Mom On The Run

Early last week I wrote about “Blowing Away The Clouds of Depression“, in which I was truthful and honest about feeling cloudy, grey and unmotivated.  (If you missed it, you may want to go read it because I strongly believe its one of my better posts). 

I don’t want to wallow in the feelings and emotions I’ve been feeling lately.  I don’t want to wallow in what caused these feelings either.  Maybe I’m burnt out, maybe I’m truly depressed (is there a difference)?  Maybe I’m disappointed with the direction my career is going?  Who knows and really – does it matter?

Instead I want to generate some winds of change – winds that can blow away the clouds of depression.  I’ve begun making a conscious choice to do things that will make me feel better and for that I’m heading back to the basics:

• Eating better
• Sleeping more
• Getting more exercise

I’ve written about the mind/body connection in some previous posts, notably my post titled: Postpartum Depression and Running: The Mind/Body Connection.  I have a background in Kinesiology and Exercise Science, so I truly believe that a connection exists between our mind and body. Which is why I feel its important for me to address the basics before seeing a Dr (who will probably advise me to do exactly what I’m doing).

This week I’ve begun to make a conscious effort to eat better (less fast food), and more frequently (no skipping meals).  I’m also trying to skip the coffee and drink more water.  It’s long been documented that kids that skip breakfast perform poorly at school – so why should it be different for adults?  Maybe we need an adult breakfast club at our places of employment?  (That’s probably a whole ‘nother post idea).  So I’ve eaten breakfast everyday this week, brought my lunch, and opted for healthy dinners instead of fast food – I feel a lot better.

I’ve also begun to try to go to bed earlier – turn my computer off before 11 and force myself to bed, even though there’s one more blog I want to read, one more site I heard about that I NEED to check out… 

I’ve also begun to exercise – run more and do more “fun” things.  Whether depression causes low serotonin levels, or whether depression causes people to avoid “fun” things that lead to serotonin release is unknown. However, it is well known that people with depression have low serotonin levels.  It is also a scientific fact that exercise releases serotonin – “the feel good” neurotransmitter in our brains.  Hence the term “Runner’s High”.  Getting enough sleep also helps with sertonin regulation (another factor in my choice to get enough sleep).

This week I feel much better – much more engaged with my kids.  Yay – food! Yay – sleep!  Yay – exercise!

I also have some great news to share with you – but you’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out what it is!  Tee hee….

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