Transcript: Cabin Fever Got You Down? Why Exercise Is Your Secret Weapon for Mental Health

I mean, the truth is that if you're working out, it is like one of the best ways to get over cabin fever, to get over mental health issues, to get over feeling kind of blah. And that's that's kind of what I've been using exercise for. Welcome to More Movement, please. What's up, you guys? Famous Ashley Grant here. This is the podcast where I hope to inspire you to move your body more. And I've got to tell you, I'm still looking at some snowy conditions. It is. It's crazy.

I'm so ready for the snow to be gone. You know, the funny thing is I grew up in Tampa, Florida. And the idea of snow was something that you traveled to go see. And it was a novelty. And now that I'm living in a state where it snows, like there are some days where I absolutely love it. And I get excited by the fact that I'm indoors and not able to go anywhere. But ever since I got serious about fitness. Oh my God, you guys, I can't stand being indoors. I want to go to the gym as much as I can. It drives me up the frigging wall that I have not been able to go to the gym.

And yes, I know what some of you are probably thinking. I probably could get there. In fact, I've gotten several messages from several people that I could probably get there. And the truth is, if I really tried, I probably could. But the reality is that I was a little bit nervous about trying to drive on my roads in my neighborhood. I'm looking at a lot of sheets of ice and I've watched several of the neighbors like fishtail in just right in front of my window. And I don't want to do that. And because I can work out online and because I do work from home. Not having to leave, I'll take it for right now. It does kind of suck. I do really, really want to get back to the gym. I mean, please do not misunderstand anybody who knows me, knows that I'm an extrovert.

I love to be around people. I get excited by it. I freaking love it. But yeah, I haven't wanted to put in the risk that would be required to get to the gym. And it sucks. I miss my girls. I miss them so much. I miss some of the guys. I miss soul. much of the group fitness and working out in person. And I'm really looking forward to getting back into the gym, but I have to just continue harping on the fact that I am just so freaking grateful that I can still work out from home online. The only thing that I will say is it does kind of suck that I have smaller weights at home. I've never wanted to invest in dumbbells until now. And I hope I won't ever need them again. I have a set of threes and I have a set of fives and I have been actually. Trying to hold them together to, you know, get closer to what I normally am using at the gym. In previous episodes, I've talked about the fact that my smalls are eights and my bigs are fifteens. And

I will often use twenties whenever I can or whenever I feel like I'm able to. But this week, you know, or this past week of only being able to use threes and fives has been a little bit, you know, a little bit weird. And so I've actually been adding in extra reps. One of the things I did on Saturday is I actually added weights to my Zumba routines. The Zumba class that I was taking online, I added the threes to it. I was using the threes for a lot of the dances. Helped a lot because, you know, I was still putting in a bunch of reps and still, you know, getting the good feels that I was hoping for to continue feeling like I'm actually working my body. And I can tell you that even though I've been using smaller weights, I am still feeling the feels like I'm feeling like I'm actually working and moving my body.

And that was the goal. And one thing I have been doing, though, is I've been like using multiple weights in my hands to do some of the exercises so that it'll be closer to the weight that I have at the gym. But I have to tell you guys, like the main reason I wanted to record today's episode is the mental health aspect, right? Like I've been having some pretty significant cabin fever, especially since, like I said, I have missed my gym people so much. I've missed my gym buddies. And I'm so freaking grateful for the fact that I've been able to work out because it has been the only real thing that's been helping to keep some of the cabin fever at bay. I won't say it's keeping it all at bay because Lord have mercy, I cannot wait to get out. But I... I'm really grateful that I've had the movement because I can tell when I've been sedentary too long now. Like if I go several hours where I haven't

moved or haven't gotten up or started, you know, stretching or squatting or something, I can feel it now. And one thing that's actually kind of funny is my husband will sometimes even say to me now, have you worked out yet? Because, you know, he knows that if I haven't, that's when I start getting kind of mean. I don't mean to be. I really don't. But I'm definitely nicer whenever I'm working out. I'm definitely nicer whenever I've gotten my movement fixed for the day. So that's really been helping me a lot.

And so if you're stuck at home, stuck inside like I have been, and you're looking for something to give you some good feels, some warm feels. do some movement, man. Like go on YouTube and find, you know, a stretch class or a dance class, or there's a lot of videos I've seen that are full body workouts with no equipment. I've seen, you know, body weight workouts where you're using your body as the weight to be able to, to get in a good exercise. So I highly recommend you, you do that because. When we move our bodies, we just feel better. It triggers things in our brains, sends out all those good feels, all those good chemicals. We get the endorphins. We get the dopamine hit. We get the serotonin hit. We get all those good things. Our cortisol levels go down. We feel less stress. It's the best thing you can do whenever you're starting to feel those bad feels. And so if you haven't worked out today,

I highly recommend it. Here's what I'm going to be doing for the rest of the week. Today is Monday. And so my goal for this week is to, at some point. God help me get back to the gym. But in the event that I don't, I still plan on working out every single day. I will be doing my Zumba classes. I will be doing my low impact cardio classes. I'll be doing my stretch classes. I'll try out some more walk in place classes and report back. I'll be doing Tabata and all those good things that I absolutely love to do to move my body and work my body. That is the goal. That is my plan. And so I hope this inspires you to move your body too, because... It is the best thing for you. It really is. It is amazing the difference that it has, the impact that it has on your brain, on your physical health, your mental health, your emotional health. I mean, it's honestly even helped my emotional health.

It makes me feel more regulated emotionally. So onwards and upwards, my friends. Have you worked out today?