Exercise Saved Me From Taking My Life.
A little over 10 years ago, I was overweight and a very depressed kid.
With my depression came regular nights of me falling asleep at midnight and waking up at 3 AM and having trouble going to sleep. This negatively impacted my mental health and eating habits.
Along with that, I was a very agreeable person, meaning that I would try to be a people pleaser and not stand up for myself out of the risk of offending people.
As a result, I was regularly picked on all throughout middle school and mid-way through High School.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I felt like I had no self-worth.
Nothing to fight towards.
Nothing to believe in.
I was raised in a lower-middle-class family who went out of their way to give me everything they never had (insert the “my father came to America with $5 to his name” story here).
In giving me everything externally, the one thing I suffered with was my own internal struggles.
I had nothing to aspire towards or no pursuit in my life.
While I knew what I had to find some sort of challenge or pursuit in my life… I feared the pain of pursuing it.
Depression has some contradictory thought processes that come along with it.
As time progressed, my situation got worse.
It got to a point where I contemplated suicide regularly.
And it got bad to a point where I realized I needed to make a change regardless of whether or not it was painful, because nothing was as painful as this.
The Pursuit of Exercise
I went to my mother at the time about how I looked and felt, and how I was unhappy about everything.
As exercise was very therapeutic to her, she brought me along.
At first, I hated it, because the physical changes weren’t immediate.
But then I realized something…
I ate better.
I slept better.
I felt better.
I thought better.
Every exercise session, I noticed immediate benefits to my stress and my mood.
And as the months progressed, I got better mentally because of my better eating habits, my quality of sleep, and more.
Exercise had a hormetic response to my life: at first, it was very painful, and then the pursuit of it became more pleasurable.
My thoughts of suicide significantly dropped.
Exercise Brought Meaning
I learned that those who are depressed and more psychologically agreeable should do more things for themselves.
My solution was exercise.
Pursuing exercise brought me meaning to my life.
It showed me that there are things I could change if I was unhappy. It made me realize that it was ok to want more for myself.
It was ok for me to stand up for myself when others tried to put me down. In fact, when those same people tried to put me down after finding exercise, I stood up for myself because what they said did not correlate to who I was as a person.
Paying It Forward
Years later, I decided to pay it forward and create a brand specifically for exercising out of depression.
And with that, I made the jump to create a fitness for mental health brand, Reforged.
My mission now is no longer about working on myself but helping others work on themselves.
Helping others find more meaning in their life by pursuing more activity.
Helping others see that they deserve a better life, and they have the capability of getting theirs.
All it takes is something to work towards, regardless of what it is.
An active lifestyle was mine.
I want to help you make this your outlet as well.
So with that, if you’re currently on your journey towards improving your mental health, I’ve got your back.
Because I’ve been there.
And if you need an extra kick in the ass on your fitness and mental health journey, you can sign up for our Fitness for Mental Health email list. We’ve got a few freebies in it to help you on your fitness journey. You can sign up here!
Until next time!
