Welcome to /r/EOOD

You have carried it so far. No matter how much it weighs you down.

Carrying that load every single day is incredible.

Tomorrow you pick up your burden again but this time it is different. Now we are all helping you carry it.

We all carry heavy burdens just like you. Our burdens might be different to yours but they all weigh heavily on each of us.

We all support you. we all sympathise with you. We are all going through similar things to you. We all want to help you.

We all want to carry a little of your load.

When we work together to share one another's burdens we all become stronger. We make everyone's life easier.

You got this. You can do it. We will help.

This year has sucked and I’m in so much pain in my head everyday like nothing is quite going as I need it to. Tonight I just went to lift weights and listen to metal music. Nothing has changed of course but my body feels worked out and stronger. All you can do sometimes is look after yourself a bit and do something good for your body.

Have you tried something new that has helped you?

It doesn't have to be exercise related at all. Books, music, podcasts, tv, websites, organisations all help. Or it could be something someone said in passing that helped you and they have probably forgotten all about.

Taking the overall pulse here. How are you? If not well, think whether there are any positives to share as well to balance negatives. But of course, if you need to vent, know we are here to listen.

My workout today was rowing. 9000m at a steady pace as part of Pete's Plan. Its the first time I have rowed that far for about 4 years but I knew I could do it.

I know what to do. Get up, pull on yesterdays underwear and put a bandana on my head. Its pointless wearing any more than that as I will sweat so much, its saves on washing. The bandana stops the sweat running into my eyes. Walk into the spare bedroom / home office. Sit on rowing machine. Sort out earbuds. Sort out Spotify to continue the audiobook of Sir Terry Pratchett's book Nation (I really recommended that book to anyone BTW). Sort out the Concept2 app and sync the thing on the rower with the app. Pull on 10+ year old pair of Chucks and lace them up. Put feet in straps on the footplate. Grab the handle of the machine. Pull...

All was going really well. I was rowing and had a nice steady rhythm. Not too fast, not too slow. I was listening to the book and barely even thinking about rowing. I wasn't even aware of my muscles working, heart pounding and breathing hard.

2/3 of the way in and something in my body and mind just went "STOP" and I did. My gaze fell on the photos of my father and grandfather on the shelf by the rowing machine. I keep them there for this very moment. I shouted "FOR MY FATHER" (from my family) and "DOES NOT HAPPEN" (from the book) and carried on. I finished the work out.

I think the STOP came from my flight/fight/freeze reflex kicking in. It really was out of the blue. I was literally halfway through a stroke as I rowed and my muscles just... gave up. It was like someone flicked a switch. One second I was working hard and sweating to STOP a second later. For a few seconds I sat there my muscles like wet spaghetti and my mind as blank as it can be.

The photos made me think again and made me move again. I wanted to make my father and grandfather proud. To not give up. The book showed me how to do something when all you want to do is give up completely. To do the right thing because you know it is right and know it has to be done.

Move. Sweat. Repeat. It does get easier but only if you keep doing it.

Hey y'all, I have a question for you. I have been lifting on and off for about 5 years now but go through periods of not lifting due to scheduling and life. Whenever I try to get back into lifting regularly, the transition is touch because I'm also an emotional eater. Due to exercising more regularly, I am also hungrier. Yet struggle to find the balance between eating what my body actually wants and shifting into just over eating due. Does anyone have any related experiences and advice to offer? Thank you : )

Anyone have any advice for someone who doesn’t exercise. I don’t necessarily want to get ripped or anything. I just want to not be as anxious and blue. Do any of yall have any suggestions as far as a routine? I’m 32, I work two jobs both jobs combined I work 7 days a week (it and fast food) willing to still give myself 15/30 min a day to better myself. Just don’t know what to do consistently. I have dumbbells but would also like to improve my stamina. Thanks in advance

Have you been mindful lately? Made any useful observations that have helped you and could help others? Share any efforts especially ones that change your mind or attitude, meditation efforts, positive thinking, and gratitudes.

In addition or alternatively, have you had any successes in improving what you eat? Any good recipes to share?

I spent yesterday helping at my clubs archery competition. I was talking to the other archers in our group as we walked around the course. One of them asked me why I don't shoot competitively. I said that I don't enter competitions as I am too competitive. This raised a few eyebrows. I explained that if I were to be in a competition and things were not going well I would lose my temper not just with myself but with everyone else around me. Things would get very bad very quickly. So I don't compete. That way I can enjoy my archery and everyone else around me can enjoy their archery too.

During a break in shooting one of the group pulled me to one side. She told me that she really struggles with anxiety about her shooting. She is constantly comparing her shooting to her personal bests and gets incredibly frustrated when she doesn't shoot well. She doesn't get angry and aggressive like me. Instead she goes into a shell and beats herself up. Which is better than beating other people up at least.

She asked if I had ever done any martial arts to let all this aggression and anger out of me. I explained that if you are in a controlled fight, not some brawl in the street, and you lose your temper you will lose the fight. You have to control yourself.

