Exercise has a positive effect on your mood

​I had a long time off exercise, especially during my twenty's; I had better things to do (or so I thought). So after very little exercise and two children later, you can imagine I had put on a few inches, which made me feel terrible about myself. Rather than doing anything about it I found myself complaining about how I looked instead and my general mood during this time was also quite low.

​But good things can come out of bad as they say and for me this is very true when in comes to exercise, as now I have the hindsight into knowing how beneficial exercise can be; for my physical health and general mood. It can seem very difficult to change to have a healthy lifestyle, but I know it's achievable, I'm most certainly proof of this.

Picture: 5k Race for Life - year 2

​My Fitness Journey
I started running in January 2015, only running a short distance and walking for a bit. Eventually I was able to run around 3k, after that I entered into a 5k run and have done that run for 2 years in a row. Toward the end of 2016 I did a 90 day challenge where I tried a few workout videos from YouTube (using: H&S FITNESS). 

I found a 15 minute insanity cardio workout and did that most days as well as running, I mean what excuse could I find not to do 15 minutes right? Believe me I'm sure I could have found loads, after all I had done for a number of years previous. But it was time for a change! I'm now in the middle of doing the Insanity Workout Challenge, which is so difficult and my biggest fitness challenge to date, but it's where I have found the most benefit; not just physically but also in my general mood.

Feeling low or finding things difficult to deal with?
I hadn't noticed I'd been finding things that hard to deal with, but after a few weeks of exercise I have noticed a huge improvement in my mood, being focused, being able to deal with situations and how much more energy I seem to have.

Most of these improvements have happened through exercise, I was so astounded by how much better I felt (I say mostly, as my diet has also improved so this probably has had some effect).

I want to be very clear here, I hadn't been low or feeling anything other than normal, it wasn't until I had been doing the insanity programme that I noticed these how can I say, positive side effects.

Having researched why I felt so good, I found some scientific facts, they stated the reason for feeling so good was because exercising realises endorphins in the brain which makes us happy. I also feel that distracting ones self from the everyday stresses and letting off some steam also has its benefits.

Whatever the reason, if you are feeling low or need an energy boost get active, exercise really works,

Peace and love to you and yours.