The power of mental health in weight loss

howkat122

Hi all,

You've heard it before: I've been a long time yoyo dieter due to depression, anxiety, and other mental health complications. Along with that, I come from a low-income household where food was cheap, processed, and not nutritious. All these have significant impact on your weight and your ability to be active.

Despite dedicating my career to mental health advocacy and counseling, I never really gave myself the same support I give others. All day long I sign people up for counselors. Psychiatrists, and cheer them on as they take on life. Just like with my diet, I've yoyo'd with getting my own mental health support. I've tried many different anti depressants and anti anxiety medication without much luck. I would take it for a month and never return to my follow up because I hated the side effects. This was mostly due to seeing my general practice doctor, rather than a trained psychiatrist.

Since seeing a psychiatrist I've tried one medication (Wellbutrin). I wanted to cry tears of joy and couldn't believe I wasn't having any crazy side effects for the first time. I was able to get a month in without stopping and happily went to my follow up appointment to share my success. After reflecting upon that first month I couldn't believe the results. No more constant feeling of dread and exhaustion. Control over my thoughts and eating habits associated with them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not singing down the street and dancing on rainbows, but the difference in just the brain fog that comes with mental illness alone suddenly vanished.

This is the first time in my life that I've had control over my eating habits without feeling like I'm on a strict diet. It's like my brain has the ability to awknowledge pros and cons and signals that "hey, you deserve to not feel like *kitten* after that cup of ice cream, maybe just take a bite instead." Not my usual, "I'll just take one bite *one cup layer* what happened?!... oh well I'll try again tomorrow, might as well top this off with a baguette!" *REPEAT*

I can't express enough the difference just having clarity and peace of mind makes when you're trying to get healthy. When at my worst I could barely get out of bed, how was I supposed to even think of going to the gym? Even when I know that it literally would give me endorphins to make me feel better.

Depression is like an additional 100lbs added to your weight that isn't visible to the eye. It so often goes unawknowledged and the stigma in our society prevents so many worthy people of this feeling of liberation. I've lost 33lbs in the last couple of months just simply by having control and confidence over what I want to eat. I'm able to control my proportions without feeling like I'm not giving myself everything I need to be full. This is probably something that needs to be experienced for yourself before you can believe someone else. But wow, I feel so obligated to share my story and let people know who may be struggling with mental health conditions to seek help if you can. If you're nervous, talk to a *UNBIASED* friend, who loves and supports you. If you aren't sure about medication, maybe start with a counselor and see where that takes you.

All I can say is in a world that tells you that you need to tough up and "go for a walk" when you're feeling "sad", know that you are worthy of having a healthy, functioning brain, that is able to love and support you just like you do with all your friends and family. Depression and anxiety is a chemical imbalance that leaves you pretty helpless to even those chemicals out on your own. If you're struggling with this, maybe tackling your mental health is the first step to a new life. Both mentally and physically.

Ask questions, post thoughts, or add me to keep seeing where this journey takes me!

TarahByte

I'm glad you posted this because I just started Wellbutrin today. Have needed something for a while but kept telling myself that I was fine and I can just get over it. Also didn't want to gain weight. Glad to see a positive review.

Macy9336

I understand where you are coming from. I suffered a TBI which has cognitively impaired my basic functions....complicated by PTSD from acquiring said TBI. I then spiralled down into MDD with Psychosis. Medications I was put on caused weight gain even though I barely had the energy to wake up and eat. Eating was an exhausting effort in and of itself. I gained 42lbs putting me from low BMI (18) to slightly over weight BMI (26). I'm now at normal BMI (24) and also working on neurorehabilitation and psychiatric therapy....it's been three years to get to this point where like you I now feel I can participate in feeding myself. I'm using the MFP to lose some of this excess weight as I am still heavily medicated with weight gain meds (weight gain is a side effect, not purpose of meds) and so cannot trust my intuition despite it having worked all my life up til now.

Mental illness has a huge effect on a person. It's completely overwhelming and controlling. Glad to hear you are climbing out if the hole...I'm here climbing alongside you. We can do this!

TripleA1328

I'm currently on 300mg of Lamictal and am planning on weening myself off completely by the 18th of March (today is the 3rd) and start taking 5-HTP 200mg once a day as it's all natural and cheaper and suppose to be similar to my medication in the regards of keeping my moods stablized

metalmeow1

I just started anti-depressants less than 2 months ago and have already lost nearly 20lbs. I can relate

dashaclaire

Late to the party but I LOVE my Wellbutrin. It is an anti-depressant but it was prescribed to me because I was so stressed that I couldn't relax enough to empty my bladder. I always though I had a UTI. Apparently, it was just anxiety.

Since then, Wellbutrin got me through (another) death of a parent without falling completely apart or gaining 25 lbs.... also continuing to pee like a normal person is nice.

It is the only anti-depressant that does not make you gain weight. Personally, I felt very little curbing of appetite until I read you can take it on an empty stomach... which does make me somewhat less hungry. Not a miracle diet pill by any means.

I'm also not saying everyone needs to go on anti-depressants... I just wanted to share because if I am being honest with myself, I eat my feelings. So if you've ever wondered why you just can't stop eating or motivate to get started on a healthy lifestyle change, it might be worth a thought. Functional depression is real!