Depression and Weight IssuesHave you been diagnosed with depression, are possibly on depression medication, and find it affects your weight loss efforts? Post here for support!
ok,so i already know NOT TO TRY AND LOSE WEIGHT when im depressed becuz its USELESS!!
having 2 deal with the depression and worry about your weight is just too much,especially if FOOD is your only source of happiness and anxiety relief when depressed.
but when i joined 3FC I was happy,motivated,etc...so i was like,ok let me try and get back on track,then a week later BOOM!
so i thats why i havent felt the need 2 post or log in here.
i guess i just wanted 2 rant.
im not bi-polar but my happiness and sadness have been going up and down quit often and its scary
It's a catch 22, isn't it? You get depressed so you eat badly and then you get depressed BECAUSE you ate badly. And then you get even more depressed because you don't want to be overweight anymore. Believe me, been there and done that. Many many times. Just ask the employees at McDonald's and KFC! But one day something clicked inside me and I found that having control over what I ate gave me a sense of control over my entire life. Including my moods. And when I got depressed, I worked out. That is the outlet I found for myself. It's not the same for everyone. I hope you find your outlet. I can feel your pain honey. I hope reading the posts on this message board will lift your spirits. You are NOT alone.
I started my weight loss "this time" (68 lbs ago after learning that I had without trying lost 20 lbs after sleep apnea treatment with a cpap). It was a real low-point in my life. I didn't have primary depression. My main issues were health-related. I was unable to work, and had health issues so severe that I spent most of the day in bed. I had severe secondary depression (as a result of an especially pessimistic diagnosis - later determined to be a misdiagnosis, thankfully).
I didn't have the energy or the ability to diet the way I always had (the way most of us are taught to) - gung ho, all-or-nothing, full-steam-ahead or full-steam-reverse.
I couldn't even remotely have succeeded if I had tried to diet by normal means. I knew that I'd regain it all if I went back on the diet rollercoaster. I needed to maintain the loss and try to lose some more, so I figured I had to come up with a way I hadn't tried before (and it had to be easy and low-stress or I wouldn't be able to accomplish it, not with all the stuff going on in my life at the time).
What I was willing and able to do, was make small (sometimes microscopic) changes, so long as I didn't "hang" all my hopes and dreams on those small changes yielding immediate, or even noticeable results.
I get goofy when I'm too concerned with the scale. I'm tempted to make unsafe and unpleasant changes to see those numbers move FAST. I knew that wouldn't work.
So I started by deciding to only make changes I could see myself committing to forever even if they resulted in no weight loss at all - and at first they didn't. For two years, I lost no more weight (but I didn't gain weight either. Just maintaining my weight was a success I hadn't had before. Most of my life, I was either rapidly gaining or rapidly losing). Maintaining any weight loss was a fairly new experience.
As soon as one change had become habit, and I was comfortable doing so, I added another change (either a stronger version of the change I had made a habit, or an entirely different change).
Some of the changes I made were so small, it would be insulting to babies to call them baby steps. I had to keep the stress level low, and I had to make changes that were "easy" enough that even on a bad day, most would be doable.
I'm not saying that this is the only way you can succeed, but it is an approach worth considering. I think the biggest obstacle isn't which changes you aim for, it's finding a way to make it easier to stay on plan, than it is to fall off. Most traditional diet plans are not like that. Most (at least they way they're usually done) make giving up seem perfectly reasonable. We don't give up because we're idiots, we give up because the way we're doing makes giving up easier than hanging in there (largely because we consider slow success such dismal failure that gaining weight doesn't seem that much worse in comparision).
When I first tried to lose weight, I failed because I was doing a lot of things all at once. I got so stressed and burned out that I simply gave up. Now, I am learning that making small changes count a lot. I started with getting used to drinking eight glasses of water daily. Now that I'm used to that, I'm now trying out reducing my carb intake. Just making small changes one at a time really counts a lot.
thanks 2 everyone 4 your responses and advice.
and i do know that i have 2 take it one day at a time and focus on whats important.
i guess at the moment i have 2 work on my mindset,then the weight loss will fall into place.
im going 2 see my psychiatrist on march 8th(gonna try zoloft this time)
plus my mom is going 2 have surgery on the 25th of this month so thats added stress,sadness and anxiety
but again,thanks 2 everyone 4 your responses and support
I know just how you feel! I have severe depression and when it gets too bad its like all those bad foods will make me feel better, I have no interest in anything. Its a daily struggle but I am really hoping that this site can help me with it. Sometimes its just nice to know other people can relate to you!
