I worked out for 365 days and my life will never be the same

[Music] foreign [Music] It's morning already. Another day. I don't want to wake up. I'm so sick of this. This video is sponsored by CoPilot; I will talk more about them later. Since I was 15, I struggled with depression for the last seven years. The family issues with my dad saw it never ended. We got betrayed, scammed, neglected, lied to. They took everything my parents worked for their entire life. Receiving bad news calls from banks, lawsuits became a norm in our home.

First, I had a deep sense of sadness and anger, but with time I got tired dealing with my emotions. Since childhood, I've always been bad with my emotions, so I started to feel numb and empty. I isolated myself from everyone. I questioned the meaning of life almost every day, and there were many times I thought my depression went away and I was finally fine. But whenever I let my guard down, it came back.

Since 2016, I've been trying to become a YouTuber, and my dreams finally became true. After four failed channels and countless videos, my channel grew really fast, and we hit 100K subs in only three months. I was so happy that every single hour I was checking my YouTube Studio to see how many subscribers I got, how my videos are doing. I'm so excited, but it quickly became an addiction.

Looking back, I only understand now that I developed a serious toxic relationship with it. Because my channel grew so fast and I hadn't built a relationship with my audience yet, I had this constant fear of waking up one day and nobody watching my videos. To make people not forget me, I started uploading more and more and more on YouTube. I felt like if I stopped, even for a moment, everything I worked for would disappear.

As you can imagine, living like this with constant pressure and anxiety can be detrimental to your mental well-being. My depression relapsed once again, and I didn't know how to cope with this stress. I started drinking here and there to calm down, and it quickly became a regular habit to escape from reality. Everything I used to enjoy wasn't fun anymore. Life was passing by, and I didn't know what to do until last summer when we got the news that my uncle had been running a Ponzi scheme for years, scamming not only our family but also many others.

We ended up in huge debt. I don't care how much money we lost; okay, money can always be made back, but I'll never forget the despair in my parents' eyes. And that day, I promised myself to get my family out of the Stockholm. I didn't know how, but I decided to face myself and my emotions for the first time.

For the first time in my life, I thought maybe there is a meaning for life. I had a mission, and I had already decided no matter what, we're gonna get through this. One day when I was scrolling on YouTube, I came across a video from a psychiatrist who specializes in depression, and every single word he said literally described me. Not a long time after, his videos became a part of my routine, and almost in every single video, he was recommending going for a daily walk and getting sunlight exposure.

In the beginning, even getting out of my house was a big challenge. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I remember finally achieving to go for a walk and crying from happiness. So I started with baby steps, and my first goal was to just get out of the house. With time, it turned into a walk, some stretches, bodyweight exercises here and there, and eventually exercising regularly at the gym.

I don't know how to explain this, but I felt hope for the future. Every time I finished a workout, I felt like I got this, you know? This newfound resilience wasn't just limited to the gym or my physical well-being. The discipline I found in exercising started spilling over into other areas of my life.

Also, working out helps with ADHD. When you exercise, your brain releases chemicals called neurotransmitters, including dopamine, which help with attention and clear thinking. People with ADHD often have less dopamine in their frontal lobe than usual in their brain. Exercising regularly can ease stress and anxiety; it can also be a complete cure for ADHD, but it will make things much easier for you, just like it did for me.

After starting to exercise regularly, I became much more productive. Previously, where I would procrastinate or feel overwhelmed by tasks, I now addressed them directly, like oftentimes. That discipline, sticking to a workout regime, allowed me to organize my tasks, set daily goals, and actually achieve them more.

But it wasn't just work; it also improved my relationships. I usually got lost in conversations, but after starting to regularly exercise, I was more able to follow the conversations, and I felt like the fog I had in my brain started to lift a little bit. I had many passions like watching anime, creating videos, reading, and you know, during that depressive time I didn't enjoy any of those.

But after a bit of time and after incorporating and exercising more, I sort of rediscovered the joy that I had in the past. Exercising also gave me structure, craving out moments for self-reflection and personal growth. I began to value time more because let's say I said I'm going to go to the gym at 8 PM; that means that now I have a deadline every single day.