I said for me archery is all about control. You make sure your equipment is as good as can be, you practice regularly, you consult coaches and experienced archers for their advice, you draw your bow and aim as precisely as possible. Then a slight gust of wind blows you arrow off course by an couple of centimetres and you miss the gold. You can't do anything about the gust of wind. You have to accept that no matter what you do you might miss.

That piece of advice was original to me. It comes from the ancient Stoic parable of the archer Its good advice not just for archery but for life.

I hope I helped her. I think I did.

Care to share your successes of this week, whether exercise or others? What went well, what is promising, what do you feel good about? If you have any selfies and progress pics to share, now is your chance

Okay so I'm at an all time low so I joined a gym/pool place. I mainly swim because I have one bad knee but sometimes puch myself on the treadmill or spinning.

I barely have any muscles so when I do lift (baby weights) I'm sore for days.

Pcos kicked my ass with all the cravings so my diet plan went south pretty quick...

Can someone recommend a routine a depressed, physically weak woman can stick to? Also...when will I start liking working out?

Socializing can help depression, as can thinking of others, community service, caring for loved ones. Care to share any social activities that you have participated in this week or are planning to?

How have you unwound this week? Any creative projects you would like to share?

Which workouts are you currently focusing on? What have you done to EOOD this week??

What or who makes you think "I got this. I can do it"

I have a torn acl so apart from walking i cant do cardio. What are some good alternatives to exercise for fighting depression?

Have you tried something new that has helped you?

It doesn't have to be exercise related at all. Books, music, podcasts, tv, websites, organisations all help. Or it could be something someone said in passing that helped you and they have probably forgotten all about.

Every single person here wants you to overcome your problems no matter what they are and how bad they seem right now. We all send you our best wishes, support and yes, our love.

You got this. You can do it.

Taking the overall pulse here. How are you? If not well, think whether there are any positives to share as well to balance negatives. But of course, if you need to vent, know we are here to listen.

So I am very careful not to take pain killers before a workout because I know how important it is to feel even subtle pain to avoid injury, but …

Last week I had DOMS the next day after a workout, took ibuprofen for it, but then read up about DOMS and found out that taking pain killers for delayed onset muscle pain can actually interfere with muscle growth.

Today I did strength training again, and my middle back aches now. I delayed taking the pain killers, but then decided that I am not a masochist and have low pain tolerance, and though I did the strength workout earlier today I don’t think this back pain is due to the workout because come to think of it I think I did have a bit of a back ache before the workout as well but not during it and not immediately after.

Tomorrow is my rest day, well sort of, I am commuting to my office which is a one hour commute each way, so not a restful day but not a workout day. Hopefully my back will get better tomorrow. I will try not to whine and feel sorry for myself, ouch.

The back pain is actually more likely from my sedentary job than from exercise. If my back still aches on Wednesday I will do a workout that is specifically geared to help with back issues.

Its back to the "if I can get up and go out into my backyard at 6am in the cold, dark and rain of a February morning to work out then I can cope with..." way of thinking.

I personally think its more than that though. If you are exercising you are getting used to physical extremes, cold, heat, rain, snow etc. You are also getting used to feeling a bit sore, maybe a little bit of pain from a slightly off knee that won't ever go away or coping with a serious injury.

Often in the rest of our lives minor inconveniences can turn an average day into a shitty day. Missing the bus is doable, missing the bus but then it starts to pour with rain is shitty. However if you don't mind getting wet as you were soaked to the skin when you went for a run in the rain yesterday, then you can cope with that shitty experience just that little bit better.

Psych people call this resilience and exercise is great for increasing your capacity to be resilient. When we exercise we deliberately make things shitty for ourselves. We are training our minds to be resilient with every workout.

We don't let the shitty get to us when we exercise so that means we don't have to let the shitty get to us when we are doing anything else. We embrace the shittyness and keep going.

Have you been mindful lately? Made any useful observations that have helped you and could help others? Share any efforts especially ones that change your mind or attitude, meditation efforts, positive thinking, and gratitudes.

In addition or alternatively, have you had any successes in improving what you eat? Any good recipes to share?

Care to share your successes of this week, whether exercise or others? What went well, what is promising, what do you feel good about? If you have any selfies and progress pics to share, now is your chance

Socializing can help depression, as can thinking of others, community service, caring for loved ones. Care to share any social activities that you have participated in this week or are planning to?

How have you unwound this week? Any creative projects you would like to share?

Normally I do yoga alone at home in the morning. However for the first time in a few years I went to a class tonight. I didn’t realise how interactive it would be, but at one point we had to say out loud that our body was beautiful, we love it etc. it was really difficult for me to do that and I got very teary. I’ve struggled a lot with body dysmorphia, bullying from a young age, and sexualisation from a young age. Recently I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and I really blamed myself for causing and felt so disgusting. It was a confusing night for me having to say all that at yoga and I don’t know how I feel about it yet.