endorphins are your friend

So the morning routine of no screen time & exercise has continued and worked well. Children play so much nicer together and I even get simple jobs done like unload the dishwasher because one of them isn't trying to strangle the other. 

Other thing that's been going well is my life post-sertraline. If you've read my other posts you will know that I've been taking anti depressants on and off for around 6 years. My current time sertraline free is coming up to the two months mark. All withdrawal symptoms have stopped which would mean (I think) that all traces of it have left my system. I've never come off sertraline whilst eating a healthy (vegan) diet, nor have I ever had a real work out routine in place. And yet, this time, this is exactly what I am doing and it seems to be working. The love I have for cooking again, trying new food and new recipes makes every day exciting.. Even the food shops exciting. The new routine of getting up at the same time everyday and working out for at least half an hour is setting me off in the right direction. If every thing else goes wrong that day- at least I have exercised. If I have that bag of crisps, it doesn't matter, because at least I've exercised. There is definitely some truth to exercising releasing endorphins and improving mental health. I am an example of it! I even love knowing that once I've done my work out, I get my chocolate Shakeology. I never used to look forward to breakfast but now I genuinely can't wait for it. 

I feel my veganism and my work out routine have helped me to feel as though there is more to life. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a stay at home mum, but I also felt like I wasn't doing anything for myself. I didn't care about how I looked because who was I trying to impress? But it's not necessarily about impressing anyone else, it is about impressing MYSELF though. 

And you know what? I think I'm starting to do just that.

Photo by Martin Barák on Unsplash