How to loose weight while fighting mental health?

Elleeee95
Elleeee95 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 2024 in Getting Started
Hello everyone,

I've just started my weight loss journey. Don't really know what I'm doing, or what is going to work for me but I am hoping I don't fail.
I struggle with very bad anxiety and depression, it affects my sleep and the way I eat. For a few weeks now all I've eaten is McDonald's and chocolate on repeat and not sleeping until 6am.
Ive realised it just making my mental health worse and I want to do something about the toll it's having on my life.
I currently weight 90kgs 168cm and I would like to be around 70kgs. My goal is to reach that for my holiday in may 2018.

I struggle with healthy food and eating anything that isn't sugary or McDonald's. I know it sounds very bad but I have such an addiction to both that I actually cry if I don't have it.

It would be great to hear some succes story's on how you've delt with weight loss while fighting mental health problems.
:)

Replies

  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    edited September 2017
    If you remember nothing else remember this, Eat less calories than you burn and you WILL lose weight (doesn't matter if its sugary or mcdonalds, maybe work on super healthy foods later or incorporate as you go). Don't over complicate it with anything else ( like what exactly you're eating, Mcdonalds is ok to have just try to limit it a bit), sounds like you have enough to worry about without stressing over your diet. Just set yourself up with a 500 calorie daily deficit and go from there, try to eat at that deficit everyday if some days you go over, no worries just keep going. If your not at exactly a 500 calorie deficit that's ok as long as you are eating less then you burn then you're losing weight, even if it's a little slower it's better than getting super focused on it and stressing. Good luck to you
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I struggled with anxiety for many years; understanding that it was anxiety, helped a lot, I could seek help and do a lot on my own too. I had always heard that eating right was SO good for mental health, but I couldn't fix mental health and eating habits at the same time - I thought. Because I needed good taste. And I needed to feel that I'm in charge.

    What I didn't understand, was that what I believed was healthy food and healthy eating, was restrictive and disordered. Healthy food is balanced, varied AND tasty. Healthy eating habits is eating regularly AND being flexible. A healthy amount of food is ENOUGH BUT NOT TOO MUCH food. A healthy attitude to food is being relaxed around food AND taking care to get in good nutrition. Eating well improves energy levels and brain function, and feels meaningful, so the things I do now - planning, shopping, cooking and eating decent meals, even dishwashing - that seemed so overwhelming earlier, are like a hobby to me now.
  • Naaer
    Naaer Posts: 212 Member
    I am bipolar and the meds I'm on make me gain weight...This is a double whammy as it gets harder to lose weight the older that you get(Im sixty), and my medication make me gain weight...I haven't given up, though...A couple of years ago I lost forty pounds, so I know it can be done...It really is a matter of changing how you eat...Easier said than done...Mental health issues are hard enough to deal with without weight gain as a result of medication...I'm glad you brought this issue up...
  • EatingAndKnitting
    EatingAndKnitting Posts: 531 Member
    I have moderate bipolar disorder (with psychotic features! Fun!) and am on a handful of meds for that. The meds don't make you gain weight, they increase your appetite so you want to eat more. I dealt with that by taking a prescription appetite suppressant.

    You have to treat your mental illness first. For me, and probably most people with clinical (not situational) depression, that means medication. Preferably with therapy as well. Finding the right meds is trial and error, it took me four years and a stay in a mental health hospital to find the right ones. But once you do! Oh, the difference is night and day. I'll never NOT take my meds.

    Anyway, once you treat your mental illness and can focus on yourself it's simple but not easy. Set up MFP, track daily, forgive yourself when you slip (because your will. A lot.), start over daily, and trust the math.

    Calories in < calories out is all it takes to lose weight. That's what I mean by simple. You will have days when you eat more calories than you burn. That's what I mean by it my being easy.

    As long as more days are spent eating less tab you burn you'll be successful. I've done this for almost a year, and Lost 45 pounds. If you'd asked me in January if I'd be an "old timer" giving advice I'd have laughed at you.

    Good luck. You can do it.
  • dwilliamca
    dwilliamca Posts: 326 Member
    I too am bi-polar, take medication, and have suffered from over-eating during times of depression. I have gone through times where I just put one piece food after another in my mouth knowing how fat it would make me, but not caring at the time. I find logging calories very helpful to break that behavior because it gives you something to focus on. For me it becomes a challenge to keep within my numbers. Have you ever been in a bi-polar workshop where you log all your moods and reactions so you start recognizing the triggers? It is kind of like that. It makes you start thinking about what you need to eat. You can start learning about balancing your macros (carbs,protein,fats), work on lowering the ones you over-do, start watching your sugar levels (which play havoc for bi-polars almost as bad as alcohol). You don't have to become a health freak, as long as you realize that some (probably most) fast foods are high calorie. I find now when I eat them I look them up first and then order. Reward yourself with some chocolate once in awhile, just not a whole bag.
  • theowlbox
    theowlbox Posts: 912 Member
    Hello! Since, you have lots of stuff going on, you'll needs multiple layers of support.
    My suggestion is to make sure you have solid mental health help to begin getting sleep and feeding yourself, even if It's not the best food, regularly. While you are working on that, begin logging and weighing yourself regularly. You jave to hit the very basics of eating and sleeping regularly by having routines in place, first. Once you have those down, and you have learned to log and keep track of your weight, you can tinker and change stuff. Give yourself a week or two to lock down the basic habits then see what works. People lose weight without exercising, without eating clean, etc. all the time. You can lose weight on mcdonalds.
    Your issues around your narrow field of acceptable food is going to be a long term thing to overcome. You likely have some issues around food, whether ocd issues, extreme food sensitivities, anxieties about food prep, or just (as you say) a food addiction (which is likely much more complicated). If you want to increase your choices of food, you can desensitize yourself (see i'm an adult picky eater in al roker's my life in food) but you might need more time to change your palate. Get your basic needs done, mental health on track, then change your palate. You may gain motivation to change your palate or make other changes as you see yourself succeeding and as you learn how to change your own behavior. Good luck with your journey!
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