Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is that when you are feeling grouchy or stressed or frustrated, exercise can be a great way to improve your mood. It doesn't have to be much, but a little sweat can solve a lot. Today's tip comes from Deirdre Fitzpatrick, who was a guest on this podcast a
few months ago. Deirdre is a morning news anchor for the NBC affiliate and Sacramento, a job that can involve reporting a lot of bad news. Deirdre explained that when her work day has been stressful or depressing, she exercises to reset her mood for the rest of the day. As she puts it, her strategy is to sweat it out to get it out. I love this phrase and I have certainly noticed this in my own life. If I am upset about something, a good run makes me
feel less upset. Credit the endorphins, but everything in life feels more doable after sweating. There's some research finding that regular exercise can actually be as effective as antidepressants from mild to moderate depression. Now of course, other things can help too, like therapy and medication could be a good idea in various cases as well, but exercise can help a lot, and since there aren't many downsides, it is
worth a try. You don't have to exercise for a long time to reset your mood, and you don't even have to go to the gym, but you probably do need to exercise fairly intensely to get the emotional reset. This might be a power walk or run around your neighborhood, or just running up and down the stairs in your home or office. If you do decide to go to the gym, working out on a cardio machine or going for a swim might feel great, or you might benefit from a spin or kickboxing class. The point is to
use your body and clear your head. You can encourage your kids to sweat it out to get it out too. It is a memorable phrase that younger kids and teens can use to remind themselves of a healthy and effective way to deal with negative emotions. Bad grade on a test, sweat it out to get it out, drama with a friend,
Sweat it out to get it out. It will all feel better after When you have had a hard day at work, or when you start the morning with an argument with your partner or roommate, or with drama getting your kids out the door. It can be tempting to conceive the whole day and just hope for a better tomorrow. But you don't have to do that. Just a half hour of vigorous exercise may help you work out your negative emotions and reset for the rest of the day.
And if you don't have half an hour, well, make the most of the time you do have clear your mind of whatever is upsetting you and get those helpful brain chemicals flowing. It may not have to be a bad day after all. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.