I've been to therapy only a few times, right after my mom died, and I didn't get much from it - what really helps me is exercise. I'm a worrier. Always have been, and I think I always will be, but exercising daily, especially cardio, really helps me and alleviates the symptoms and decreases my panic attacks.
I want to start the C25K program - bought running shoes and everything! But my weeks have been all broken up lately. When I move (and don't have a gym anymore) I'm definately going to start it, but I hope that happens before then. I am currently headed to the gym to "fake run" on the elliptical
Stella: I highly recommend C25K. Despite playing 10 years of competitive basketball, I was never a runner and conditioning was always my biggest weakness. Now, I love running. I do it for me and it really helps with the anxiety/stress management as we all have been discussing.
Therapy is all about finding the right therapist. If you don't like/don't feel like you can trust your therapist, try someone new. I literally went through 4 or 5 therapists until I found the one who worked for me.
Also, if you ever feel like trying again, I recommend searching for a cognitive behavioral therapist, specifically. It's (arguably) the best form of treatment for anxiety disorders.
I have a slightly different opinion on this. I of course don't think that weight loss is a magic cure all by any means but when I started my journey I decided that I wanted to work on myself as a whole...inside and out. I felt like I was missing out on life and I really wanted to change that. I work everyday on having a positive outlook on life and it has greatly improved my day to day living. I am more willing to go out and try new things and with the weight loss I feel like I can now. My confidence level as skyrocketed and I feel wonderful about the way I look and I can't wait until I reach goal and see all my hard work pay off!
I think it has a lot to do with your mind set going into losing weight. I never expected the weight loss to fix all my issues. I decided to work on them just as I worked on my body and I have noticed improvements in both aspects.
I agree with Kswood, I know that weight loss wont solve everything, but it will solve some things for me- i dont have to worry about the health repercussions of being overweight for example
I absolutely can appreciate the benefits of weight loss and obviously there are many including being healthier, feeling healthier, assisting the control of my anxiety, lighter TOMs, confidence, being a good example for future children, feeling of accomplishment, this list goes on and on. My intention was not to diminish these aspects of weight loss at all.
I was just foolhardy enough to think that the act of losing weight would somehow revolutionize the way I thought about myself. I completely over-estimated the impact that physically weighing less would have on my mind/mental well-being. Also, my weight loss is and was always motivated by shallow goals. My health was never particularly threatened, I was never at risk of not being able to have children, my life was never severely impacted my by weight, I was never "obese" as medically defined.
There are ladies, probably like you, would come to weight loss with deep motives and goals beyond the superficial. This probably makes weight loss more fulfilling for you because there is substance behind it. I never had substance, thus my results are equally superficial as my goals.
I hope that made sense to someone. I admire those individuals who have deeper meaning in their weight loss.
Last edited by Digging Deep; 09-16-2009 at 08:57 PM.
Reason: typing error corrected
I've always had a pretty healthy self-esteem, though I was "taught" by my mother (watching her battle her weight) that all these wonderful things were going to happen me when "I finally lost all of the weight," and all these wonderful things that I couldn't do until "I finally lost all of the weight." Things like date, and get married, and swim, and dance.
In the mid-90's, I discovered the "fat acceptance movement." There were and are a lot of controversial opinions in the movement, but the one that changed my life was the idea that at any size, a person is entitled to make as much of their life as they are able to, without apology. I did not owe the world an apology for having to put up with the sight of me. I didn't have to wait until I weighed a certain amount before I could date, swim, dance, walk or hike in public, get on a roller coaster, socialize, go to college, go to graduate school, get a great job (all things I've done while weighing between 250 and 394 lbs, and things I've seen people on this site list as things they're going to do when they reach their goal weight).
I have a great life - even though it isn't the same life I'll live when I'm at my goal weight, but if I had postponed all of the things I've enjoyed and accomplished until "when I get thin," or even "when I get under 250 lbs," I wouldn't have done any of those things. I'd be 43 and still waiting to do all of those things.
I think that being happy is a lot like weight loss. The both are largely choices, even though they don't always seem that way.
Yeah, I'm a tennis player, I never had to run. I'm good at quick bursts of speed, not prolonged. I think I always shied away from running b/c of this (and my lovely shin splits). I even downloaded the C2K app on my iPhone, I just want to have one week where I can consistently do it, and that hasn't happened. Maybe next week, but I'm going to Seattle.
As for therapy - I'm very fortunate to have a best friend who's a therapist. While I know its not the same thing, she's actually helped me a lot with behavior modification - at least in controlling my attacks.
Over the past 10 years I've learned to control stuff through modification, as well as exercise.
My problem is just that I worry too much, then I get nervous, and it goes downhill. I'm actually really awesome in a crisis situation, I don't panic if I don't have time to think about it, I just do. Its the anticipation that will have me hyperventilating or not eating.
I also grew up in a house where we didn't talk...about anything...so I kind of don't know how, that's why the therapist didn't pan out. I just didn't know what to say - I feel the way I feel, but I don't know how to verbalize it well. Apparently after my mom died, my dad was the most worried about me because I just don't say anything (as opposed to my sister who says EVERYTHING) and he was freaked out by it. My response was - okay, for 26 years we don't talk about sh**, now you want me to pour my heart out? Doesn't work, buddy.
But, I'm also with kswood - when I started this it was more to fix myself as a whole, not just weight loss. My mom, grandmother, and great grandfather (all in the same line) died of cancer - so my main goal is to be a healthier person in general. Not being obese, eating healthy foods, and all of that (I expected) will contribute to me being a little big saner. Not totally, but maybe just a little bit
Stella: I totally relate to the sports thing. For me, it's so much more rewarding to work out for myself rather than to do it as a part of a team or something that is mandatory. It also makes me shy away from workout partners, but hey, that's just me.
It's awesome that you have the support of a friend that you can talk to. I think that therapy has made me too willing to share my feelings. Lol. Although, I'm finding it difficult to articulate my thoughts to everyone as accurately as I would like...
It also makes me shy away from workout partners, but hey, that's just me.
ME TOO. The most I can do is have a "gym buddy" - just someone that I can go to the gym with, but then we go our separate ways. The biggest hurdle - for me - is getting in the door.
But I must say, this site has done wonders for motivating me to get my butt to the gym
ME TOO. The most I can do is have a "gym buddy" - just someone that I can go to the gym with, but then we go our separate ways. The biggest hurdle - for me - is getting in the door.
But I must say, this site has done wonders for motivating me to get my butt to the gym
HAHAHA. This site is more inspirational for me than anything. This is only the second thread I have ever started but getting to comment and hear everyone's stories, especially their successes is so much fun. I get excited for other people. Lol. So, everyone, chances are if I congrats you on something, I am typing while bouncing around in my desk chair, being excited for you.
I learned 2 things today that are kind of in the same theme of this thread:
1. As some of us have discussed, repetitive motion (biking, running, walking rather than yoga, weightlifting, aerobics) is super effective for assisting in relieving anxiety. No wonder us anxiety disorder people get hooked on running.
2. Most people with anxiety also have blood sugar conditions. (I'm hypoglycemic.) And monitoring your blood sugar can actually be vital to success in controlling anxiety and weight loss.
I knew there was some reason I attended college! (HAHAHAHA.)
