How Fitness Saved My Life: My Journey from Depression to Strength

Hey everyone, my name is Tony and I write about living a more active lifestyle to battle depression and anxiety.

During my middle and high school years, I was an overweight, sleep-deprived, and depressed kid.

I lacked self-confidence in myself and would do things to please others, which led to people regularly walking all over me.

Because I didn’t want to be a burden on them, I would sit there and take EVERYTHING people would say about me.

It led me down a very nihilistic path where I wanted to end my life.

I hated how I looked, felt, and thought.

It was not until I hit the lowest point, however, that I started to make some changes.

I was unhappy with how I looked, so I started working out.

At first, I hated it... and then I noticed a couple of things.

I slept better.

I felt better.

I thought better.

And eventually, I started to look better.

After these changes, I was hooked.

My sleepless nights stopped.

My suicidal thoughts went away.

I became someone different.

An active lifestyle saved me: it helped me discover who I truly was beneath the depression and anxiety.

For years after, I would use exercise to manage my stress levels with college, my corporate job, and onwards.

And while I worked that corporate job, there was an entrepreneurial flame within me.

I wanted to help people out on their journeys.

And I discovered what my calling was in my experiences, my story.

I wanted to help more live actively to battle depression and anxiety.

Living with these things suppresses who we truly are as people.

They can consume us.

If I could help you, even just a bit, with a more active lifestyle, I will be doing my part.

And as such, I decided to not only write about this but create a movement around it.

I created Reforged to help others live a more active lifestyle to battle their darkest monsters.

Our mission is to help people discover who they truly are through activity.

An active body makes a more active mind.

And to me, movement has meaning.

Active movement can bring about meaning in your life.

Years ago, I realized I wanted to live when I was running my nearly 13-minute mile gasping for air.

Today, I want to show you that your life has meaning, and there's meaning in the struggle of pursuing to be greater than you are now.

I can’t wait to see what you’ll become.

Until next time!