Anxiety/Depression vs Weight Loss

That is awful advice from your doctor.
Exercise has helped my anxiety, stress and depression.
Weight loss has helped my self-esteem and depression.

No way. Exercise is great for anxiety and depression. That's why I started.

Now I'm anxious and very blue again but I've been going so hard I'm actually taking a break from exercise. Balance.

it's actually really good to exercise and do yoga when suffering from depression and anxiety, they boost your endorphins and make you generally feel better about yourself. from experience I can say that when you're facing depression there's a lot about your position in life that can affect it - if you're not happy with the weight you are then do something proactive about it and that'll make it easier to look at yourself and be like 'hey look at what I can do' and that really helps
hope you feel better

ogmilner wrote: »

About a month and 2 weeks ago I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression and was told by the doctor that losing weight can't be focused on right now because my mental health is my priority.

To boost my mental health as well as physical I've joined a yoga class and a boxercise group at university which has perked me up emotionally and decided to join the university's gym too this week, so I can work out a bit more after my exams are over in a couple of weeks.

Has anyone else been told not to focus on weight loss due to mental health?
How have they dealt with both at the same time?
Is it possible that my weight could be linked to the anxiety/depression?

Thanks

Actually my doctor said to continue my weight loss for a few reasons. She said keeping track of my weight will help me realize when I'm starting to have a depressive episode (I sometimes have a hard time recognizing one coming on until it's too late lol and one of the first signs is becoming lax in my regimen and overeating), having a routine and planning my meals and keeping track of my macros forces me to focus in the present moment instead of getting lost in my head, even if they are for short moments throughout the day, and the steady exercise regime has helped immensely with my moods. Like I can tell a huge difference if I skip a few days. But this is me. Our brains are all different. For people whose depression and anxiety trigger obsessive behaviors in terms of disordered eating, this may be the wrong way to go. Also some people, when newly on meds and working things out might get overwhelmed if they make sudden drastic changes and it may derail them (in weight loss and mental health). Talk with your doctor about doing things in stages. Discuss why it is a concern for them and come up with some ideas that they may agree with or a plan that lets you focus on weight loss in a way that is paces, non stressful, in stages, and in a way that can benefit your anxiety and depression as well. In the meantime keep exercising an eating things that firstly make you feel better physically and mentally, and secondly help with weight loss. You can do both very successfully as long as you make sure to treat yourself with compassion and gently while you are getting used to the changes that are happening.

I can kind of understand where your doctor is coming from since weight loss can be very consuming, but if you're happy to be going to the gym and doing exercise, then that generally makes people feel better because of endorphins. I guess it depends what the source of your depression and anxiety is, but if negative body image is part of it then I don't see why you can't keep up your weight loss, just not at a detriment to what you're trying to do with your mental health.

I guess it just depends what makes you feel good, while also helping you to get better with your mental health