how do you love yourself?

You've done the first thing you need to do, which is identify something you want to change and look for ways to change it. Neither anxiety or depression are something that most people can't improve with effort, but sometimes the efforts needed are more individual than a "one size fits all" type of thing.

A long standing thread with a lot of mutual respect, idea sharing, and possibly information useful to the OP or others.....

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10058170/depression-and-weight-loss/p1


Only you can gauge your desire for the change and your current moods, but never be ashamed to reach out for help through family, local resources, or any means you have. Find and keep track of wellness tools, and use them as appropriate.

As far as what makes you want to carry on in life, also individual but usually easy to find if you look. After personally going through a period of severe anxiety induced by stress and PTSD, I realized how many others are living in situations as bad or worse for much longer periods of time. For me, it was uplifting to know that my experience might help others through giving them guidance or helping them through rough times.

There is always light, sometimes you just have to look for it a little harder.


And there is one point I want to strongly disagree with from the original post. You absolutely DO NOT need to do this on your own. The support of others can help greatly with your moods, outlook on thing, as well as be a great source of additional information sharing.

Play with kids, god, walk with a friend, walk dogs, working out is a great source of release for me read then sleep.

Hi. I have been on a mission lately to discover what self care and loving oneself really means. I give all of my time and strength to my family and my job but I need to break that pattern for my own mental health.
It sounds like we have a few things in common. Maybe we can help each other a long this journey. Please add me if you would like to be friends.

It seems so...hokey...but affirmations. I started with that. Looking in the mirror and choosing to tell myself the reasons I loved myself before I picked at all the things I didn't.
Then checklists to literally do things to take care of myself-the simplest things. I labelled it "Love yourself" and it included things I would deny myself when feeling less than loving toward myself.
And reaching out. This is a good first step. Finding people to connect with who understand what you feel really helps.

Hello lovely - I am so sorry to hear you're struggling. I hope you find the support you need here to put that smile back on your face. Life can be hard sometimes, especially when weight loss and self esteem is involved. But we've got your back through it all.

I have gained 12 pounds after stopping calorie counting due to an Eating Disorder. I'm a lot heavier now than I am comfortable with but it's important to keep an eye on the bigger picture in life. There is so much more to this life (and to me) that what my scale tells me. I try to keep that in mind when I'm having a low self esteem moment. People don't love me for my shell, they love me for my soul. No one will be at my funeral saying "I loved her because she was thin". I try to tell myself this when it all gets a bit much.

A good distraction for me is reading. I like to sit and read for hours on end. When I'm done with reading, I'll do a dance work-out or i'll catch up on Orange Is The New Black on Netflix. Failing that, I'll speak to my mum on the phone or snuggle up to my boyfriend. Distractions are all around you but when you are focusing on the depression and the anxiety it is hard to see past it - but try, try, try and don't stop.

I am not clinically depressed, so I don't know how helpful this will be to you, but I find that I feel best when I get out of my own head. When I stop focusing on myself so much and put more effort into doing things for/with other people, that's when I start to feel more positive about life. It's interesting, because I certainly don't consider myself to be an outgoing, people-loving person.

Start small, by doing something nice for someone in your family. I do one small thing every day, and it has helped me tremendously to get back into the right headspace.

This is all true, many of our actions and thought patterns are learned and habitual, whether positive or negative. The more you make yourself do something positive, the more likely it becomes the norm for you and habitual. Takes time, but it definitely works.