To cut a long story short, I suffer from depression. And the way I deal with this is to eat, and eat... and eat.
I haven't been in shape since I last worked a few years ago.
Since I have not been working, and my ex and I split up, I have gained a lot of weight.
My dads side of the family all suffer from a heart condition that highly increases the risk of heart failure.
I have tried anti-depressants and I do not like them. I have another doctors appointment booked for next week to discuss it.
Are there any suggestions you can give me that will get me out of this ditch I seem to be stuck in.
I love my daughter more than anything and I really want to be in shape so I can do everything with her that she wants, riding bikes, running about etc.
But as it is, I can barely walk anywhere without getting out of breath. Embarrassing, I know.
Hi there 🙂
Talking about it, acknowledging the problem and wanting to do something about it is a great first step!
I know what it's like to comfort eat and it's hard to make the changes, see what the doc says but it's got to come from you....try to cut down on fatty, sugary, processed foods and start with some gentle excercise, how about swimming?
Best of luck with it 🙂
I agree with NJ's suggestion of swimming - it's something you can do with your daughter, so you spend time with her, plus the excercise will release endorphines (I think that's right) which help to reduce the depression, and if you start to lose weight, you will start to feel better about yourself and it will help you to increase your excercise and fitness.
Hi when you go to the Doctors they can now prescribe health club memberships and a dietitian to to help you get on track again
walking is a good way to start, swimming great , dancing like a loony round your front room. We all know what we should eat and shouldn't but its breaking the cycle . Do a food diary , plan meals ahead and always have the food in , dont buy junk food , make veg soup you have that before a meal to bulk you out so you feel full quicker . No process food its full of rubbish this includes things like sausages bought shop sandwiches even famous slimming club meals are full of rubbish check the fat content and hidden sugars
Well done for facing your problems. Brave man.
Yes, depression is a real pain in the [censored]. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, keep it up.
I totally agree with the others, swimming is a nice way to exercise at your own pace and also relax and take your mind off things.
It's not shameful to get out of breath. Hey, I have asthma and get hay fever, and I end up crying in the summer and wheezing in the winter... it's not much fun but one way I deal with it is to make jokes about it.
Have you tried other ways to deal with the "black dog"? Writing a journal really helped me. Getting out of the house and seeing friends who you can share problems with helps a heck of a lot too.
MH - I know this might seem to be the wrong thread to suggest this, but I was diagnosed with asthma about 5 years ago and was on the usual daily inhalers, both preventer and ventolin. However, I started working for a chocolate company over 2 years ago, and since we get lots of free, good quality chocolate at work, was eating this, and noticed after a few months that I didn't need my inhalers. When I did some research, I found that theobromine relaxes the bronchial muscles (I think that's it) with the result that I haven't used an inhaler (either type) for over 18 months. It's dark chocolate that works best - I'd say at least 70%, but if you can get used to 100% even better - worth a try, and you don't need much each day, so it's not many calories - my view is that it's far healthier than pumping drugs and propane into my lungs.