Mental Milestone (working out with depression)

Anyone else out there who has depression and/or bipolar? I don't think I have bipolar but I do have mood swings from day to day sometimes. Mostly just feel depressed and very negative about myself, especially if it's after a long day of doing something fun and positive. It usually just lasts a day or so, but some times the dark cloud just comes and stays for as long as it likes. Anyway, why I'm saying this is, yesterday I felt that way. But it was also Day 5 of my FB Booty program. I did NOT want to exercise! I came home from work feeling mentally awful, so my husband suggested going on a motorcycle ride to the ice cream stand. I laughed and said, don't waste the money because I already bought ice cream! So we both ate nice big bowls of ice cream. It was delicious. Bad for my diet but quite satisfying...for the few minutes of eating it. Afterwards I just felt tired, my head hurt and I still didn't want to exercise. I relaxed for a couple hours. Then I decided to canoe around the little pond outside our house. That was SO nice. That helped relax me and lift my spirits. The sun shown through the trees in such a heavenly way. The sounds of the little waterfalls, where the spring feeds the pond, were so perfectly peaceful. Just the act of rowing the boat and the feeling of floating on the water helped me feel relaxed. The weather was a perfect temperature to have bare feet and a sweater on. Feeling the grass on my feet was even theraputic. I am so glad I went outside! I am so grateful to have such a peaceful place to live, outside of the busy cities and dirty air it brings.

Going outside helped readjust my thinking. I still didn't want to exercise, I was really tired. But I knew if I did, I would feel that much better about myself. So, I cooked dinner for my husband and I said I wouldn't be eating with him because I am going to exercise. He said, you can do it! His encouragement means the world to me, especially when I'm down. So I did it. I did Day 5. Plus, I did the bonus round! I was quite dead after the bonus round, but it felt so good!

So, with this post, I just wonder how many other people have bad mental days like this or have depression and still push through to exercise (if they can)? What helps you cope?

Thanks for listening!