I need to get my things done by 8 PM so that I can go to the gym. As I started enjoying exercising more and more, I was looking forward to going to the gym, so I finished my work quickly, till 8 PM, and after that, I went to the gym and I went for sleep.

Suddenly, my time wasn't just slipping away from my hands, and I felt like I had control over it for the first time in my life. Perhaps most importantly, focusing on my physical health helped me gain a deeper understanding of myself. Instead of feeling regret, I started looking back at past experiences with more understanding and more empathy.

I realized that every phase and challenge that we go through shapes us, and you get stronger. Now you're able to shape your life. Any movement is good—a walk is just as good as a run, and a long stretching session is just as good as weightlifting. It doesn't have to be hard, or difficult, or filled with hate to be a good workout. Do something you enjoy, and every action you take is a world for the type of person you wish to become.

No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity. That's why meaningful change does not require radical change. If you're struggling to make working out a habit and don't know where to start, I highly recommend checking out CoPilot.

CoPilot isn't just another fitness app, but it's a personalized guide that understands your pace, your limitations, and your aspirations. The PDCA method is my go-to method for projects, and CoPilot also uses the same method for your workouts.

So PDCA basically stands for Plan, Do, Check, and Act. It's an iterative, dynamic approach, and honestly, just like having a fitness coach right in your pocket. So let me show what PDCA actually means in real life.

I'd love to hear just a little bit more on this journey. So I've been working out pretty consistently for about a year now. Before that, I've done many sports, but for this past year I really focused on strength training. I lifted weights and I tried a bunch of programs from different influencers, but sort of I couldn't find a program that really fits my needs.

So I kept buying and buying and buying programs, but then I came to the conclusion that nothing really satisfied me, almost, and it's not really aligned with my goals. Hello guys, I'm currently at the gym. I'm about to do my workout using the CoPilot app.

The great thing is that your PT will assign the exact workout routine that you need to follow. Basically, the only thing you need to do is open your app, follow the instructions, and boom, you're done. You don't need to think about anything when it comes to your workout.

So today I'm going to do a Pilates-style workout because I've been obsessed with Pilates and I wanted to incorporate some Pilates movements into my workouts. Yesterday I had a weightlifting session, so today is a Pilates session. Let's go!

Okay, so the first exercise is prone frog rate prone frog kick 12 times. The fire hydrant. [Music]

Is side plank lip leg abduction. Let's go! You click the button, complete set, and then the timer shows the rest time. You just follow the instructions, and also your PT will add notes about whatever you need to be careful about when you're working out so that you will have the correct form.

We're going to do some bodyweight squats. [Music]

Thank you! Once the workout ends, you can give feedback to your PT. It asks how difficult it was, how the app was, and also how the workout went. You can also add additional feedback to your PT so that she can adjust—or she can adjust the next workout just for you. Whatever preference you have, you can just let your PT know and they will adjust your routine accordingly.

So let me give feedback to my PT so that she will create another workout session for me and she can adjust everything. If you had back pain or any sort of surgery, you can let your PT know and they will adjust for you.

Another feature that I really like is that it gives you a calendar like this so that you can see how many days you worked in that month and how consistent you've been. It's a really nice reminder, and it's really nice to visualize. I highly recommend it.

The great thing is that your PT will also adjust to your lifestyle; you know, life is unpredictable. Sometimes I travel, other times I have many deadlines, and my PT adapts my workout schedule accordingly. You know, sometimes I've done shorter workouts, sometimes just like stretches, and other times I just took a rest.

It's also much more affordable than having an in-person coach. Also, you don't need any equipment; your coach is trained to help you live a better life with as much or as little equipment you have, so you can get a workout any time you want.

So if you're struggling with gym anxiety as a beginner, because I remember in the beginning I also had a very big gym anxiety—all of the guys around me were like huge and lifting big weights, and I was the only female lifting like small weights, even though that weight increased over time and I started to like squat more, you know, do some bicep curls and shoulder presses.

In the beginning, it's actually kind of scary to move from the cardio space to the weightlifting space, so I really understand that. But with CoPilot, you can start at home with baby steps, and your coach can adjust to you.

