Healthy living for positive mental health

A huge passion of mine is to improve the awareness of the benefits exercise and nutrition can provide to our mental health. I'm so passionate that we can make our situations better for ourselves by just simply improving our lifestyle; how do I know it works? Because I've done it myself.

When I was unwell with my mental health I found exercise to be my lifesaver because it was the one consistent thing I had in my life that gave me routine and a focal point. I loved how exercise gave me a sense of freedom and the ability to just zone out. Something which is so important when you're suffering from a mental illness. As soon as I started training I was completely hooked, just simply because it helped me to feel that I was getting my condition under control. To this day exercise is still one of the most important tools I use to manage my illness and keep me feeling stable.

With nutrition, my interest didn't come until slightly later because I was so focused on broadening my knowledge of training that I didn't have the time or space in my mind for it. So it wasn't until the second time I was unwell that I decided I needed to improve my diet but as I did I instantly noticed my mood becoming brighter and more balanced. I started to understand which foods would trigger negative feelings and how to avoid them.

Exercise

 Exercise has the potential to have a profoundly positive impact on all mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and ADHD. Studies show that exercise can treat mild to moderate depression as effectively as antidepressant medication but without all the nasty side effects and prevent relapsing. A few of the benefits exercise can provide to your mental health: 

• Release of endorphins
• Mental strength
• A focal point
• Improved self-esteem
• Relieve stress
• A sense of achievement

Nutrition

One of the most obvious yet under-recognized factors in the development of major trends in mental health is the role of nutrition, the evidence linking diet and mental health is growing at a rapid pace. Nutrition has a great impact on short and long-term mental health but food also plays an important contributing role in the management and prevention of schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Alzheimer's disease. A balanced mood and feelings of well-being can be encouraged by ensuring our diets provide adequate amounts of complex carbohydrates, essential fats, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and water. A few benefits a healthy diet has on your mental health;

• Promotion of positive feelings
• An increase in energy
• Calmer and more stable moods
• Improved brain productivity
• A feeling that you are looking after yourself

Although exercise and nutrition ultimately cannot cure a mental illness, I can promise you it will help to improve your situation and pairing the two together will give you the best possible chance. I'm so glad I discovered the benefits of both because without this knowledge I now have I know wouldn't be as happy and stable as I am and for that, I'm forever grateful. If you'd like more information about how you can use exercise and nutrition to feel better please get in contact, I'd love to help.