Carbs and Depression

So, I've read that carbs are actually essential for the production of brain chemicals that boost mood. In other words, limiting carbs can cause depression. It seems like kind of a kick in the teeth, though, since low-carb diets are now the most recommended way of dieting. I feel like trying to lose weight is especially tough on my mood. I feel like crap b/c I think I'm fat so I keep trying to lose weight, but the only thing that seems to work at all is limiting carbs which is most likely making me feel bad, too.

Anyone else having a similar dilemma? I suppose this also brings up the question, which came first? The depression or the fat? It sucks that depression can cause weight gain and weight gain can cause depression. I feel like I'm trapped in a cycle where there is no way out.

I'm not sure which I want more, to eat things I like again or to stop feeling like a whale. Not being able to eat the things I like makes me feel like there is nothing worth living for (not if I can never enjoy eating again), but looking at myself naked makes me want to hurt myself for looking so disgusting and having been so lazy as to have gotten myself to look that gross. I hate myself because of how I look and for what I have to eat now.

You can avoid the carb depression problem by consuming carbs but reducing your net carbs. You do this by upping your fiber which is good for you in lots of ways anyway. As with everything it seems, it is about moderation. No-Carb diets will make you depressed and agitated but you can do low-carb well. Just try to get your carbs from natural sources and less from sugar if possible.

The other issue might be that cutting down on carbs is cutting down on "comfort food" and sugar which could be making your mood lower. I combat this with dark chocolate - the darker the better. There is some sugar content but not nearly as much. The product I am in love with is called "New Tree". They make dark chocolate bars that have things like flax seed already in them so you get chocolate and fiber!

I say all this with the disclaimer that I am just someone who has dieted a lot and done research, I have no formal education or backing as a nutritionist.

Hi,

Think of all the overweight women, such as Queen Latifah, who are comfortable in their own skin, and therefore beautiful. I struggle with image as well, but always try to remember that larger women are beautiful too!

With respect to your diet, I can share my experience. When I eat sweets, which I love, it causes me to crave more. It is just a vicious cycle. If you cut back and eat fruits rather than ice cream and greener veggies instead of potatoes and corn and the like, it will help you get off that cycle. At the same time, you cannot deprive yourself of the things that you like. Life is too short!

I was doing Atkins for about a week and quit because I felt crappy and really really deprived. Then I tried Weight Watchers and ended up eating too much food because they tell you to eat as much fruit as you like. So I did. I did not gain, but I only lost about 1 pound a month at best. It was a carb thing and eating too much of a good thing like fruit did me in. I quit Weight Watchers (don't get me wrong I think it is an awesome program, it just did work for me at the time).

After quitting Weight Watchers I joined Jenny Craig. The big drawback there is expense and having to eat their food. The most important thing I am taking away from that diet, on which I have lost 18 pounds on despite my use of Seroquel and Abilify, is PORTION CONTROL. Yup, that is what I needed. Jenny Craig has you eating carb rich foods like cookies and pizza and candy, you just don't eat a lot of those things. Instead of having some sweet treat every day, I have a savory snack instead. For example, I might have a cookie on Monday, a bag of popcorn on Tuesday, and a piece of cheesecake on Wednesday, etc. It keeps the carb monster at bay.

Probably the most common sense approach I have seen, and Jenny Craig emphasizes, is how you make up a plate of food. The new USDA eating guidelines no longer have that food pyramid, but instead show you what a plate should look like. It is half veggies, one quarter starch and one quarter protein. If you eat a lot of filling low cal foods, you can still have a cookie or something later. You just eat in moderation which is doable if you can get off the carb cycle.

Speaking of cycle, exercise, as much as I hate doing it sometimes, is really key to weight loss. It boosts the mood too.

Sorry for rambling!

Good luck and best wishes