Running From Depression

In May 2016 I reached a point and time in my life where I was not happy with myself. I was reaching a total weight of close to 180 lbs and hated to look at myself in the mirror every morning. I had not ran or exercised in 2 years and felt my health declining rapidly. I decided it was time for a change. 

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I used to be so active, running marathons, exercising daily with DVDs, classes and just being active with my kids. I live with moderate asthma so as my activity level decreased, my asthma symptoms got worse. It was a vicious cycle. I had to start over from scratch. 

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I downloaded a free App for my iPhone called Lose It. I started tracking what I eat and how many calories I ate each day. It was a slow process, but I kept at it. I also started to be more active to help burn calories each day. 

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After 6 months, I had hernia surgery. This put my exercise regime on hold for a few months. But now I had the tools to be careful about my food choices and managed to not gain back much weight that I had lost up to this point. I was feeling good. After 2 1/2 months I started back to exercising and running. 

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It's been exactly 1 year since that day I made the decision to start paying attention to my food choices and exercising for my health. Although my weight loss journey is not over, I continue to exercise 5-6 days a week and am careful about my decisions surrounding food. 

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One year later, I have lost many inches (I forgot to measure myself at the start so I have no idea what my starting measurements were) and I have lost 39 lbs. I now focus on trying to be stronger and more fit and do things I couldn't do before - like burpees! 

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I encourage others to do the same. Once you find out how great you feel both inside and out, regular exercise and a proper healthy diet isn't really that hard to manage.