My Journey With Weight Loss – Stress, Depression, Exercise and the Pandemic

I have come to realize that patience is a diminishing quality. Yesterday as I was approaching an intersection the light turned yellow. As I was not at the stop line yet I could safely stop so I did. The man in the vehicle behind me honked at me. I couldn’t figure out why as I had done the right thing. Then the light turned green and I entered the intersection and the guy laid on his horn again. Apparently he really needed to gain those couple of seconds to turn right. Seriously, me driving dangerously is going to gain you a material amount of time to get where you are going? Some people really need to work on relaxing.

The other day I was listening to the results of an interesting research study on the impacts of exercise on depression and stress particularly during the pandemic. Not surprising to me the people who had taken up exercise during COVID found that there stress eased and they felt less depressed than they had previously. I must say this has been true for me. It apparently did not matter what type of exercise you did, just that you did so for a minimum of 30 minutes 5 times a week. It explains a lot as to why I feel so much better mentally now than I ever have before.

There were a few more interesting things that came out of this study. Most people that exercised regularly before the pandemic have continued to do so. Those that did little to no exercise pre-pandemic did not tend to take up anything. However, the ones that did found exercise very helpful and plan on continuing to do so post-pandemic. Many cited the how much better they felt when they did exercise and it reduced the anxiety they might be feeling.

This all makes sense to me. While I still haven’t found that ‘high’ people claim from working out, I do feel a sense of accomplishment. I know especially when things are tough I feel much better when I do a run (or right now a walk). It is all because of the impacts of the chemicals our bodies release when we exercise have on our brains. Apparently it puts you in a much happier place.

My take from this study, if you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious or a bit blue getting moving. Doesn’t matter if it is a walk, run, bike ride, weights or stretching it will likely have a positive effect on how you feel. I know it does for me.