I know all the text books say exercise more, eat better and feel better, but so far it hasn't been my experience. And anyone I know who has done it has only had very mild depression not full blown depression like me

has anyone here changed their diet and noticed an ongoing improvement in mood or reduction in anxiety. i would love to hear your stories and be inspired

I don't think anyone's depression has ever been cured by losing weight but I'm sure it has helped immensely. I remember dropping 150 lbs and feeling soooo much better, but not fully cured. It did help my anxiety ALOT !!!!

But, one thing I have learned is diet accompanied by exercise helps even moreso.... key word...exercise

Hugs !!!

If we can conjecture that some anxiety can be caused by a feeling that 'things' are barrelling around and past us, out of control .... There might be a sense of empowerment and control in learning to run your body more healthily. This should give you a comforting feeling of accomplishment.

It's pretty tricky to fool with assessing each others level of depression. It's quite quite subjective.

I can think of enough to say to put y'all to sleep ... I'll stop now and we'll see what the others have to say.

Leenie ~ I wasn't talking about weight loss leading to better mood but dietary changes. if you read all the books they rave on about how eliminating sugar and eating more fresh fruit and veges will help your mood but so far for me it hasn't worked

I struggled with pretty bad depression until I was about 23... that's when I changed my diet and started working out! My family seems to have a lot of depression issues, and thusfar, I'm the only one who's managed to keep away from the zoloft, because when I feel crummy, I know it's mostly my diet and lack of activity. Once I get going, I'm back to feeling good again. My boyfriend actually told me the other day "You seem a lot happier since you joined the gym."

Cardio & weight-training seem to release some sort of endorphins (or maybe it's just all the oxygen?) when you're working out, too. I don't know this for a fact - I just know that I feel good after training, and it would explain the "high" people get from exercise, and that whole "exercise is addicting" thing.

If you're dietting, you should be cutting a bit of the "bad" fats and replacing (some of) them with "good" fats from thing like nuts, seeds, and fish. Among these "good" fats are Omega fatty acids, which have been shown to improve mood and fight depression.

Also, being properly hydrated (drinking enough water) has been shown to fight depression. So with all those angles working for you, diet and exercise does help fight the depression!

So, go, lift some weights, eat a salmon, drink lots of water... get a good night's rest, and feel good about yourself, and keep it up!

--Janis

Janis thank you thank thank you

that was just the sort of thing i wanted to hear, the personal experiences of someone who has been through depression and noticed a difference when changing their eating habits

interesting with the water i was drinking 3+ litres of water a day and got told to cut it back to about 2 litres and it has helped me. i was drinking too much

i have tried the increasing good fats thru food and supplements and haven't had a noticeable improvement even on high doses of supplements. i read the studies and the recommended amounts (which are way more than the packets recommend) and it didn't help

it seems like exercise is the thing that helps you the most - would that be right? what are your eating habits like busker?

Regular excercise helps boost your serotonin levels. Because it isn't ongoing, you have to excercise regularly to gain the more long term effects. I'm not so good at excercise yet.

I think I qualify as a depression survivor who is beating the weight loss odds.

I've been on medication since 1994.. diagnosed clinical depression.. the whole shebang.And I have tried several meds until I hit the right one. Medication only takes you so far... it didn't cure my depression, but made it so I didn't want to crawl in a hole anymore. coming the rest of the way out was up to me.

Diet and Exercise BOTH matter. Staying away from processed foods, excess sugar AND the biggie.. regular sweaty endorphin creating exercise!!

The change isn't something that I notice overnight.. not even in 6 months, but when I look back i can see how far I have come. I have three reasons to exercise: Managing depression, staving off disease and weight loss. One should be enough, but I was stubborn and needed three :P

You have to keep at it, even if you don't notice a change because you need to do those things for good health anyway, right?

And that is me getting off my soapbox

I don't know about "curing" depression, but I know that when I'm exercising and eating right (especially a diet low in refined carbs, high in fruits & veggies) it does improve my mood noticeably. It takes both, the exercise and the eating. I'd say that for me, the combination is almost as effective as Zoloft, without the side effects. And the improvement in mood has nothing to do with what I happen to weigh at the time.

thanks linda and margarita. i guess i watch too many makeover shows where they diet and exercise and after only a couple of weeks they are raving about how they are sleeping better and feeling happier etc etc.

