Depression and dieting

I know how you feel. I've felt that sadness and emptiness without a cause. My fiancee gets frustrated when I have a hard time showing emotion, like laughing at a funny movie.

I wish I had some great advice on feeling better, but all I can say is distract yourself. I've been using my MFP program as my distraction. No time to wallow when I'm always thinking about my eating and exercising habits.

I've dealt with this, and I go the other way. I stop eating almost completely.

I've tried prescriptions. Short-term, good solution. But they mess with so many other aspects of your life.

Exercise. Regularly. Ride the endorphins. The human body is a magical thing, and ridiculously self-correcting!

Hi Blueviolet20. Thank you for sharing how you are feeling, I know that this is a very sensitive matter for you. I have also experienced bouts of depression in relation to my lack of weight loss. What I do in order to beat the *funk* is just sit and think about all of the things in life that I am fortunate enough to have. Clothing, shelter, and food (lol sometimes the enemy!). I have also for many years have blamed others for my lack of weight loss, but just recently I have realized that it is all up to me to stand up for myself and make better food choices for me, because no one else will. Whatever you do, don't give up on your weight loss goals, be patient, and just focus on the positives in life. By sitting and being grateful, humble, and thankful for what you do have, it is almost impossible to remain down. Hope this helps :-)!

Become a robot. Treat your calories and your workouts like a machine. Get though the hours.
Get on the forums and me a troll and snarky. Most funny people are severely depressed. Are you funny?
eventually I forget why I'm depressed. well until bed time. Just cry yourself to sleep, and get up fresh.

I too suffer from severe depression and emotional eating. Meds help to some degree. As does keeping busy. Sadly, on days off I tend to be a weepy crying mess. Used to be that during my weekend off I would buy Little Debbies and chow down. Then, the next day I would be miserable and filled with self hated. Then I decided to try and not buy them for one week. It was tough. The second week wasn't as hard but rough. Now it is not an issue. I just don't buy them and as a result I don't have to deal with the yuckiness I felt. Something else I've stopped doing is going out to eat after a bad day at work. I would order wings, cheesecake and alcohol...comfort food. Same thing, would feel so guilty. Not just because of the calories but because it costs money. Not sure I will ever not have the urge to go out but it is getting easier. I wish I could offer some advice. Instead, all I can say is that you aren't alone!

I am sorry to hear you are going through this....my advice is to go and talk to your doctor or make an appointment to talk to a mental health professional. There is no reason you should suffer from this type of depression......if you let it go too long, you may become suicidal. It sounds like you need intervention as soon as possible. I am a social worker and have seen many people get help through counseling and the use of anti-depressant medication. Sometimes people have to try a few different types of anti depressant before they see results. This is normal as everyone is different. Maybe your doctor will want you to start out with just counseling to see if you improve without medication. Most people need to take antidepressants but not always for long term. Just believe that you are not alone and there is help for you!!! If you don't know who to call, call your local county health department, they can for sure assist you in getting help!! Take care....

You should really try eating at least 4000mg of potassium in your foods daily, as it totally helps our emotions level out and we just feel better, period. Also, add Omega-3 essential fatty acids regularly. Walnuts, hemp seed, flax seed, soy, fish, fish oil. Potassium is found in veggies and beans, fruits, fish, chicken, etc.. Also make sure to drink lots of water. Try these things, they've made a huge difference in my outlook.

Here's a good chart to check out.

www.krispin.com/potassm.html

I wish you all the best!

I struggle with some of the same issues... For me, I have to just decide that I WANT to change. That I don't want to feel bad anymore, because I'm tired of it. If I don't feel it (the desperate need to turn things around), then nothing changes. I just keep complaining, groveling, feeling bad, hiding, eating more, and going down into the pit even more. If I can convince myself to choose to fight those bad feelings and to choose something different, I know deep down what to do. And it IS a choice you make.

So how do I choose something else? It is a known fact that exercise gives you endorphins, which make you feel good. I choose to exercise! When I get those crummy feelings, I exercise. Daily. Some days, not as hard as others, because a body needs a break. But a break doesn't necessarily mean a lazy day, it just means a "gentle" workout... And only things that I enjoy (for me it's swimming, or the ellipitcal or treadmill, but everyone is different) and I make it enjoyable. If it's painful, I don't do it... But most people can validate the same thing: exercise makes you feel good. So if you're tired of things the way they are, choose differently. And one way to do that is to get moving....

