and protein I ate, and other notes. I've realized that keeping track is better for me because it keeps me accountable to myself. I'm going to add another level of accountability by posting here weekly what I wrote in my notebook. Even though I haven't done it yet, I can already feel it working. I napped this past week instead of exercising. The next day I wanted to nap again, but when I thought about posting here that I napped two days instead of exercising, it was enough to get me off the couch.
So that's where I am right now. I just completed week 5 of 6. I've already decided what I'm going to do next, but I'm determined to complete all 6 weeks. As I said above, I plan on posting weekly reports of my progress to add accountability. Here's hoping it helps!
*Magnesium citrate has no real redeeming benefits other than making your stool loose. Take magnesium glycinate.
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