Depression and motivation.

MKEgal

Illyanka wrote:

what do you do when your brain is actively sabotaging your life and efforts to try and make it better?

BTDT.
Do small things that will help you feel better &/or accomplish something quickly.
Then cross them off your list & be happy that your list is shorter.
Build up successes, build up willpower.

Drink a glass of water.
Pee. (Wash your hands.)
Have something simple & nutritious to eat - maybe an apple with peanut butter & a glass of milk?
Brush your teeth.
Get dressed. Not your jammies, not sweats, actually dressed in real clothes. (Shoes optional indoors.)
Put on music you like.
Get some sunshine, or at least put a bright (100w) daylight spectrum bulb in the lamp you use most often. Better yet, get & use a light box for 20 min every morning.

How about walking around the block? If that's too much, start by going to the end of your driveway & come back. Then when you feel up to it, go to the next driveway. Eventually, get to the corner. You get the idea. Yes, it seems kind of ridiculous doing so little, but you're setting yourself up to succeed & building on your success.

When you get to the point where you want to go to the gym, do 5 minutes on the treadmill, then take a shower & go home. Cross it off your list.
The next day, do a couple minutes more.
Yes, it feels really stupid, but you can accomplish the small goals & will build on your successes, and most importantly you won't get burnt out!

Exercise has been shown to be as effective for many people as antidepressants. (Not everyone, no, but unless you're way overdoing it, or have other health problems, exercise won't hurt.)
Do what you can, track your successes & improvements. 2 weeks ago, you walked one day for 5 minutes. Today, wow - you've done 20, and it's your third time this week!

As for eating too much, I've found it MUCH easier to say no to myself at the grocery - don't buy things I know I'll overeat or are unhealthy - than to be moderate once something is in the house.
So yeah, once in a while I'll buy Oreos, but only every few months. Most of the time, I have a fruit bowl sitting on the kitchen table, lowfat yogurt in the fridge to throw in my lunch for work (with other healthy things), making it easy to succeed.

Illyanka

I can do yoga during winter since cold does not do well by my arthritis. (I'm in Indiana, it's cold as crap here. We have a few months before its decent again)

Walking can happen more when spring shows up.

lpark0805

I too have depression, anxiety and bipolar 2. I gained 90 lbs over the last two years when I was in a very dark place. Plus the mediation(s) cause weight gain. It's a vicious cycle because the meds help but the weight gain causes depression again.

I would love to keep in touch with this group so we can offer support to each other. I made several really good friends when I was in an outpatient treatment program in 2015. But I am the only one thy relapsed back into depression and feel like the only one that "failed" the class.

Thanks to everyone for some great advice. I am going to try the fish oil.

woznube7

Depression... LOVES food. I have 73lbs to lose, because of my comfortable dark place. So I am taking little steps, leaning on others for support, and continuing to come here, read posts like these, and become motivated and inspired all over again.

Keep coming back! You'll get through it. You are not alone!

davert123

Try and incorporate exercise (i.e. anything in which you move yourself). I have an anxiety disorder/depression and I know that after I became injured last year and stopped exercising my illness kicked my *kitten*. Getting into exercise,walking, jogging, swimming, jumping up and down in front of the TV is hard but it is worth it. Also with depression it may be worth trying to stop eating refined sugar completely for a few weeks as there is a lot of evidence that sugar can deepen depression in some people. You may not be one of them but it is really worth trying in case you are.

1skholloway

I am almost 48 years old and was diagnosed with depression over 15 years ago. It is now considered to be chronic major depression and is pretty much under control with medication. I do still have days when I get depressed though and there's nothing that I can do but hang on and survive until the depression is gone. I see a therapist for counseling and a psychiatrist for medication.

I have also had a major weight problem my entire life. Four years ago I used MFP and lost over 100 pounds. Early the next year I got bronchitis or something like that and had trouble getting well. My doctor told me to quit dieting (I hate that word) and exercising so I could get well. Unfortunately I took that as a license to eat anything. I got well but, unfortunately, I never went back to healthy eating or exercising much. So two years later the weight was back and I started MFP again.

During 2016, I lost 101 pounds by making healthy choices. I lowered my calorie intake to 1200 calories a day at first and exercised often. I got very sick around the end of September and between that being busy at work, I was unable to exercise for the rest of the year pretty much. November and December were stressful. I had some very depressed days. Exercise probably would have helped me to feel better but I didn't make the time or just didn't feel like it.

I hope to never gain the weight back but I know it's possible if I'm not ever vigilant because I have depression and I'm a food addict. I have to be ever vigilant. I have to do things I don't want to do. I say no to sweets and breads so I can wear a smaller size, feel better, and be healthier. I have to make myself exercise even when I don't want to go. I never regret the exercise once it's done. Heart disease and diabetes run in my family. I don't want either of those diseases if I can help it.