So if you're interested, click my CoPilot link to get a 14-day free trial with your own personal trainer. Thank you, CoPilot, for sponsoring this video.

You often feel unmotivated when we see the gap between our ideal self and current self. Having a big dream is nice, but we need to reverse engineer and break that goal into smaller milestones. Building a habit was really challenging for me because I have ADHD and I find routines extremely boring. Whenever I get out of that routine, getting back to that routine is really difficult for me.

So I prefer experimenting with different styles and spicing things up. I always wanted to become a Pilates girly, but I also really liked weightlifting too. And there's a whole debate going on online whether you should lift weights or do Pilates, but I just want to do both. Okay? I don't think you need to pick one.

So I told my PT, and she created a routine that has both. Right now I'm doing two to three days of weightlifting and two days of Pilates, and here and there going for walks. Regardless of what people say online, I think they complement each other. And most importantly, I never get bored because with Pilates you care about your posture, more about your core, and you also like move more inner muscles.

I don't know if we say that in Japanese; I'm not really sure if it's correct in English. But with weightlifting, you can focus on individual muscles more and you can do more progressive overload. It's also great for your dopamine release because every time you pick a weight and the next time you increase that weight, you have the sense of accomplishment and you get dopamine from that, which is really good for ADHD brains.

Also, the important thing is not being a perfectionist and being super honest with your scheduled budget and current physical capability. If you would go to YouTube videos or online forums, there are people saying that, "Oh, if you don't work out four to five times a week, what's the meaning of working out?" No! Everything is better than nothing, and I struggle with an all-or-nothing attitude a lot.

But working out for a year really taught me that small or big, any action is better than inaction. Your current schedule is maybe not allowing you to go to a gym, right? Some people say, "Oh, it's only an hour a day," but sometimes you have newborn kids, or maybe you just don't have a gym nearby.

You know, maybe there is no regular transportation, so for you to go to the gym is really difficult, or maybe your apartment doesn't allow you making noises. Anything is possible, right? That's why you shouldn't compare your goals with someone else's because everyone has a different starting point.

Maybe you have every reason you can't go for a walk or to the gym. You know, I spent the summer in Dubai and it's impossible to go for a walk because you will melt. Or maybe you can't afford anything right now, which is completely understandable.

You know, you can still start very small—small as just doing some simple stretches. Small or big doesn't matter; as long as you're taking a step forward. The amazing part was that when I started taking care of myself and my health, good things started happening, sort of like a butterfly effect.

I received new opportunities and reconnected with people from my past because I had more energy. Speaking of connections, my relationship with workouts also changed. You know, I used to think of them as a chore or a punishment to burn more calories, but now every time I put on my gym shoes, I'm just feeling this rush of excitement.

Also, going to the gym and doing workouts is just having me time. It's sort of like I'm reflecting on the thoughts in my head because, you know, if you have ADHD, you'll probably understand this. There's just a lot of things going on in your head. Sometimes I have two to three songs playing in my head and I'm trying to think something, but I can't focus.

But whenever I exercise, these thoughts calm down, and it was really quiet in my mind. I sort of get closer to myself, and it was a way to show love to myself, you know, just by doing workouts, just taking care of myself. I sort of proved to myself that I care about myself, if that didn't make sense.

Because of the workouts, the world felt a little less overwhelming. I'm not saying it solely because I exercise, but it created a butterfly effect. So don't fall into the perfectionism trap. My transformation wasn't a smooth process either, and there were many times I skipped a day.

You know, sometimes there is no progress. Sometimes you even get worse, but it's part of the journey, to be honest. And everyone's journey is also different. While exercise was my answer, yours might be something else. It could be writing, cooking, even gardening, journaling, I don't know.

The key is to find that one thing that brings you clarity and makes the world feel a little less chaotic. Because in the end, I know it sounds so cheesy, but life is a mix of good and bad moments, and highs and lows. Without the lows, you can't understand the highs; the lows allow you to appreciate the highs more.

With each experience and each step, we create our own unique story. Things haven't solved in my life. I have so many things I need to deal with, but we will get through this hard time. Create strong people, and strong people create good times.

As long as we choose to live another day, it means we're still able to fight. You got this! Don't give up and take care. Bye.