Weight loss for me is more of a try this, try that sort of deal. If I don't want to be on a diet and just want to binge, I won't commit myself. I've learned to give myself time to think about what I really want and why I really want it. I've been dieting since I was 12, I didn't have my first diet breakthrough until I was 20, I'm 22 going on 23 and I'm trying to get over my 15lb hump. It's hard because after losing weight you feel great and then you end up eating all over again. HOWEVER, when you want something bad enough, you'll commit. I wouldn't start unless you are ready. If you're not ready and you fail it can potientially discourage you even more. I think even when you're not dieting you should log on. You never know what someone might post, it could change the way you view things.You do anything you allow yourself to!Go for it girl!
thanks for your responses Tamlynne31 and PrimeTime.
i went 2 my psyc. dr last monday and he gave a prescription 4 seroquel and its an amazing drug 4 me.(no more racing thoughts,sadness,etc)
but i have pigged out only becuz my mom just had surgery the day after my b-day
i ate a whole medium sized dominoes pizza yesterday too
i needed a "PIZZA HUG" lol
but im back
this morning i felt GREAT!!did 12 mins of cardio.
i would have liked 2 have done more,but at least i did something.
i just know i have 2 take it one day at a time.
baby steps.
i just hate that feeling of starting over again.that terrifies me.
always starting over.
I had a time in my life when I was depressed and I was able to use diet and exercise to feel better. It gave me something I could control. Every time I was bored or depressed, I would walk, and walk, and walk. As I started losing weight, I gained confidence and felt happy, so I walked more...Of course, I've had times too when the only thing I wanted was a cookie too (or a whole pie). Now, I'm somewhere in the middle. You need to take care of you. Don't stress the things that you can't handle right now.
ok,so i already know NOT TO TRY AND LOSE WEIGHT when im depressed becuz its USELESS!!
having 2 deal with the depression and worry about your weight is just too much,especially if FOOD is your only source of happiness and anxiety relief when depressed.
but when i joined 3FC I was happy,motivated,etc...so i was like,ok let me try and get back on track,then a week later BOOM!
so i thats why i havent felt the need 2 post or log in here.
i guess i just wanted 2 rant.
im not bi-polar but my happiness and sadness have been going up and down quit often and its scary
so just wanted 2 rant i guess
It's not useless at all, i suffer from bouts of depression myself and became accustomed to eating for solace only to find it brings further dissapointment later.
The last couple of weeks i have been slammed hard mentally, mostly down with the veil of glumness settled over me, tryed my damndest to break free, stayed on plan as best i could, exercised daily ( a monumental effort ) tryed to keep positive and keep some lines of communication going ( continued to keep in touch here ) although it was an effort, i'm finally feeling like my equilibrium is asserting itself and i am coming out the other side again, thankful that i didn't fall off the wagon, true i had no spectacular progress but i managed to maintain and that is a win in itself.
Now to look towards the future with a renewed sense of positive worth once again.
You'll find that there are a lot of women here in the same boat as you. I'm living proof that it gets better. For the last few winters I've been getting S.A.D.- I almost had to drop out of school this semester because I couldn't get out of bed and get to school/do my work etc.
Not so coincidentally, my weight gains over the past 5 years also come about during this time. I get depressed, and overeat/binge, especially on addictive foods that included refined sugar and flour. Which makes me feel good for a little while- then much worse.
Now that you are on some good meds, you can start to work on the binging. A shift in perspective really helps. Each day is starting all over again, heck, each meal and snack is starting all over again. What you ate last week doesn't matter, you can't change it! But you can choose what to put in your mouth right now or at the next meal. If you get a craving, come on 3FC and post about it, or read other posts about similar things. You may want to read up on 'mindful eating'. There's also some awesome ladies in the overeater's anonymous group.
Tohisha, you have to get to a place where you love yourself enough to make a change. You're worth it, don't you know that?
Commit to a small change every day that you can live with. Before long you will be on your way and it will happen so gradually you will put something on one day and you'll find that it's too big for some reason...
Go for it. The only thing you have to lose is - the weight.
I was flicking through Anytime on Sky and there was a weight loss programme about a young girl on MTV which i decided to watch ... she did extremely well and it motivated me to get off my arse and do some exercise today even though i have been feeling down because i am overweight and i feel like i am overweight because i am feeling down! I saved the programme to watch when i need some inspiration
All the lovelies here are not alone and i realised only yesterday with the binge thread that the things we feel and do are shared by everyone on here to one degree or another so no one needs to feel alone and can't vent because it's the best home i have found for exactly that
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH 2 EVERYONE FOR YOUR RESPONSES AND POSITIVE WORDS AND SUPPORT.
the seroquel turned on me after only 1 week
SO i stopped it and actually felt better(weird)
im beginning 2 think in addition 2 depression,i suffer from PMDD
dr. gave me LAMICTAL last week and all it does is make me feel like i have the flu.
another reason i hardly log in is becuz im so used 2 secluding myself and withdrawing when i have problems.
right now im taking st johns wort and valerian root(OFF THE MEDS) and i feel good.
hopefully i can do some kind of exercise 2day
THANKS AGAIN 2 EVERYONE
I dont even know why i bothered
