Depression and anxiety

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hopefullyfitt
hopefullyfitt Posts: 25 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Did these go away for you when you lost weight?

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  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
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    Not completely. Going to the gym and exercising brought some routine and discipline into my life. I am more confident in myself since losing the weight. The underlying issues are still there and I am working through them but they don't stress me out as much as before I was overweight and completely shut off from the world.

    The main thing is my confidence level has gone up and I am seeing results which keeps me going through the days I feel like I might relapse.
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Just as there is no miracle pill to lose weight, I'm afraid that weight loss is not a miracle cure for emotional problems. In fact, weight problems are sometimes caused by emotional distress. The underlying cause has to be found and treated and depending on the severity of the problem it is best to get professional help for this.

    This being said, food has an impact on our emotional well being and it's a matter of finding what is good for you and what not. Losing weight gives a boost in confidence, which can be a help in fighting depression and anxiety. In my case it did help somewhat since my depression stemmed from my (former) inability to lose weight. I kept on thinking I'm not worth anything, after all, I can't even do something as simple as lose weight, so why should I manage anything else? Learning to have a healthy relationship with food has helped me find emotional balance. But even that I reached out to people I trusted to help me as I couldn't seem to figure it out on my own, no matter how much I lost. I spoke with my doctors and my personal trainer. I went to a therapist to help me work through it all. I'm far from done losing weight, but even if my weight loss stopped tomorrow, I know that my depression is under control because I asked for help when I needed it.

    Good luck on your journey. You are worth every second you invest in yourself. :smile:
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    hopefullyfitt wrote: »
    Did these go away for you when you lost weight?

    Honestly? No. But losing weight did make me feel better about myself which was beneficial to me. I still take medication, but then again I am bipolar, not not just depression (not trying to make it seem like depression is not as serious as other mental conditions, just didn't know how to phrase that).
  • GiGiJam80
    GiGiJam80 Posts: 22 Member
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    Try meditation and yoga! Let me know if you would like some recommendations.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    gjamaldi wrote: »
    Try meditation and yoga! Let me know if you would like some recommendations.

    I'm not the OP nor am I trying to hijack the thread, but I would love to know some suggestions.
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
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    elphie754 wrote: »
    gjamaldi wrote: »
    Try meditation and yoga! Let me know if you would like some recommendations.

    I'm not the OP nor am I trying to hijack the thread, but I would love to know some suggestions.

    Bikram yoga. I have heard it's good for the soul.
  • GiGiJam80
    GiGiJam80 Posts: 22 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Right now there's the Oprah 21 day meditation... Look for the app. If you're religious Google centering prayer.
    I also do gentle/restorative yoga 4-5 a week ... Find a yoga studio near you, if you're disciplined enough there are apps and DVDs to do at home.

    I find the combination of meditation and yoga have worked best for me. I hope this helps!
  • wtw0n
    wtw0n Posts: 1,083 Member
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    Losing weight hasn't affected my depression and anxiety in any way. Being fat (well, having been) wasn't the reason I started to suffer from depression in the first place.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    yep, exercise was a biggie.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Eating right can go a long, long way towards "lifting" that depression.
    Eat fish for omega 3's, foods high in vitamin d, magnesium, B complex, folate, iron, zinc, selenium, etc.
    If you don't eat right every day, consider taking a daily one a day multivitamin.
    There are studies that people that eat a lot of processed garbage foods suffer more depression.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    JanetYellen wrote: »
    Eating right can go a long, long way towards "lifting" that depression.
    Eat fish for omega 3's, foods high in vitamin d, magnesium, B complex, folate, iron, zinc, selenium, etc.
    If you don't eat right every day, consider taking a daily one a day multivitamin.
    There are studies that people that eat a lot of processed garbage foods suffer more depression.

    Can you link those studies?
  • kgj4105
    kgj4105 Posts: 41 Member
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    elphie754 wrote: »
    JanetYellen wrote: »
    Eating right can go a long, long way towards "lifting" that depression.
    Eat fish for omega 3's, foods high in vitamin d, magnesium, B complex, folate, iron, zinc, selenium, etc.
    If you don't eat right every day, consider taking a daily one a day multivitamin.
    There are studies that people that eat a lot of processed garbage foods suffer more depression.

    Can you link those studies?

    ...I have a very strong feeling those studies would be a case of not understanding the difference between 'correlation vs causation'. When depressed, one tends to eat crappy foods and binge eat more than when they're feeling better mentally and can afford the time and energy to prepare their own meals, exercise instead of downing a box of girl scout cookies, etc etc.
  • kgj4105
    kgj4105 Posts: 41 Member
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    Personally, exercise has been big for me. Last semester (college student here) was awful for me as far as mental health - somehow I pulled through, and currently I'm sort of doing my best to push off a similar episode of severe depression and lots of nights of crying myself to sleep (I can't shake the feeling that it's coming and it's only a matter of time or something...) but I've been doing that with the spinning class I'm taking, and I've started running. I think the endorphines or whatever have helped a lot with that, and it's easier for me to feel productive and not stay in bed all day if I can make myself get up and do some stretching and a short jog (even if it is noon before I get out of bed to take that short jog).
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    no.
    my depression is a chemical imbalance. exercise, meditation does not cure it and does not make it go away. it can help but no, i still have it
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,952 Member
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    hopefullyfitt wrote: »
    Did these go away for you when you lost weight?

    It's not being smaller that helped with my depression and anxiety, but the lifestyle changes I made - regular exercise, healthier eating, quitting the job with the killer commute and the horrid boss, a male version of Meryl Streep in 'The Devil Wears Prada.'
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    Clinical depression and anxiety is one thing. But being depressed and having anxiety because you have gained weight or are over weight are not the same.

    Many people either lose or gain weight when they are depressed, others become depressed as a result of weight gain. Determining which of the two comes first, weight gain or depression, is difficult to decipher.

    Op I am not sure where you fall in line with this.

    Perhaps getting a true diagnosis of depression through Professional Counseling is in order and getting on medication. That doctor or counselor may even suggests nutritional changes (like more vitamin B enriched foods, choosing more complex carbs over simple carbs in your diet). Do not forget that exercise is huge for depression and anxiety. Not only do you release the body’s feel-good hormone (endorphins) but you can simultaneously boost weight loss, and loosing weight will make you feel better about your self, and how you even look will help, not to mention the 1000 health/physical reasons that loosing weight will benefit longevity.


  • graduateschooler
    graduateschooler Posts: 9 Member
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    Honestly, I'm losing weight and I am more depressed and anxious than before. I've been an emotional eater for a long time though, so it makes sense that by taking that away I'd have more of the feels. Meditation, exercise, friends all help though. One day at a time.
  • robs_ready
    robs_ready Posts: 1,488 Member
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    hopefullyfitt wrote: »
    Did these go away for you when you lost weight?

    No unfortunately not, although it certainly helps a lot, regular exercise does wonders for those bad times.
  • eyeshinebright
    eyeshinebright Posts: 51 Member
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    There was a summer that I was going to the gym every other day, the pounds were coming off and endorphins high. I was pretty happy then and wasn't suffering as much. However, the depression was still there under the surface. Some stuff happened, I gained the weight back, and then I became too self conscious/anxious to go to the gym which lessened how much I exercised. It's all kind of a cycle.

    When I feel better about my weight I feel more confident and the depression isn't as .. 'pressing' as it normally is, but it's still there. After years of going through it, I'm finally beginning to narrow down why I have it. That's the most important part, figuring out the source... and then finding a way to deal with it.

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