Dance your blues away

So many people suffer from anxiety and depression. I know well how crippling mental illness can be. I suffered from depression and anxiety for the better part of a decade. I would go to doctor after doctor after doctor. Only to have pills and more pills shoved in my face. All those pills were supposed to make me feel better, but they never did. I never got better, and I kept on a path of a downward spiral into shame and agony. One day I told my husband I was done being in such pain (both physically and mentally). I picked out a design for a tattoo and went and got my first very visible tattoo, right on my forearm. I wanted to remind myself that life is what I make it, that only I can pick myself up out of this tornado of torment. I started trying to teach myself to eat healthy at that point, but it was rough, really rough. I didn't really "get" what eating healthy meant. It took me a long time (nearly 2 years after that point) to really understand that eating healthy was actually very simple. Clean, whole foods with a short shelf life were and are my best bet. If it comes in a box and has a million ingredients, I just don't eat it. It has been about 3 years since I got that first tattoo, and about 1 year after I started understanding what I needed to do to fuel my body.

I feel better than I ever have in my entire life. I'm going to be 30 years young in a couple months, and I feel better at nearly 30 than I did at 20. I can't possibly get all the vitamins/minerals I need from food itself, so yes, I do take a supplement called, Shakeology. I started drinking that I believe about 10-11 months ago. It's full of all kinds of goodies, and gives me so much energy, I just love it!

To rid myself of all the medications, I also started exercising. I used to be that girl who snubbed exercise. I just didn't see the point in it, I honestly did think it wasn't necessary to be healthy. Wow, I was so wrong. When I don't move my body and do at least a little something,  I feel tired, lethargic, and VERY grouchy. Exercise make me a better mom and wife. Days when my kids are up in my throat screaming at each other and I want to pull my hair out, I wait for my husband to get home, head to my bedroom, and pop this little gem in:

40 minutes later I can handle the world again, I feel fabulous, energized, spunky, and most importantly calm. Exercise produces endorphins that are similar to morphine; the "runner's high" is a great feeling. It helps give you such a positive outlook on life! Like you can do anything, run to the moon and back :) Don't like exercise? Then clean your house, put on some uplifting music and CLEAN! Better yet, dance and clean, or just dance. Grab a broomstick, one of your kid's stuffed animals, your kid, or significant other and just DANCE. Have a good time, exercise isn't about torturing yourself, it's about having a good time. Exercise is all around you, rake your yard, mow the lawn, plant some flowers, take your kids to the park, play in your own yard with your kids, just move!