I agree - it takes all of them, and it's a gradual process you see in retrospect kind of thing. I think doing weights gives me the biggest "pump" though. Also, when I feel sluggish and don't want to go to the gym, or I hurt from the last time, I find once I go, I feel better. My mood's improved, the soreness goes away, menstrual cramps seem to go away, (or at least don't require heavy doses of asprin), I feel less stressed...

Weight-training and cardio are blissfully relaxing, interestingly. You're so concerned with good form and counting your reps, or just pushing through the burn to finish your 40 minutes on the treadmill that you're not thinking about other things going on in your life. Hanging out in the sauna afterwards, or just having those couple of hours a week to yourself are great. Back when I had a house, I used to find some similar qualities in mowing the lawn. It's just a nice, mindless chore where you can think, but can't over-think. I also think counting reps over and over has some sort of meditation-quality to it.

Also, you feel more active, you want to get out and do stuff, you want to "live!" I decided I was going to hike Mt. Washington. Once I got to the base, I thought, "What, am I nuts? I'm not in THAT good shape, I'm still overweight, and everybody passing me is tanned, lean, and looks like a seasoned mountain-hiker." But hours on the stairmaster had taught me about perseverence, and how to just keep stepping until you got there. 6.5 hours later when I got to the top, it was an incredible high and an incredible experience I can use as a metaphor for any great challenge in my life. I certainly wasn't the fastest one up, but I can say >I< did it.

When you're in shape, eating right, exercising, you can participate in life, set all kinds of lofty goals, and know how to suck it up and just do it. Instead of looking at this huge mountain in front of you, or each individual rock in the trail and getting depressed, you learn to pick 20' intervals at a time and just plug along. I think that's the greatest thing losing weight & exercise taught me - perseverence, smaller portions, and life doesn't have to pass you by while you're hiding in the closet with your bag of doritos feeling fat and out of shape. There's nothing to lift the depression like being able to go out into the sunlight, keep up with everyone, and have fun.

So instead of worrying about the short term, or immediate results, just concentrate on today, this set, this rep... take a piece at a time, and just keep plugging along, and then once in a while, look back, and instead of criticizing yourself, "Oh, I only lost x pounds," celebrate! "I lost X pounds!" Any time you get off the couch and do something to improve yourself is a reason to be proud. Every time you make a goal and meet it, it's a reason to be proud. If your goals are too big, break them down into manageable chunks, and celebrate each little success!

--Janis

my attitude to exercise is ok, i know it's important to do it and i often feel restless and take a walk to relieve it

the food tho i find very hard to focus on long term rewards when i am getting a short term fix from my ice cream or burger or whatever else it is i grab

I give myself one "wild card" per week. I can eat whatever I want. A burger, or a chocolate-fudge-suprise dessert, or whatever. I just have to make sure I make it until Sunday without "cheating" again. Again, short-term attainable goals. You can't deprive yourself of EVERYTHING or you won't stick with it. You have to learn to shift your eating to "good" stuff 95% of the time. As much as I hate to pass up that piece of cheesecake, I can tell myself, "Well, I used my freebie this week - I can have the cheesecake on Sunday." It's enough to put it out of sight & out of mind. By the time I get home, I've already forgotten about the cheesecake and grab some grapes to munch on if I'm hungry.

I find it's easier to get through the week without cheating than the weekend... so I try to hold off until Friday or so, and then might use it then, or Saturday. That's enough to get it out of my system, so on Sunday I can pass easily enough. (And if I can't, I can have another freebie... I just have to make sure I make it until the next Sunday without cheating again). Just remember that if you use your freebie on Sunday, you'll have to make it through a whole week. So it's easier to push yourself just a few more days.

There IS a certain amount of will-power when making a change like weight-loss. You just can't let it get to you when you slip, or don't lose anything one week. There will be bumps in the road as you go along, but if you stick with it, you'll see results.

--Janis

yup there is a certain amount of will power and mine is lousy. when i'm balanced i have no problem listening to my body and only eating what i need. but most of the time i'm not balanced and when i'm like that it overrides everything. something for me to work on!!!

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