For my advocacy project I plan on talking about the mental health benefits that come from exercise and the correlation between mental health and physical well-being. For me personally, I had a hard time staying consistent with going to the gym when I was focused on how it would affect my appearance because it made the gym a negative experience for me. However, when I started focusing on the endorphins I got from exercising and how beneficial it was for me mentally, it became something I really want to do every day. Not only that, but being physically stronger and more-in shape correlates to better mental health, self9mage, and confidence.

For this project I would be encouraging people to take the specific action of bettering their physical and mental health through exercise. This can be done a lot of different ways, like following a workout plan, finding a fitness educator to look up to, or picking a time of day that is most beneficial for you to go and sticking to it. There are endless different ways to exercise, from weight lifting to long walks to cycling classes to yoga. The first step to take is to go once, and set a goal for yourself.

As an audience, I think this is most important for people our age to hear because so many people are experiencing mental health issues and burn-out from school. I think it’s important for everyone to take the time out of your day to make yourself feel a little better. It’s easy to convince yourself you don’t have time or that it’s not important enough to make the time to do, but it has improved my mood so much that I want others who may be struggling to try it as a way of improving their mood.

There are a lot of benefits to working out. People our age definitely value physical appearance/fitness. In addition to that, thought, most of us also value a positive mindset and good mental health, as well as a sense of personal accomplishment.