Get those serotonin/dopamine juices flowin

May 30, 2011

I read an article that really inspired me. I guess its nothing new, but a good reminder. Now that I am 5 months out and 70lbs down in weight...I am feeling more enabled to break the vicious cycle. Anyone thats ever been morbidly obese knows it. You feel too tired- burned out- physically exhausted- depressed-hopeless to exercise...yet exercise is just what you need to cure those things. Its what they refer to as a catch 22. I remember all the excuses I had to not excerise..instead of thinking of ways and when I could fit my exercise in. Its the overall feeling of 'crappy'...THAT I do NOT miss.

I love that I can wear cute little clothes now...more than before...Im a girlie girl so OF COURSE I love that!  BUT it is NOT / WAS NOT my main driving factor. It is not the reason that drove me to the surgerons office to have RNY in the first place. No it was that depressed, sickening, hopeless, overall crappy feeling that made me have the surgery. And now that that feeling is disappearing - I find myself hopeful. I find myself exercising because I love it. The article quoted John J. Ratey, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School:

"I like to say that exercise is like taking a little Prozac or a little Ritalin at just the right moment," says John J. Ratey, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of A User's Guide to the Brain. "Exercise is really for the brain, not the body. It affects mood, vitality, alertness, and feelings of well-being."

I use to love exercising..running...way back when I didnt know how it felt to be MO. Now, I am loving it again. The natural high feeling I get after getting off the treadmill. The energy I have. The euphoric and energetic burst I have for the rest of the day. Well the article explains it:

"Christin Anderson, MS, wellness and fitness coordinator of the University of San Francisco, explains that exercise affects many sites within the nervous system and sets off pleasure chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine that make us feel calm, happy, and euphoric."

So, I am not saying that now that I am down in weight, I emerge from my bed, birds at my windows...whistling as start my day...BUT I will say that I do have stamina and the overall good feeling to go to the gym, without making excuses..and get the serotonin/dopamine juices flowin. So No More catch 22 for me...I now exercise to feel good..and feel good to exercise.
Thankfully RNY got me started and Excerise will keep me going!

Hope you can find or have found your motivation. Here is the link if you would like to read it:

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52161

Hugs!

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