Diet and depression

1tiamat

No I'm not talking about feeling like hiding under a bridge because I cant stand eating this "healthy crap" or another whiny complaint about why I am not where I want to be. I love the food I have been eating and feel generally accomplished from my changes.

I was diagnosed with depression about 10 years ago and the last 5 or 6 years I have had almost no depressed feelings or tendencies. In the last 2 weeks I have been on a much more controlled and healthy diet and have increased my exercise from 2 cardio workouts to a blend of 4-5 cardo +1-2 strength workouts a week.

I've noticed that I seem to have a pretty big swing in emotions. Some days I feel like a million bucks and have a ton of energy all day, and others I feel like crawling in a hole in the ground.

My question to all of you is if any of you have experienced similar mood swings and if it is something I should get checked out, or if it is a natural thing that you go through when changes in diet and exercise happen.

Thanks for any tips etc. Also, feel free to add me to you like to collect friends lol.

chooselove

I have also been diagnosed with depression and honestly i think your body is going through a detox of sorts with your new diet and exercise regimen. Detox can definitely make your moods swing wildly. just ride it out, i totally have felt the way you do. in my experience it levels out after some time. hang in there, it's worth it.

chooselove

I have also been diagnosed with depression and honestly i think your body is going through a detox of sorts with your new diet and exercise regimen. Detox can definitely make your moods swing wildly. just ride it out, i totally have felt the way you do. in my experience it levels out after some time. hang in there, it's worth it.

I wanted to add that I am not a doctor and I cannot tell you if you should get your moods checked or not via the internet. That is a judgement call you must make yourself and I am only speaking from my own personal experience.

CristinaL1983

This is just an opinion.

Anytime you change your diet (as in the foods that you eat) you are impacting your body. I don't know what you were eating before or what you are eating now but some things like simple sugars and some fats can impact your mood and brain chemistry (on a short term basis). Sugars boost some peoples moods and some fats do the same. I definitely experienced some mood changes for the first week or so. I don't know if it would impact you more because of initial brain chemistry imbalance or not but I would think that, that might be a possibility.

IMO, make sure you are getting healthy levels of fats and see how you feel after a couple weeks. Also make sure you eat your exercise calories and have calories set at the right levels if you are experiencing fatigue and crankiness.

1tiamat

Thanks guys,

It hasn't been anything really bad, just at times it is just a draining feeling that you don't necessarily feel down, or anything. It's more like a "I don't feel happy or feel like doing anything today" kind of mood.

My diet wasn't horrible before, mostly a lot of pasta, breads, and occasional fast food. Now for about 2 weeks it has been mostly fruit, veggies, chicken, fish, and again, occasional fast food.

I just wanted to know if mood swings was normal or if I may need to add some more healthy fats or similar to my diet to help with it.

thanks for the responses!!

lachesissss

I do. I have mood swings all the time. I've never been diagnosed with depression, but I know that I've spent a good portion of my life depressed. I used to control my feelings with the food I consumed, but since losing weight, I find that instead of existing in a baseline of funk, I now experience what I call mood cycles, for lack of a better description. I tend to cycle through feeling happy, then it levels off, and then I feel a slide into depression. This winter was especially tough, and I definitely felt that natural sinking of my mood because of the weather, etc. I started taking Iron and Vitamin D to treat other health problems, and since then I feel much more stabilized. But I still get the odd crazy spikes. Lately, I've been turning to writing and meditating in the morning to help when I'm having especially bad days. I feel that for me, these are adequate coping mechanisms and help me identify the root of how I'm feeling, deal with it, and put it away so that I can be productive. It's helped me de-stress and makes me feel more in control of my emotions. Good Luck and I hope this helps!

stealthSLOTH

I've noticed that I seem to have a pretty big swing in emotions. Some days I feel like a million bucks and have a ton of energy all day, and others I feel like crawling in a hole in the ground.

^ honestly, i've felt like that my whole life, independent of diet or fitness goals.
I went to get help b/c I didn't want to burden my friends anymore. I didn't want to be the Debbie Downer friend. It took me a long time to get used to talking to a stranger (therapist), but it helped me get another perspective on myself.

Feel Better! :flowerforyou:

RainHoward

I have the same issue when I cut down on my carb intake. I think the body really does get addicted to those sugars and what not and when you stop feeding them to it, it gets mad. It seems to level out for me in time though.

Viola47

I have the same issue when I cut down on my carb intake. I think the body really does get addicted to those sugars and what not and when you stop feeding them to it, it gets mad. It seems to level out for me in time though.

I agree - I've had the same issue. I found that making sure I get enough protein really helps me to balance out my moods and curb carb cravings. Sometimes I have a low cal protein shake, sometimes just a cup (or half) of milk is enough. Are you tracking your macros at all?