no weight loss, anybody?

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starg1rl1
starg1rl1 Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hai, my name Stella, I have been trying to lose weight while on depression meds with no success :( (on abilify now for the meds with reduced dose, last week I stopped taking sertraline on doctor advice)

My BMI result says that I'm obese, fortunately my cholesterol, blood sugar, and trigliceride all normal.

My question is, has anyone lose weight while on depression meds? Coz I find it so hard to lose weight even I have clean eating and exercise or maybe I should wait until stop taking the meds? Please help, TIA

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,564 Member
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    It's not about clean eating, it's about eating in a calorie deficit. Are you weighing and logging everything you eat?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    You mentioned clean eating and exercising...What about calories? Are you eating in a deficit? That's what it's all about.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
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    You don't need to eat clean or exercise to lose weight. Read this thread for more info:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
  • crazyjerseygirl
    crazyjerseygirl Posts: 1,252 Member
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    Hey, awesome for you beating depression! Full disclosure, I've never been diagnosed or treated, so consider this from an ally

    Weight loss is simply calories in vs calories out, clean eating is good for health, but you can still eat too much of it (ask how I know!)
    What kcal count has MFP set you at? Try that for a bit (log well!) and if nothing happens within a month start playing around. Some Meds might cause you to need fewer calories, or they might increase your appetite, but you can work around that!

    You can do this!
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Before you start any diet while on depression meds it probably would be in your best interests to consult your doctor first. I don't believe there is any medication that they could give you that could stop weight loss if you have a calorie deficit but it may slow the process down. But you can start now by eating healthier foods, smaller portions, and take up an exercise routine. Those things right there will start making you feel better.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    To lose, you need to be in a deficit. The type of food is irrelevant.
  • starg1rl1
    starg1rl1 Posts: 10 Member
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    I just logged my food recently on mfp before I just simply wrote everything I ate. Yess it's about calorie deficit, thanks for the article strong_curves :)

    So I guess I may have eat too much calorie or lack of exercise and lack of patient obviously :blush:


  • starg1rl1
    starg1rl1 Posts: 10 Member
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    crazyjerseygirl wrote: »
    Hey, awesome for you beating depression! Full disclosure, I've never been diagnosed or treated, so consider this from an ally

    Weight loss is simply calories in vs calories out, clean eating is good for health, but you can still eat too much of it (ask how I know!)
    What kcal count has MFP set you at? Try that for a bit (log well!) and if nothing happens within a month start playing around. Some Meds might cause you to need fewer calories, or they might increase your appetite, but you can work around that!

    You can do this!

    Thanks crazyjerseygirl. I am set at 1200 cal by MFP and yes gonna try it for a month and see what happens.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    You might find that 1200 is too low for you - that's MFP's absolute minimum for women. You may want to adjust your weight loss goal to something like 1-1.5 lb per week instead.

    Depression meds have a tendency to increase your appetite, thus making it difficult to keep your calories in controlled and causing you to gain weight.

    Log diligently, listen to your body and try to eat foods that will keep you full (for many people, lots of protein, some fat, and lots of low-cal veggies, like cabbage and other greens). It's definitely tough and I give you massive kudos for doing this!

    ~Lyssa
  • hekla90
    hekla90 Posts: 595 Member
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    Losing weight is about calories in and calories out. That said, depression medications can influence your appetite and satiety. I strongly suggest you bring this up with you doctor as they can have suggestions. Sexual and weight side effects are big reasons for noncompliance with psych meds and trust me your doctor wants to know if you are struggling with that so they can adjust things or help you out. (I used to work at a psych center and abilify was a big one for weight gain).
  • starg1rl1
    starg1rl1 Posts: 10 Member
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    macgurlnet wrote: »
    You might find that 1200 is too low for you - that's MFP's absolute minimum for women. You may want to adjust your weight loss goal to something like 1-1.5 lb per week instead.

    Depression meds have a tendency to increase your appetite, thus making it difficult to keep your calories in controlled and causing you to gain weight.

    Log diligently, listen to your body and try to eat foods that will keep you full (for many people, lots of protein, some fat, and lots of low-cal veggies, like cabbage and other greens). It's definitely tough and I give you massive kudos for doing this!

    ~Lyssa

    Finally some saying, I have been asking around and they say it's unrelated between the meds and weight gain. I adjust my goal for more sustainable weight loss and so I can enjoy most of my journey. Thanks again
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    starg1rl1 wrote: »
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    You might find that 1200 is too low for you - that's MFP's absolute minimum for women. You may want to adjust your weight loss goal to something like 1-1.5 lb per week instead.

