Does it seem like you are always tired? I used to feel that way. I literally battled fatigue for years. I had all kinds of “reasons” for that. It was because I was a new mom. I then had three children. I was homeschooling. I was working. I had teenagers. I was this and I was that. I always had these reasons to validate why I was so tired. I had always heard that exercise would give you more energy but I guess I never really took that seriously.
I have never been very overweight. I have always been at a point where I could stand to lose a few pounds. I think that always stuck in the back of my mind as a reason to not pursue exercise. I didn’t have time and I wasn’t “that bad,” so why bother? Sure, I could skip snacks and cut down my portion sizes and I would probably lose a few pounds that were definitely needed. But again, I didn’t really tie in my fatigue with the lack of exercise in my life.
I sort of resolved myself to a life of tiredness. I guess I will always be tired, is what I said to myself deep down. Perhaps one day, when my children are grown and gone I will finally have energy. The problem is that I was putting the blame on all the wrong things. Sure, there were definitely nights I didn’t get enough sleep. There were also seasons in life that I went through where energy was certainly depleted. Yet it never really accounted for the many years of feeling tired. After all, there were many nights I did receive adequate sleep and there were points in my life that I sailed through with relative ease. So clearly, something was amiss.
I am not ashamed to say that at the end of this week I will be turning 41. Do you know that it has taken me this long to realize how energetic you can feel when you exercise? It’s kind of sad if you really think about it. Fitness has never been on my radar screen but this past January I decided it needed to be. My main reason was because I wanted to speed up the weight-loss process. The older you get, the harder it becomes to get rid of excess weight. That hard reality really hit me when I entered the 40’s.
So I have now been exercising, faithfully, for a month and a half and for the first time in years I feel so much more energetic. I had never fully realized the value in fitness and how it affects the way you feel. The fact I can go an entire day and not find it necessary to sneak in a catnap is tremendous. The amount of things I have been able to accomplish, the better mood I have been in—all of this has contributed to a healthier lifestyle that I have adopted. Now it’s less about losing the weight, although that would of course be nice. But now keeping fit is more about energy. It really is true…fitness can boost your energy.
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