P.S. And don't be afraid to seek medical help/medication to get you through. Sometimes even water, exercise, and diet can't change an imbalanced brain, so go talk to your doctor!!! Lots of people complain about weight gain from anti-depressants, but I actually had some really good weight loss a few years ago just from going on Prozac, which balanced me out enough to logically think through and make better choices, rather than going off of emotions!

The bottom line is DON'T GIVE UP! Make the choice to do things differently until you find something that works. Like Exercise.

The VERY reason I'm doing this is to stay off of meds. ( I was on them for 12 years, and have been off about 5) I push through doing it, because it helps me with my depression. I know where my mind could go if I don't take care of myself, and eating right and exercising is the best thing I can do to take care of myself.

Hey all,

I'm just writing this because right now, and at many times in my life, I am suffering and have suffered from severe depression. In part, I'm depressed because I'm having difficulty with losing the weight I want to, but there are also many circumstances in my life that I am discontent with. The main part of it though, is a sadness that I cannot find a reason for. And this is what is disturbing to me...I am so depressed and pained in spirit seemingly without a cause. It's very frustrating. I guess what I would like to know from others is this: How do you push through the pain of depression? How do you find the ability to make right choices in your eating and your health when everything feels horrible? How do you go about working toward a solution to the problem when you have trouble even taking a step? These are just a few of my questions. I'm really, really tired of feeling this way, and I would like to know how others have dealt with it. Thank you to those who have taken a few minutes to read and respond to this. I really do appreciate it.

I've dealt with this, and I go the other way. I stop eating almost completely.

I've tried prescriptions. Short-term, good solution. But they mess with so many other aspects of your life.

Exercise. Regularly. Ride the endorphins. The human body is a magical thing, and ridiculously self-correcting!

This is the best advice! I was just telling someone else that sometimes you have to force yourself to get up and just do it! I have been disabled since 2004, but when I was working, I remember a customer asking me one time how I kept a smile on my face. My answer... when people ask me how I'm doing, I always tell them I'm great and soon I start to believe it myself. You are worth so much more than what you are giving yourself right now. No one can make you happy and there is no one size fits all answer, but I do know from experience that once you start exercising and working toward a goal you will feel so much better about yourself. Hey... rather you believe you can or can't, you're right! ( I think Dale Carnegie said that, but I'm not sure). You are no alone here. There are tons of people backing you up on MFP. We are all in this journey together and here to give you a kick in the pants if you need it, or simply a hug. Add me if you like... I'm too tired to think, and probably shouldn't be trying to give any advice! Add me if you like... I suffer from depression too. I know what you are going through.

This reminds me of a time in my life when I would go for a 4 mile walk every day. Trying to improve my moods. And I started coming home and crying for like an hour. For no reason.

When it gets like this you need meds. Really. Working out helps if you are in a good place to start with, but if you are already sucked that deep into the black hole of depression (as far as it sounds from your post), then please try meds again. Get a different one.

I was on like 10 differnt meds. Prozac actually worked the best for me.

Take care of yourself. And don't worry about losing weight right now. Get your brain chemistry balanced out, then come back here and kick some a*s.

I suffer with Bi-Polar disorder so HAVE to take medications which make me want to eat all the time - it just takes a bit of will power and strength to overcome this. I would suggest seeing a psychiatrist for your depression - it could be clinical in which case you will have to take medication to make it through the day. Once you feel happier with yourself, you can tend to your diet. Beleive me, I feel your pain but you really need some help right now. Hope we see you better soon x x

Become a robot. Treat your calories and your workouts like a machine. Get though the hours.
Get on the forums and me a troll and snarky. Most funny people are severely depressed. Are you funny?
eventually I forget why I'm depressed. well until bed time. Just cry yourself to sleep, and get up fresh.

Hahaha, I'm not very funny at all right now. But you are. And it made me smile.

Me too!

I'm really glad to see this post because I've been going through something similar. I am bipolar so being depressed about my weight can literally send me into a episode. It's hard sometimes feeling helpless about something you want to change but struggle with. What i have found is that for me the best thing is exercising ! I workout and the feeling that I get after is pure happiness ! Plus finding this site and all the support has been just what i needed to keep motivated. On this site I can be honest in a way that i can't be with anyone. Just know that you have so much support as demonstrated by all the support your getting just on this thread. Good Luck!