I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I suffer from winter blues/seasonal affective disorder and the various ways I attempt to manage the symptoms of these disorders. I believe that my anxiety and depression cause the winter blues really hit me especially hard. Exercise is a big component of dealing with my mental health issues, not just the winter blues. Unfortunately, I find it much harder to exercise in the cold and dreary winter months, which is when I need to be physically active the most to help deal with the increased depression.
I find that for me going to the gym on a regular basis can become tedious and unfulfilling. I’ve made no secret that I would much rather be riding outside than sitting on a stationary bike. I do try to take the doggies for a walk in the winter, but I’ll admit to being inconsistent on that front.
I’ve always thought that my lack of enthusiasm was due to boredom (which I suspect is a big part of it), but on a recent bike ride I had an epiphany: while exercising in winter makes me feel better, but it doesn’t make me feel good.
Let me get to that in a moment, but first let me put in some back story.
Last week there were several days that were nice enough that I was able to get in a bike ride or take the doggies out for a walk. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining bright but the temps weren’t too hot. The new leaves on the trees rustled in the breeze (a sound I’ve not heard since last October), and the birds were chirping like mad.
And I noticed after I finished my rides and walks that I felt great. Not better. Not OK.
No, I felt fantastic!
That’s when I had the epiphany: it’s hard for me to stay motivated to keep exercising in the winter when all I’m getting out of it is that I go from feeling shitty to feeling less shitty.
I’m not sure yet what I will do about this when winter returns. All I can do in the meantime is spend as much time gardening/walking/bicycling outside from now until mid-autumn as time and weather will allow. I’ll just have to deal with winter when it gets here.
