my journal proved that exercise actually affects my mood (i didn't want to believe it) - Lemmy.World

Everyone says exercise is good for mental health. I’ve heard it a million times. I’ve nodded along and then not exercised. But my journal called me out. I’ve been tracking my mood daily for about five months. When I started noticing which days were consistently rated higher, I looked for patterns. The correlation was annoying: days I exercised were almost always rated “good” or “happy.” Days I didn’t ranged from “okay” to “low.” I didn’t want this to be true because exercise requires effort and I’d rather my mental health solution be lying on the couch. But the data doesn’t lie. Five months of mood tracking, clear as day. The journal entries backed it up. After workout days: “feeling energized, got a lot done.” After sedentary days: “sluggish, couldn’t focus, went to bed early.” Over and over. So now I exercise. Not because I love it — because my journal proved I need it. On days I don’t want to go, I open Sola [https://socialhub-links.darian-hanci.workers.dev/sola] and look at the mood chart. The evidence is right there. It’s harder to skip when you’ve got months of data showing exactly what happens when you do. Sometimes we need proof to do the things we already know we should do. The journal provided that proof. Has your journal revealed any uncomfortable health truths? What did you do about it?