Out of work?
Keep working out
"Tough," said the 45-year-old Bay City resident, in USA who is
looking for a job in the construction industry.
It began six months ago when her employer downsized. Since then,
she's scoured online ads, applied for jobs, made follow-up calls,
attended job fairs, gone on interviews and tried her best to plot a
future.
The emotional drain has changed her relationship with something she
said she firmly believes in fitness.
"I always told myself that if I had more time, I'd be in the best
shape of my life," said Jaskiewicz, who has both a gym membership and
home gym. "But now that I've been unemployed, I have to focus on my
mental attitude. Even though I know that working out more helps with
that, some days I just want to crawl up in a little ball and stay in my
bed."
With Michigan unemployment numbers reaching heights not seen since
the 1980s, many people have difficulty putting into practice what they
know about exercise that it helps beat stress and keeps the mind sharp.
Take Heather Meyers, a 30-year-old from West Bloomfield. Meyers has
worked hard to keep hitting the recreation room at the Jewish Community
Center four days a week; she views exercise as a necessity akin to food
and shelter. But she's found obstacles.
"It's more difficult, to be honest, even though I have more free
time," said Meyers, who was laid off from her job at ePrize in December.
"When you have a schedule, you find yourself fitting the exercise in.
... Now, I don't have structure, so it's easy to say, 'I won't work out
today, but will tomorrow.' "
The price for not keeping the blood pumping is especially high for
the unemployed, according to the journal Demography.
The author, Kate W. Strully, studied statistics from three years and
came to the conclusion that when people lose their jobs, they're about
83 percent more likely to develop a new health condition like heart
disease or diabetes. Even those who later found jobs were more likely
than those with stable employment to have a new health problem.
Freepress
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