anyone else get the "blues?"

For me I was happy rolling along gaining weight. I didn't have to think about food, exercise or my chosen lifestyle. When my eyes were opened to what I was doing to my body, I did have a period of time where I felt down.

The worst thought was it was going to be years, not months Everything is a quick fix these days, but here I could slowly lose the weight and make small changes that made huge difference.

So lift that chin, walk down that street, and eat some carrots!! :flowerforyou:

I can relate! I was doing great for a long time, was down 50 pounds, gained back almost 20. I get down on myself because I'm an emotional eater, it's a vicious circle. I get down when I'm not motivated, which has basically been the past 6 months. I'm blue because I have 6 pairs of jeans hanging in my closet that I can't fit in to. I know this is my own fault, so I'm trying to push the blue feelings away and be positive. It's a lifestyle and unfortunately doesn't happen overnight.
Stick to it :-)

Its hard to write this but was harder to face... I know that loosing weight is the right thing to do for myself and my health..
I feel so great when I do walk ( 2 to 2 1/2 hours 5 days a week ) or I use a treadmill and ski machine when I dont go walking...
However.. I get so blue and down about myself.. but KNOW I have to keep going... This is a struggle and I feel so all alone..
Does anyone feel like this? I started this lifestyle change about a month ago and have lost 15 pounds to date.. and started on this site yesterday hoping to monitor the rest of my journey... I am just worried about how blue I feel.. is this normal?

Hi. Its great you've made the decision to start working on your weight and you've done great so far.

But depression although often linked to weight issues, is also something that you may need some extra help for. Please get a councillor to talk to. And meds may also help a lot. I have struggled with depression for many years but doing well now. To me, you sound lonely. Try to find ways to include other people in your life be it : a councillor, overeaters anonymous or other support groups, attend your local community centre which probably has some fun group activities, consider volunteering, try to start a new hobby, join a walking group?


Walking is great for depression we're told so keep doing it.

For your weightloss ambitions, focus on improving your diet - plenty of protein (.34g per pound of body weight), reduced carbs, don't be frightened of fat, skip processed food and go whole foods. Small calorie deficit. And above all, lots of fresh vegetables and fruit and stay away from sugar.

Exercise is great for health but diet is the key to weight loss and management. I say this partly knowing that it difficult to keep the long daily walks going indefinitely. Most people run out of steam for this degree of exercise after a few months. Also your life will change and it may become impossible to walk so much. Then what? In the past that's when i've piled the weight back on. So watch out for that. Meanwhile if you've got good eating habits in place, modify you calorie intake to reflect the change of TDEE you should be fine. But its not particularly easy to cut back on calories when you suddenly stop exercise and this where a lot of people come unstuck, myself included. Because of this, this year i've addressed my diet and not bothered too much with exercise.

I'm near goal now and have only just started using a pedometer to do 10000. I probably should have got the pedo earlier because its easy and nice to use. You just attach it to your belt or waist band. I've just got a cheap one and i don't bother with all the clever things they can do (most of the clever ones require lots of battery charging. Mine will last for three years if i don't lose it or break it before then). I just use it to count my steps and it motivates me to move. that's why i got one. Cause so many people wrote about how motivating they are. And its true.

It depends on if it is depression. If so then see a doctor.

I however can relate right now. I am a little down at the moment. I am having a hard time and struggling and the fact that I am having a tough time and struggling is making me feel worse. The thing is you should feel better about your self every week that goes by and you continue to lose weight. 15 lbs so far is fantastic. Have faith in yourself and know that you are doing a wonderful job. As long as you continue what you are doing you will succeed and reach your goal. It is all in your head. You can do it. Feeling good about yourself and your accomplishments (now and future) will make the path easier for you.

Cheer up buttercup you are doing great and will get a lot of support on MFP.

I'm really glad someone brought this up, makes me feel less alone. I find my mood is in direct response to my outcomes on the scale. I'm ecstatic when there's a loss, but if there's not I feel really blue.

I also just feel generally down from depriving myself. I feel like I'm putting in all the hard work, and not yet reaping the rewards of a bangin' body. It's like giving up one of life's pleasures. Some days I just feel exhausted from the constant battle to eat right, and the monotony of going to the gym.

I try and focus on the end goal, because looking down at my gut makes me feel like I have soooo long to go and it's just so hard.

I'm really glad someone brought this up, makes me feel less alone. I find my mood is in direct response to my outcomes on the scale. I'm ecstatic when there's a loss, but if there's not I feel really blue.

I've been there. Please try putting the scale away for a time, if you're tempted to weigh in and have a home scale, give it to a friend to hold on to. It's baseless guilt and it's not fair to yourself, and it warps your views of success.

YOU DON"T NEED TO FEEL DEPRIVED TO LOSE WEIGHT! Also a really crappy feeling. Trust the process with tracking your food and exercise, and you'll hit your stride. I lost all of my weight on MFP (50 lbs.) never feeling deprived because I stuck to the system. I ate bacon every day for months. And bread. Deprived people don't eat bacon and bread daily and still feel deprived.

This is all such good advice, thank you

I really am addicted to my scales. I can't believed you lost THAT much weight eating bacon every day. I'm going on a mono bacon diet. I feel like I'm punishing myself every day, both by sweating my guts out in the gym, and forcing my body to struggle through the stomach growling hunger pains.

blazepurr I understand why you cried about overcooking your steak. I feel like the calories I do consume are so precious now, that I can't waste them. If that makes sense? It has to be really amazing food or there's no point wasting my daily calorie consumption on them.

In all honesty, i feel as though that's a normal response for people trying to make any sort of lifestyle chance - dietary/exercise, or otherwise.

Making changes of that nature takes a lot of energy, time, education, dedication, support, etc., so it's not as though it's going to be easy and without any sort of expenditure in terms of energy. You can't expect to always expend energy and never really get tired - which goes for you both physically, and mentally.

It's okay to get the blues and get tired and every now and then, as long as you remain realistic, pick yourself back up, and stay on track. It's happens to all of us at times, and even the best of us. It's a part of making healthy changes!

I think that many of us get the 'blues' in relation to health/fitness.
Everything is fine when we're not thinking I have a salad, I really want a burger, a 3 mile walk I'm too tired, its us stressing ourselves out. I want to be 10lb lighter by tomorrow, it ain't going to happen so whats the point.
Its a journey that really speaking your doing on your own for you and no one else gets why your worried/blue.
Take each day as it comes and if your not feeling better in a few weeks talk to your gp.x

I can totally relate to this topic, especially Mike's post. I have been feeling super down the last three weeks and cannot shake it. It stems from a minor incident but normally I guess I would have eaten to cope and moved on. Well, I've eaten alright. And eaten, and eaten. I haven't bothered tracking here at all. But now, with almost 60 pounds gone, there is tremendous guilt that goes along with me using food as anesthesia. I have to start focusing again, which is why I am here this morning.

One other thing on the blues during weight loss. I have dropped maybe 6 sizes, though I was in denial about even that until recently. I have really slacked in recent years with doing my hair, dressing nice, makeup, etc, thinking what's the point if I'm fat. So now at a size 12-14, I dressed up for an event a few weeks ago and looking in the mirror and at pictures, I realized how much older I have gotten and, I guess, how many years I wasted just saying "When I lose weight, I'll get back to living my life". It really has had me thinking and brooding over the past couple weeks. There have been lots of tears. We need to be happy with ourselves now, no matter what. That is such a cliche but it's one that finally hit me like a ton of bricks.

Sorry for rambling. Sounds like weight loss and depression are very much linked for many of us.