Exercise...much cheaper than therapy!

"Sweat cleanses from the inside. It comes from places a shower will never reach." - Dr. George Sheehan

I found this quote today thumbing through my runners world magazine on the commute in to work (relax, I wasn't driving I was on the bus) and it really got me thinking. At my heaviest weight after my second child was one of the lowest points in my life. I had everything I ever dreamed I would want out of life; a great husband who I consider to be my partner in life, two healthy wonderful children, a fantastic job and a house we have made a loving home. Still I wasn't fufilled, something was nagging at me & to fill the void I ate. Oh did I eat.... but I never felt full. All I ever felt was guilty about what I had just eaten and disgusted with myself that I had let myself get to a place where I was so out of control. Not my normal type A behavior. I used to be an athlete in highschool I would think to myself, now I could barely walk up a flight of stairs without being winded. I didn't recognize myself when I looked in the mirror and I was depressed.

I got talked into doing a biggest loser challenge at work January of 2009. To sum it up in a sentence: It forever changed me. When I ate right and exercised I felt good about myself again for the first time in a long time. I felt in control and strong. Whatever void or emptiness I was trying to fill with food I found a much more rewarding fufillment from exercise. I was hooked! I was literally on the brink of going to my doctor to talk about anti-depressants before I began my healthy lifestyle changes. Boy am I glad I didn't. In life there is no magic pill for weight loss, happiness or anything really. Everything good comes as the result of hard work and dedication.

It will be two years next month since I began my "butterfly transformation" to get healthy. Reading this quote this morning reminded me that I have worked out so many things by just working out!