Depression and Weight Loss

Dear tribe,
I was reflecting on many of the amazing posts presented over the past few days here and several from the more"generic" population on MFP and felt proud that this thread has a real focus which I hadn't anticipated. There is a degree of genuine support and empathy that permits a degree of sharing allowing for honest exploration of how our minds and bodies are interacting. Beautiful submissions from lovely 68myra which show insight and love and her invitation to see ourselves as children of the universe, the strength of alyjb1121 and her ability to love and support her kids in the face of gripping depressed thoughts and feelings, allenpriest's spiritual energy, soulofgrace's sheer courage and insights and EVERYONE'S thoughtfulness which I could never do justice to in a short reference.
Clearly, our mental health and the thoughts are brains generate sets the scene for energy levels, interpretations of how our lives are going and whether we see ourselves as successes or failures. For each of us, our reality, generated by our brains informs us about the persons we are and what is good, what is bad, what is worth fighting for and what battles we are losing, what is helping and what is hurting and above everything else, what the meaning is for carrying on. I just think it is astounding that a thread that combines two very difficult processes, Mood states and Eating patterns and behaviours draws such beautiful people who may not know their worth, their quality, their depth and intelligence and their capacity to support others. The ironic part to all of this is that (I think) self worth is a misunderstood concept. I think we learn about and attain our value from the world around us (for better or worse) and it is not until we have a sense of how we impact on others and make meaningful contributions that we truly know what we stand for as people. Therefore, it is vital that we create for ourselves social support networks with people who are safe and capable of demonstrating respect, love, appreciation and friendships so that we can all bathe in what human beings need...acceptance. I feel joy that we are creating an atmosphere of acceptance and respect in this thread and just wanted to say thanks.
Shel

Hi Group
There are so many challenges in our day to day life to be all things to all people. Our willingness to be available to our families, friends, work mates,neighbours etc and to ensure acceptance and approval can make us overwhelmed with self judgement and uncertainty. Perhaps we need to think differently. We can only ever be ourselves and share moments of our lives as we can.
I have felt a bit overwhelmed this week but wanted to say hello to all of you.
Shel

Hey Everyone
Back on the saddle. My mood fluctuations require thoughtfulness, mindfulness, and trust. When I feel overwhelmed, I utilise the skill of compartmentalising and sort out the issues one by one and do the "what do I need to accept" and "what do I need to problem solve" gig and that works fairly well. Sure the emotions are there and in particular the feels of "why bother" but I want more out of my life then the doldrums. I had gained back what I had thought I lost in terms of weight last week and felt despair. But when I worked out the matter from a different point of view, I lifted my mood and got down to business in terms of what was going on for me. May sound like hard work but I suppose that is what it takes to get some degree of balance back. I imagine that my strategies would not work for everyone and certainly not for those who were given the tools much earlier on in their lives to make great choices in terms of food, relationships, life-style etc. But....for others who have had to discover different pathways and acquire new skills and techniques...well, you may be able to relate to the struggles I am describing. No matter what happens, I want to grow and develop and see what happens next in the stream of uncertainty we all swim in. How are you doing? What do you do when you feel overwhelmed and swallowed up by your lives? Would love to hear from you.
Shel

Hi,
Dear Myra, even children of the universe are human and can be placed at the mercy of that part of our brai.n that controls the fight/flight response. When our primitive brain is triggered, we can yell at our best friend, smash our favourite toy, run when we should face our issues or fight when we should bow out . It takes strength,courage and self awareness to pick ourselves up after an awful reaction that we are not proud of and realign our focus, make amends and try and respond differently when we are challenged beyond our levels of tolerance.The same apples, I think, to our management of our food and weight. Last week my brain did everything it knew how to do to make me give up, cash in, bury myself in sugar and salty foods. A great example of how my moods trigger my food compulsions and vice versa. But, thanks to people like you writing on this thread, and my own insight into how I can manage the ups and downs, I let the thunder and lightning g storm pass and life is a wee bit calmer again.... Until the next storm.
Let's keep up the support, love, advice and hope.Best therapy I can think of
Love
shel