I tell you all this to let you know YOU can lose the weight and you can beat depression. Don't weight until you feel like exercising or eating healthy or making any other healthy choice. Just do something healthy today. The trainer at my gym says start small by reducing your intake of unhealthy foods by half instead of cutting them out entirely. :YOU can do that! I also find that it helps me to find something positive to occupy my mind. Maybe find something to do for someone else.

Lots of good suggestions have been made on these posts. Try some and find what works for you. I pray you have health insurance and are able to seek medical help. Even if you don't have that, you can find a way to conquer this. It will be more difficult but you have a great support system on MFP! I hope you have good support in person as well.

You will be in my thoughts. You may add me if you like. Best wishes in the coming year!

karleeggarner

Illyanka wrote: »

try2again wrote: »

I struggle with this too. It's very hard to make good choices when we go through these periods of not caring about life. I've lost a total of 75 lbs in the last 5 years. When I'm feeling decent & able to focus, I take off a little chunk of weight. When I'm not, I just aim to maintain as much as possible. Good habits (logging, basic nutrition) have saved me when I don't have the energy for much more.

There are a few practical things that have helped me. Omega 3s (fish oil) & B complex vitamins (of course you want to check with a doctor if you are on other meds). I was going through a really bad period this fall and realized I had been taking my fish oil sporadically at best. Got back on that and a friend recommended the B vitamins. I've been on those a little over a month & can't believe how much my head has cleared. I was looking into Sam e, which has a good track record with depression, but ended up not starting it since the others seemed to do the trick. You may want to look into it if you haven't already.

The other big thing has been exercise. I know- it's the hardest thing to make yourself do when you're depressed. But I have a rule. If I don't feel like it, mentally or physically for some reason, I have to do 5 minutes. If I'm still not feeling it, I can quit. I've never had to quit after 5 minutes in the 1 1/2 years I've been on MFP. It pretty much always involves music. Riding the stationary bike using my favorite playlist, or doing a dvd. It always gives me a boost, even if it is just short term. In fact, I started doing the bike thing just for the sake of listening to music & getting that mental boost. In good weather, I do a lot of walking. Nature is a great mood booster. Don't always feel like doing it when I start, but never regret it afterwards.

Motivation comes & goes whether you have depression or not. My philosophy is go for it when you're up to it, minimize the damage when you're not. We'll come out ahead in the end

I do like walking when the weather is decent but winter gives me an extra kick when I'm down because I just can't get out. I am trying to do some gentle yoga in the AM but it's hit or miss for me, again dependant on my mental state.

When we are done recovering from the holidays, I can definitely look into doing vitamins since meds are not a thing right now. I'm game for anything honestly because it has to be better then this.

I highly recommend a good dose of vitamin d also. I decided to stop taking depression medicine so that I could lose weight and I started having better circumstances at home so I wanted to see if I could stay in control off the medicine. While weaning off of it, things got pretty bad for me and I began thinking I made the wrong choice. But then I did research and read about how the vitamin B's and Omega 3s and vitamin d could make a significant difference in depression. I was already taking a multivitamin with all of these things but I decided to add an addition vitamin d. I notice my depression gets worse in the winter, mainly because it is cold outside so I rarely make it out there. I'm not getting the sunlight and natural vitamin d that my body needs. I have noticed a huge difference for me. It's been several weeks now of no depression meds and I'm thinking I'm going to be alright. Between the vitamins and making sure I get a good night's sleep, I have been feeling great and able to find the motivation to exercise daily and count my calories, maintaining a small deficit. I also think logging food and exercising keeps my mind busy. I can only say this has been helping me for a short period of time, but I'm hopeful it will continue to help in the long run. Good luck to you and keep reaching out. You'll be able to grab a hold of something that will pull you out as long as you keep reaching out.

karleeggarner

Also I got a fitbit charge 2 and I love it! It has various goals you can set, like steps a day, amount of water you drink, you can set a sleep schedule, it reminds you when you should get up and just move a little bit. This thing really keeps me going. I love it when I accomplish a goal because the watch vibrates and shows fireworks going off and it celebrates your accomplishment. This makes me feel so good! Feeling like I accomplished something! And it sends me encouragement and positive messages to help me along the way. This has made a world of difference to me, being a stay at home mom with 3 little ones, to go from feeling like I never get anything done in my days and feeling down on myself for being a"lazy mom" to accomplishing 5 goals a day that are solely to benefit MY well-being. I highly highly recommend the Fitbit charge2 as long as you start with small goals that you can accomplish and slowly stretch yourself to harder ones

Illyanka

I might look into the possibility of a fitbit when taxmas comes around. Right now I'm kicking about in a paycheck to paycheck sort of a thing.