    Depression meds have a tendency to increase your appetite, thus making it difficult to keep your calories in controlled and causing you to gain weight.

    Log diligently, listen to your body and try to eat foods that will keep you full (for many people, lots of protein, some fat, and lots of low-cal veggies, like cabbage and other greens). It's definitely tough and I give you massive kudos for doing this!

    ~Lyssa

    Finally some saying, I have been asking around and they say it's unrelated between the meds and weight gain. I adjust my goal for more sustainable weight loss and so I can enjoy most of my journey. Thanks again

    The meds themselves don't directly cause the weight gain. You can't make something out of nothing ;)

    What they can do, though, is increase your appetite (and, if you eat more, that increases the Calories In portion of CICO) and/or they can slow your metabolism, especially by making you feel more tired and making it difficult to move (thus decreasing the Calories Out portion of CICO).

    Let's say that the increase in appetite means you eat 100 more calories per day and the decrease in movement means you burn 100 fewer per day. That's 200 extra calories right there. Over the course of 1 week, that's a little less than a half pound of weight gain. I'm sure the meds could have a more intense influence than that, meaning potential weight gain is much higher.

    If you log your food diligently & accurately, you at least can track how much is going in. Do your best to net the same number for 4 weeks straight and see how things are going. If you aren't losing enough, it's time to get up and move more and possibly lower your calories a touch.

    It'll take some tinkering but you'll get there :)

    ~Lyssa
  • whatisnormal1234
    whatisnormal1234 Posts: 2 Member
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    starg1rl1 wrote: »
    Hai, my name Stella, I have been trying to lose weight while on depression meds with no success :( (on abilify now for the meds with reduced dose, last week I stopped taking sertraline on doctor advice)

    My BMI result says that I'm obese, fortunately my cholesterol, blood sugar, and trigliceride all normal.

    My question is, has anyone lose weight while on depression meds? Coz I find it so hard to lose weight even I have clean eating and exercise or maybe I should wait until stop taking the meds? Please help, TIA

  • whatisnormal1234
    whatisnormal1234 Posts: 2 Member
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    I gained 30lbs. in 3 months on Lexapro.
  • starg1rl1
    starg1rl1 Posts: 10 Member
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    hekla90 wrote: »
    Losing weight is about calories in and calories out. That said, depression medications can influence your appetite and satiety. I strongly suggest you bring this up with you doctor as they can have suggestions. Sexual and weight side effects are big reasons for noncompliance with psych meds and trust me your doctor wants to know if you are struggling with that so they can adjust things or help you out. (I used to work at a psych center and abilify was a big one for weight gain).

    Thanks that explains a lot, my doctor says my struggles with weight is due to x factor, I was like...what? I want to know the reason why not blaming on some x factors, I believe there's got to be some explaination as I believe too that I will loss weight in time, I just dunno when and that's has been keeping me frustrated.
  • starg1rl1
    starg1rl1 Posts: 10 Member
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    macgurlnet wrote: »
    The meds themselves don't directly cause the weight gain. You can't make something out of nothing ;)

    What they can do, though, is increase your appetite (and, if you eat more, that increases the Calories In portion of CICO) and/or they can slow your metabolism, especially by making you feel more tired and making it difficult to move (thus decreasing the Calories Out portion of CICO).

    Let's say that the increase in appetite means you eat 100 more calories per day and the decrease in movement means you burn 100 fewer per day. That's 200 extra calories right there. Over the course of 1 week, that's a little less than a half pound of weight gain. I'm sure the meds could have a more intense influence than that, meaning potential weight gain is much higher.

    If you log your food diligently & accurately, you at least can track how much is going in. Do your best to net the same number for 4 weeks straight and see how things are going. If you aren't losing enough, it's time to get up and move more and possibly lower your calories a touch.

    It'll take some tinkering but you'll get there :)

    ~Lyssa

    Yappp I think that's what happened :blush:

    Thanks for the advice :)
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    starg1rl1 wrote: »
    Hai, my name Stella, I have been trying to lose weight while on depression meds with no success :( (on abilify now for the meds with reduced dose, last week I stopped taking sertraline on doctor advice)

    My BMI result says that I'm obese, fortunately my cholesterol, blood sugar, and trigliceride all normal.

    My question is, has anyone lose weight while on depression meds? Coz I find it so hard to lose weight even I have clean eating and exercise or maybe I should wait until stop taking the meds? Please help, TIA

    There was a thread just like this one a day or so ago and a bunch of people who were on anti-depressents were having very good success losing weight.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    Hi there. As others have mentioned, its about calories in /calories out. Buy a food scale, weigh and measure everything you consume. Log it all accurately here.
    Clean eating has nothing to do with it.

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