You're only one workout away from a good mood.

It's amazing how much better I feel after just one day of getting back on track.  Yesterday, I ate within my points, I worked out and I feel fantastic.  Yesterday started as one of those "if I am pushed much farther I might go on psychotic murder spree of rage and destruction" days, but I worked though the anxiety and stress and kept telling myself that a good boot camp class was a few hours away would that alleviate all that added tension.  You know what, as much as I hated yesterday, once class ended I didn't even think about the hours earlier in the day, all of that worry literally vanished like a whisper in the wind.  Seeing my family helped with that as well but I contribute most of it to the fact the working out is a stress reliever, possibly the best one I have ever found.  No matter how hard my day is, how much I want it to be over, I am only one workout away from a good mood.  Whether it be a run, a bike ride, a boot camp class, it doesn't matter.  They all work.  Elevating the heart rate, breaking a sweat, those are the only things needed to elevate your mood and break yourself from the shitty day you were having.  We are all going to have bad days, some days are really bad.  Yesterday was a really bad day for me.  Even though I walked into the same issues this morning, I am having an easier time dealing with them because I have lowered my internal stress-o-meter.  Sometimes it bubbles over, and sometimes it fills so tight it explodes, a solid workout drains that stress away and allows me to start new.  I am not saying that it won't fill up again because it will, but at least now I know what to do next time it happens.

Exercise is the most underutilized antidepressant.

Yesterday was a hard day for me.  I have some issues on a couple of my projects and they seemed to come to a head yesterday morning resulting in a rather unpleasant afternoon.  From about 10 AM on I was pretty much just pissed off.  I was angry with a coworker, I found myself being lazy and unproductive, I wanted to eat the mound of cookies and brownies we have sitting in the pantry, I just honestly no longer wanted to deal with anyone or anything.  I was letting my feelings and emotions get the better of me.  At one point I mentioned to my wife that I was "done with today".  That is exactly how I felt, just plain done.  I had a hard time sleeping the previous night, and on top of the stress from work I just more or less had a miserable day.  Anyone who knows me knows that is not typical for me.  If anything I am probably too easy going at times and I try not to let the small stuff get me down.  Yesterday that was simply not the case.  Finally 4:30 rolls around and I head out to go to class, eyes heavy, and the laziness continuing to take root.  All of this forgotten on the first warm up lap of class.  Literally gone.  My trainer Tom even asked me what was so funny because even though I was getting my hind end handed to me I was smiling from ear to ear.  You know now that I think about it, I was just plain happy, truly happy.  I had stopped thinking about work, and just devoted my time and energy to a good solid workout.  As much as work was weighing heavy on my mind yesterday, from the moment that class started until the moment I came in this morning work did not once even enter the proximity of my mind.  Six hours of hell immediately alleviated by one hour of exercise resulting in twelve hours of absolute peace.  Even if the stress from work starts to build up again today, I know I have another miracle hour awaiting my attendance tonight.  I find comfort in that one thought alone.

Thank you Tom, this was exactly what I needed today!