Exercise for the Body and the Mind

 Recently I went on a new health kick. No fast food, no soda, no anything that would require me to workout for another hour the next day. I've been loving it. It brings my mood up, and I feel healthier already. Its only day four of this diet and exercise and I am feeling rejuvenated. On the other hand, it's only day four and there have been times where I want to quit and go have a Big Mac.

 Exercise can be rewarding and frustrating at the same time, but we all know that in the end it's good for us. I'm not telling you anything new though, we have all heard the same facts about diet and exercise. For me and my routine, I keep in mind three simple rules:

1. Don't eat it, if you know you will regret it later.
2. It's OK to have a small dessert once a week, no need to punish yourself.
3. Quit whining and workout already, you know you will feel better.

 So those are the rules I've given myself to start, and so far it has been working. No counting carbs, no weighing foods. Just good old fashioned common sense.

 Since the medication makes me gain weight I can't think about weight loss as a goal. I try to think of exercise more as a way to calm myself. No matter what doctors tell you about medication, it's not going to cure everything, you need other tools. That is why they want me continuing counseling and medication management and so on. When I told them I was exercising again they were ecstatic, all they could say was to keep going. That to me is saying something. That with a healthy diet, a good workout, and medication, people with anxiety or depression can have a happy functioning life.

 I know there will come a point though that it will not be enough, that I will hit that low point of my high/low mood swings and I just will not have the energy to keep up my routine. So I did some research and I found this amazing book by two PhD's Micheal W. Otto and Jasper A.J. Smits. I only read the first couple of chapters but I am already amazed at their insight of anxiety and depression.

I can't wait to read the rest of this. I feel like it will be a great tool for me to use when I hit that low. Honestly everyone could use a guide for when they feel a little less like themselves. No one likes to feel that way, and what better way to get out of a slump than to get up and take a jog. Or get a kinect or Wii and buy one of their workout games. I have a kinect, now I don't have an excuse on a rainy day not to work out.

 I don't have to tell you how important good diet and exercise is for the body and how it can affect the mind in the most soothing way, just go out there and experience it yourselves. And for the times when you don't think you can keep it up, just remember, we've all been there. You can accomplish what you started, and you can keep going.

The Healing Power of Animals

Dogs are mans best friend for a reason. They are loyal, they are friendly, and they love you unconditionally. People need to be more like dogs, in the sense that loving people no matter what goes on, seems to be their life focus. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone loved us regardless of the mistakes we made or the stupid things we say. I know I would enjoy life a lot more.

So we invested a part of our lives in another dog. As much as I love our other dog Odin, he really took to my husband instead. Every time he entered the room Odin's attention would go to him. I know that Odin loves me, just not as much as he loves my husband. He is a daddy's boy. So we went to the shelter and looked around for a few hours and found a Pomeranian mix that kept calling my attention. As soon as I picked her up she clung to me like I was her best friend in the world. She didn't do that for anyone else in the room. We knew that we had to take her home with us, and we did. We named her Freyja. (Pronounced Fray-yah)

 The reason why we got another dog was that I was feeling a little bit lonely and I needed something or someone to keep me calm and take my mind off of feeling trapped in the house, since what I do mostly is housework. I don't have a job to go to, and my husband sleeps during the day because of his graveyard shift, so I spend most of the day by myself. Odin really isn't a sit down kind of dog either. Freyja on the other hand spends her day on my lap or curled up on my shoulder. 

 I am on a mission. To make Freyja a service dog, I don't know how I am going to do it or even if I can, but I will try. I can't go to the store alone, I can't even stop at the gas station to fill my car by myself. My anxiety gets so bad I will turn around and drive 5 miles back to the house instead of step into the grocery store by myself. I know that people have prescriptions to take their dogs into the store with them, I just don't know how. So my first step is to talk to my counselor about it. I figure they would know what to do since they went to school for people with this kind of disorder right?

 People may laugh at the idea of bringing a dog along with you to run daily tasks, but the research on owning an animal is amazing. There are books and studies all over the place that proves that just having an animal around helps lower blood pressure, lessen anxiety, and just the cure that I needed, help loneliness. Maybe I can even lower the amount of medication I take a day if I have Freyja with me to control my anxiety. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1295517/pdf/jrsocmed00117-0023.pdf

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~kmallen/AllenPresence.pdf

These two studies, while inconclusive, shows you how it can change peoples lives and stress levels. It was enough of a study to allow people to get prescriptions for their pets. The fact that my husband has told me, in the last three days we have owned Freyja, I look more relaxed when I hold her, that my face lights up. That tells me something. It tells me that owning a pet is good for me, that it is having an affect on my health.

 While owning a pet is not for everyone, I just know how it affects my life and I share it with you. Watch a friend or family members pet while they are gone for vacation, notice the difference it has on you. Instead of getting a pure breed, go to your local rescue shelter and save an animal. We did with both of our dogs and we could not be happier. The amount of gratitude they have for you shows, and they will love you forever for giving them a good home. 

 When you find the right pet for you, they will be loyal, loving companions as long as they live and sometimes as long as you live. They are there for the good and bad of life and never falter when life gets really tough and you feel like giving up. They will be there always to curl up next to you and be that loving companion you need. That is something that medicine just can not do.

Denise R.