Battling depression while losing weight?

SallyJones1985 · May 2014

I comfort eat, A lot! My depresion gets me to the point where I just don't care because I want something, anything, to make me feel just that little bit better. of course it doesn't work, i end up fatter than ever and hating myself more than i did before. but knowing this and being able to think rationally when you're in the black hole that is being seriously depressed is hard.

i so want to succeed, so i'm asking anyone that has managed to overcome similar things, please, do you have any tips?

GreatDepression · May 2014

It's unfortunate that depression treatment in this day and age is still so minimal. Medication may or may not work and therapy often takes years to have a little bit of affect.

For you, I would recommend getting professional help from a therapist who specializes in ED. It's about the best thing you can do for yourself if you deal with clinical depression and emotional eating. I tried to 'treat myself' for a couple years and it just didn't work for me. A therapist doesn't have a magic wand but I can't think of any other avenue or place to get proper treatment.

popandbob · May 2014

My biggest recommendation for battling depression is to go out and do things... The worst thing to do with depression is to just sit at home and do nothing (ie watching tv or playing games).
The sense of accomplishing good things is the best defense against depression. Once your getting out and doing stuff its much easier to do good stuff at home (whether as simple as chores or something more like renovations or something) rather than just sitting watching TV or playing games.

Miss_james1990 · May 2014

Exercise, exercise, exercise. It does a whole lot more than just create a calorie deficit.

FaithfulJewel · May 2014

I used to be on medication for depression before my doctor and I realised it was doing more harm than good (only took 5 years to notice!). Now, if I feel a huge downer coming on, which leads to comfort food, I try and occupy myself with something that *needs* doing. Not something you might want to do, but something that needs to be done, like scrubbing the bathroom top to bottom.

If you can do something that gets you moving and distracts you, whether it's housework or exercise (listen to cyborg!), or something else entirely.

In the meantime, try and find out ways to cope with the depression. Like I said, we realised my medication was actually making me far worse than I was without it, especially when coupled with birth control (turns out, you should be on microgynon if you're depressed - no-one thought to check that, until I read the leaflet), so now I try and keep active, weigh everything* and accept that depression happens, but it doesn't have to influence my life and my health so much.

I wish you the best of luck with it all

* - even if I'm feeling crap and I could eat haribo all day long, I weigh it. I want to know what I eat even on a "semi-binge"... so when I'm 1000kcal over my goal due to crisps, at least I know exactly how much I've eaten and hold myself accountable for it.

kirili3 · May 2014

Have you read Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning? Amazing book.

On a completely different note, for me, the most important thing is to find the source of the depression. I'm making a distinction here, trying to be clear not to hurt anyone: I know there is clinical depression, which is different level of intensity from what I experience - I call it depression just because it's a persistent, self-destructive low mood that makes me want to run away from myself.

For me, the source is/was the way I was living my life. I spent all my time on the internet, reading or watching things and just wasting my life. Food was part of the distraction cycle. And the more I did it (years and years and years) the less time I would want to spend thinking, so the more I'd distract myself. Like the alcoholic on one of the planets the Happy Prince visited, yes.

Breaking that habit was difficult. Now I allow myself MFP, e-mail and internet for research. Now there's time for exercise and studying and planning meals.

A routine helped me... it's like changing posture to 'interested' (leaning in, looking at what you're trying to be interested in) and then suddenly feeling more interested. The very fact of just doing the better thing - eating, exercising, studying - helps to slowly sort out the underlying issues.

For a more general tip, one thing that really, really helps is structured meal times. There is a breakfast time, lunch time and dinner time (some people have snacks too, which seems to really help keep the calories down since they don't allow themselves to get too hungry) and they are stuck to like glue. If you stick with it long enough, your mind realizes when to get hungry (I know that sounds nuts, but it works somehow).

SallyJones1985 · May 2014

Thank you everyone. I am on medication, the highest dose of one kind and a low dose of an additional one. I'm waiting for an appointment for cognitive behavioural therapy and counselling to come through, but that may take up to 3 months. I recently bought a dog so i have no choice to go out walking, usually for a couple of hours a day, i have a toddler at home during the day so it's good for him also to get out.

Thank you again

sassymanatee · May 2014

Hey! First off I want to say that you are so brave and strong to go through every day with depression. I have it myself and the past six months it caused me to gain most of my weight loss. Now I'm getting back on track. The thing is to not beat yourself up about it. Also, my therapist told me about how psychologically motivation happens after we put things into action. If you wait for motivation then you're just going to keep waiting. Just take a baby step towards the right direction. That's what I had to do by just telling myself I'll take a short walk around the block. Now I'm back on track. *hugs* Depression is the worst, but I believe in you!

ButYouGotMySoul · May 2014

Exercise, exercise, exercise. It does a whole lot more than just create a calorie deficit.

This is wonderful, but if you've TRULY experienced depression, you lay in bed. Getting out of bed is an achievement, combing your hair is an achievement...even thinking of exercise causes panic attacks and more depression because it's a really easy thing to do, right? But you feel inferior for not being able to push yourself to even get out of bed.

So while this is good advice, it doesn't always work for the severely depressed.

Eoghann · May 2014

So for clinical depression (which I have suffered from more than once) it sounds like you're doing all the right things (seeing a doctor, taking some medication, looking at CBT).

My single piece of advice beyond that is exercise. And I don't mean some crazy INSANITY! thing. Just walk.

It's all win for you. It will burn some extra calories, making the weight calorie deficit easier and it will help improve your mood. I can confirm that from personal experience, but there's plenty of science to back it up too.

Battling depression while losing weight?

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