Depression and Weight Loss. Please Help!

It's amazing to me how many people suffer from depression in this site. I'm one of them. I definitely know how you feel in regards to not wanting to work out. For me, I had a voice in my head tell me I couldn't do it. I had to prove that voice wrong and once I got not a regular routine of working out I actually started to feel better. I was diagnosed with major depression in 2010 and it's been a struggle to treat it and get better but you will. Take it one day at a time. Feel good about the goals you reach and don't beat yourself up over the ones you don't quite make.

Feel free to add me, maybe we can motivate each other!

I can totally empathise with you I've been there myself. Depression can be totally debilitating and the simplest things in life may seem insurmountable. I would recommend you go see your family doctor. Sometimes it can be something as simple as a B12 deficiency. If not, if you've been feeling depressed for a long time sometimes medication can help. Diet and exercise are great ways to help with depression but it sounds to me that you need a little more help than just that.

Are you taking any medication for your depression?

I have been suffering with depression on and off for 13 years (since my first child was born) recently I hit a really bad spell and like you I wasn't eating and had no interest in anything. Since starting to take medication things have started to improve, exercise is great at boosting my mood as it is time for just me and I feel in control of that even if of nothing else. Try and give your self a target, like walking for 10 mins and then increase by 10 mins each day/week, when you hit your target it will give you a boost as you have achieved something.

Try to eat smaller meals but a bit more often that way you are increasing your calories but not having to force big meals, don't try to go from your current 600-800 cals straight to 1200 but increase week by week.

Feel free to add me as a friend and we can support each other.

Exercise is great but you already know that. Research shows exercise works as well as meds and talk therapy in many cases. If you find yourself unable to exercise because of the depression then meds or counseling can help boost you until you can get to a point where you feel up to doing more. During the winter the lack of sun can impact some. I would encourage you to consider what others mentioned regarding adding some vitamins and adding vitamin filled foods. I know this is hard but the smallest changes can make a big difference. Keep up the great things you are already doing ( making yourself eat, small walks, and reaching out to others) it can get better.

Stop suffering and do something about it.

Do you see anyone like a therapist or something? You are the one in control. You have to learn what's going on and where the depression is coming from

And don't use depression as an excuse not to exercise. it's well documented that exercise helps your mood. Do you WANT to get better?

And yes, I've been there. I know it's hard, but you need to take control of YOU. You need to realise YOU have the choice.

ETA I work full time and study part time and work out 3 times a week

Glad someone broke out the tough love

Ditto above. I suffer from depression and anxiety disorders as well, so I know how hard it can be. It's a viscious cycle of being depressed because you're fat and being fat because you're depressed. It has to end somewhere.

Exercising releases endorphins - the 'feel good' drug in the brain. Certain foods help too, like those listed above. There are ways to get calories without eating a lot of food. Consider a protein shake - those can easily get upwards of 300+ calories, and if made right, have all sorts of healthy things in them.

Have you or do you take medication to help? If not, consider it.

One thing I can say is that, yes, getting started is hard. But once you're rolling, the endorphins and other hormones that your body secretes when you exercise can actually alleviate the depression. It's really a matter of getting it started, or at least that's what I found. I never was diagnosed with anything, but I know usually the dreadful months of winter take a huge toll on me. This year I've been active and I've had a few bad days, but overall I'm doing so, so much better!

Also, being active is most likely going to make you a little more hungry, so there's that!

Sit down and have a talk with yourself. Decide what you want. If you really want to, you'll find a way to fit it in. 15 minutes of bodyweight circuit upon waking up might be all it takes. If you have time to be posting in the MFP forums, you have time to do that, so no excuses there!

Honey, I feel your pain. As someone who has suffered from depression for a long time, it does have a detrimental affect on my weight loss. I am particularly bad for comfort eating on bad days, as any one of my MFP will be able to tell you! But if you haven't seen your doctor about the depression already, then please go do so. It's not something to be ashamed of or embarassed by as so many people seem to think. Get onto a proper plan with medication. It does help, I promise. I used to not want to exercise all the time as I thought "What's the point?"

Now I can focus on my health more and I can see the bigger picture. It's still really, really hard. Depression sucks. But take it one step at a time. Get your medication sorted and try to focus on your health. You're not doing yourself any favours by not eating at all or enough. But like other's have said, you are in control. You can help yourself through this, one step at a time. But you need to accept the help that is there for you. See a doctor.

Exercise will help your mood. Try to start off slow. Get up and see if you can do 2 min of something (run, w/o video, whatever) If you do the 2 min and feel like you can do more, than do it. If not stop. See if you can add on a little each day. It might sound silly, but sometimes things seem so overwhelming when your depressed that you don't do anything at all. Try to do the same thing with food.

I've suffered from depression my whole life. Therapy and meds never seemed to work for me. I can honestly say, I'm the happiest I can remember now that I'm eating properly and exercising.

Hi! Experimental psychologist here. Just going to throw out a few interesting thoughts.

Some studies have actually found that exercise is just as effective as antidepressants. Granted, it's different for everybody (and certain severities of depression may not be affected by exercise). But the research is out there.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) take ~30 days for you to start feeling the actual clinical effects from them. For people with depression, the same is also true of exercise. Around 30 days into it, they start feeling the same changes that others do with an antidepressant.

In other words: You have a group of people with depression and split them up into three sub-groups: a group that will take an SSRI for 30 days, a group that will exercise for 30 days, and a group that will do nothing for 30 days. At the end of 30 days, those who exercised and took the SSRI will begin to feel the same effects and alleviated depression. The group that did nothing will be the same.

For you experimental people out there- yes, there have been blind and double-blind studies that found the same results.

For some neuro stats: People with depression have a "shrunken" hippocampus compared to other individuals. Exercise causes what is known as neurogenesis, or the "birth" of new neurons, which is one of the only ways to "grow" more brain matter as an adult. These new neurons travel to the hippocampus and, over the course of about 30 days, cause it to enlarge. Keep in mind that these changes are microscopic, but do have enough effect to alleviate depression.

Anyway. Diet is also extremely important for this process, and perhaps I should start another thread for it. But anyway, I know depression can get in the way of starting/maintaining an exercise program. Just know that it is very likely to make a difference, perhaps not immediately, but soon. Keep your head up kiddo... I know it's hard, and especially hard to think positively about what is to come. You don't have to do that just yet. But keep trying.