[loveit]

now i kno with depression comes anxiety. but i am also OCD and when a really bad anxiety attach hits me i begin to clean. and Why is this bad becuase its 3 am in the morning and i cant sleep. and i get hungry. my medication makes me hungry instead of sleepy and eating at 3am is bad. i have alot of problems in the past couple weeks and my anxiety is bad.

i kno my tracker says i lost 5lbs i already gain that back and probably more.


when i get hungry i try to eat carrots, celery, barries. almonds things that will not harm me but like every women CHOCOLATE is my weakness.i hate this i hate it so much Why me?

[Passionista]

I'm sorry you're having a rough time. I have anxiety too, and sleep very little. I hope you are able to just get through this and can relax soon.

[walking2lose]

Hang in there. I have a bit of anxiety too, and yes, it sucks royally (always have been an insomniac too).

[loveit]

this scares me alot becuz they say that women that dont get at least 8hours os sleep are more likely to gain weight. and eating late is even worse.

[rockinrobin]

As far as sleep goes - on a good night, I sleep 6 hours. And that's a rarity, usually it's less. Sometimes way less. So it IS possible to lose weight, lots of it, and keep it off.

So you say when hunger hits, you try to stick to veggies and fruits (watch out for the almonds, those calories add up quickly) - but end up turning to chocolate - ummm, so why in the world is the chocolate in your home???? You must realize that this food is doing you more harm than good and get it out of your house, no ifs, ands or buts. You can't eat it if it's not there. After what may be a tough couple of weeks of your not giving into the cravings - no matter what - you won't even miss it. Most of this is just habits that you've gotten used to it. But luckily that habit CAN be broken. But you've got to set yourself up for success. Get rid of it. Stop thinking you can get away with having it at home, and sneaking in a little bit of it.

When I need my chocolate fix I turn to NEstle 20 calorie fat free hot chocolate. You can't shovel it down, it takes time to drink and is VERY filling and satisfying.

Make yourself a plan, map out your foods in advance - even in the evenings - and stick to it. Work past the initial, temporary discomfort of telling yourself no. Let the old habits fade and bring in the new healthy ones. Let THOSE become automatic to you and the weight will come off and stay off.

[airbear]

As a person who has suffered from anxiety attacks, I feel for you.
I would definitely eliminate the chocolate, not only for weight loss but because it contains caffeine and will only make the anxiety worse. I'd eliminate all caffeine really.
I understand the cleaning though, it is a good way to use up that adrenaline rush you get from the attack.
Hoping you feel better!

[srmb60]

I'm going to suggest that you do a bit of reading about anxiety and foods and vitamin supplements. There are a few things (simple changes) that can make a huge difference.

[airbear]

I am in total agreement with SusanB.

[Lori Bell]

I also suffer from anxiety, and have had some pretty serious attacks in the past. I often self medicated with booze and sugar only to find out that these things made it worse in the long run. I take a small dose of xanax every once in a while but what has helped more than anything is a good diet free of processed crap, sunshine and excercise, (I excercise by doing strenuous chores, preferably outdoors...in the sun.)

Like Robin, I have to wonder why you even keep choclate in your house? If you have these mini-binge attacks at 3am, it's not like you are running to the supermarket to pick up a candy bar...for some reason you had to have stocked up on that during a normal shopping trip...meaning you have planned for such things. Sorry, but that is not a good plan if you are trying to lose weight.

ALSO, as weird as this sounds, during my reduction period...when I was activly losing weight, occasionally I would have periods were the anxiety was really, really bad...and if I just worked through it, without any self medication, and got plenty of good excercise I ALWAYS would lose a large chuck of weight that week. For me the anxiety seemed to really burn the fat.

[rockinrobin]

When I first responded to this post the mention of anxiety attacks had not come up, it was only after I initially posted that someone brought it up.
The OP mentioned anxiety, but not anxiety attacks. When it did come up after I posted, it reminded me of how I used to suffer terribly from panic attacks. Just awful, awful think you are going to die attacks that lasted waaay too long.

And since I began to eat well and got my weight under control - no more panic attacks.

Though unfortunately, oddly enough, I did have a couple of them (which I was lucky enough to nip in the bud) a couple of weeks ago. Not to go into detail, but I am going through an incredibly high stress period right now - some for good reasons (making my second wedding for DD #2 just 10 weeks after making one for DD#1), and some very not good stress. But like I said I was able to talk myself down from them fairly quickly.

I do think the best *medication* is eating well and exercise. Not only does it give us the best chance at avoiding some horrific debilitating and deadly diseases - but it also one of the best cure alls for depression and other mental diseases.

I don't think enough is spoken about or even known about just how huge a factor being a healthy weight and eating well/exercise is to our mental health.

[loveit]

I have 3 year old and like every kid that likes chocolate i keep small things like syrup,cookies, and mini snickers from past birthday partys. but i have found my self before at 2am at walmart getting chocolate and ice cream. agian becuz of the anxiety i need to be moving and if i stay in the house i feel like going insane. and i go out to the store gas station anything to try make me tired but i end up eating chocolate or taco bell

[Onederchic]

Originally Posted by loveit

I have 3 year old and like every kid that likes chocolate i keep small things like syrup,cookies, and mini snickers from past birthday partys. but i have found my self before at 2am at walmart getting chocolate and ice cream. agian becuz of the anxiety i need to be moving and if i stay in the house i feel like going insane. and i go out to the store gas station anything to try make me tired but i end up eating chocolate or taco bell

Why not try some low intensity exercise instead of going for food?

[rockinrobin]

Originally Posted by loveit

I have 3 year old and like every kid that likes chocolate i keep small things like syrup,cookies, and mini snickers from past birthday partys. but i have found my self before at 2am at walmart getting chocolate and ice cream. agian becuz of the anxiety i need to be moving and if i stay in the house i feel like going insane. and i go out to the store gas station anything to try make me tired but i end up eating chocolate or taco bell

Well if the anxiety gives you the need to move, I agree with Onederchic - move - but not to Walmart. Use that need to move to your advantage - exercise. Clean the house. Organize the closets, the drawers. Have a plan in place for what you will do when the *feeling of having to have chocolate* hits.

You've gotten into some bad habits, but luckily, habits CAN be broken. You have to have a strategy in place though as you try to break those habits. You also must push yourself and not give into these feelings. You don't have to have something just because you want it. You have to make reasonable, mature, responsible decisions - just like I'm sure you do multiple times a day as to the well being of your daughter.

Push yourself. Don't give into those cravings as hard as it may be. The first time WILL be hard. But you must work past the discomfort. You will feel wonderful. And then you will repeat the process when it happens again - and again. But then eventually it will become easier and easier to resist, and the cravings will be further and further between and your night time drives and chocolate runs will be a thing of the past.