Exercising and eating well during periods of depression

gem_t_86

Hi all,

I've been a member of MFP on and off for years now, and have had success in losing weight in the past using MFP (although I'm now at the heaviest I've ever been). I've also struggled with depression and anxiety for years and am now taking antidepressants. I'm not asking for medical advice, but I wondered if anyone had experience of trying to build exercise and healthy eating habits during depression, i.e. when motivation is very very low or nonexistent? Lengthy workouts are not always achievable for me, so I'd love to hear how people have slowly built up exercise habits from pretty much nothing.

Thanks in advance!

aweirdbritishchick

I've been on this site for 8 years and struggled with depression throughout. I have found weight loss very hard because of that. I find routine is the most important thing, if its second nature then the motivation is less needed.

One thing I've done is use my ways of controlling anxiety as a way to get exercise. here are a few examples:

I find my lunch hour sitting in the staff room stressful so instead I have a route around my work place that takes about 30 mins to walk on a good day. My lunch hour is a full hours so on bad depression days when I literally cant even get my legs to move at their normal pace I can still get round it.

When Im waiting for something to finish eg a kettle to boil, I try and get extra things done, this is a good way to get something done in general, empty a dishwasher etc but if nothing else just pacing around the kitchen seeing if I can do a certain number of laps.

Setting myself rules, like take the stairs or walk up while im on an escalator.

I know these aren't really workouts but I found these small little things help intergrate it into my life and actually help me feel good about myself for trying during the low parts.
Also the most important thing is during really low points when you can't do anything don't give up. I'm in a upswing rn so am trying to get lots done and in place so when I crash again I can keep the good habits.

tiffanyleilarsen

I've had the same problem. The new thing I'm trying, and I don't know if it's working yet, is that I don't starve myself. Often, when I'm depressed and don't want to eat my 'diet food', I starve myself instead, thinking that that's better. But the next day I'm so hungry that I eat everything in sight and fall off of my diet. So yesterday, when I had a really bad day, I forced myself to eat. Today is a little better. I didn't have to force myself to eat today.

When I'm too depressed to move much, I don't. Right now I'm losing weight without working out so I'm not pushing myself to do extra. Instead, I push myself to spend 10-20 minutes outside. The sun light is super good for you and I'm hoping it will help me break out of the depression.

You only have motivation for so much and when depressed you don't have as much motivation. So I'm trying to use my motivation where it is most important. 1. College homework 2. Diet 3. Self care. .. and if I have anything left than I clean the house a little or spend time outside.

theML2000

I feel like Tiffany a lot- too depressed to move & dont. Especially during covid quarantine. (I am in a very hard hit city). When it’s not quarantine I go to a personal trainer 1-2x /week. You can’t cancel last minute so it forces me to go. In covid times I’m forcing myself to take walks/do 20 minute restorative yoga. This also is hard to do daily. I’m having more success w calorie counting so I’m focused on that. So basically a long post to say, you are not the only one experiencing this, make achieveable goals that help you feel good like your meeting them, and focus on the positives you are doing.

MurphmomSparkles

I have been doing yoga on YouTube. There is a lot of great free Yoga for all levels. There are videos for stress, relaxation, depression, and short videos when you don't want to do much. Videos where all you do is stretch over a pillow and breathe. It's like giving yourself a gift. Just sit on your couch and do a yoga alternate nostril breathing technique video and see how you feel after. Treat it like a science experiment. If it doesn't help, you can stop any time. You could do the same thing with a walk. Say you will walk just one block and if you really feel worse instead of better you can stop any time. Then make a point of noting whether you really do feel any better, or ideally write it down and post it somewhere prominent when you do an experiment and it does help. Sometimes I take a bath or shower, then I work out. Weird, I know. I always feel refreshed and energized after bathing, it does something to my endorphins.