People who live with bipolar, anxiety, or depression disorders
face a double whammy when it comes to losing weight and losing fat,
especially if they want to lose fat fast. Not only do people with these
conditions have to deal with debilitating and discouraging symptoms,
including depression, they often have to take mood stabilizing drugs
which have weight gain as a side effect. This double punch of depression
and drug side effects makes it more difficult to maintain a healthy
weight and much more difficult to lose weight or burn fat.
Fortunately, overcoming these two obstacles is not impossible. To help people with bipolar, anxiety, and depression disorders to lose weight and maintain a diet they can live with, below are 7 tips to help battle the bulge.
1. Set realistic expectations -- One of the first goals should not be the loss of weight, but the end of gaining weight. Since depression and mood stabilizing drugs are already working to make sure that weight stays on, the first goal has to be to simply stop the gaining of weight. After this goal has been reached, then diet and exercise routines can be further adjusted to begin realizing weight and fat loss.
2. Keep your doctor and therapist involved -- Your doctor and therapist should know about any weight loss program that you begin. Because certain foods can influence mood, your doctor should know about any changes in your eating habits so that he can adjust your medication if necessary. Your therapist should be kept informed so they can help keep you encouraged and motivated and simply be aware of a new set of circumstances in your life.
3. Start out slowly -- Suddenly introducing dramatic changes into your routine is a recipe for disaster. Make changes slowly and give them time to take effect. If can take 30 days for a new routine to become a habit so be prepared for a long journey. Weight loss entails not just diet and exercise, but also a lifestyle change. It will require patience and consistency, but change will come as a result of your diet and exercise efforts.
4. Don't go it alone -- Involve friends and family to help keep you accountable and motivated. Get a trainer if necessary to help you exercise properly. Enlist the aid of a nutritionist if you have to so that your meals can be tailored to your needs. Sign up with a meal program that has a support group. Surround yourself with people who are committed to seeing you achieve success.
5. Stay motivated -- Keep yourself going. Be sure to always tell yourself that you can do it. The key to success in any area of life is to keep going because eventually you will reach your goal. Just don't quit. When you quit is when you fail. This is not to say that you will never have set backs, that you will never give into cravings, that you will never just not feel like going on. All these things will happen, but with any journey, you only reach your goal when you keep going to where you want to go and do not stay in the ditches you may fall into along the way.
6. Educate yourself -- As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Educate yourself so you can help yourself. Ask questions, read, and journal. Learn what works for you and what doesn't. Learn what foods trigger cravings. Learn what exercises you enjoy the most. Write everything down so that you can look back and see how far you have come.
7. Celebrate -- When you reach a milestone or achieve a goal or overcome a stubborn obstacle, celebrate. Living with symptoms and drug side effects is difficult enough and can reinforce negative self-images so celebrate when you achieve because you did it. You made yourself a better person through your own efforts and that deserves celebration. When you celebrate though, do so in a positive way. Don't celebrate with food, but try something else you like whether that is music or a book or a new outfit. When you celebrate though, try to include those who may have helped you along the way to reach your goal.
We've looked at 7 tips for helping people living with bipolar, anxiety, or depression disorders burn fat and lose weight. You may have thought this article would have been a list of 7 foods not to eat or 7 exercises you have to do, but those things come after the steps outlined above. The most important item to reaching your weight loss goals is to never give up. As long as you keep working, keep learning, and keep going the exercise and diet information you need will come along.
Fortunately, overcoming these two obstacles is not impossible. To help people with bipolar, anxiety, and depression disorders to lose weight and maintain a diet they can live with, below are 7 tips to help battle the bulge.
1. Set realistic expectations -- One of the first goals should not be the loss of weight, but the end of gaining weight. Since depression and mood stabilizing drugs are already working to make sure that weight stays on, the first goal has to be to simply stop the gaining of weight. After this goal has been reached, then diet and exercise routines can be further adjusted to begin realizing weight and fat loss.
2. Keep your doctor and therapist involved -- Your doctor and therapist should know about any weight loss program that you begin. Because certain foods can influence mood, your doctor should know about any changes in your eating habits so that he can adjust your medication if necessary. Your therapist should be kept informed so they can help keep you encouraged and motivated and simply be aware of a new set of circumstances in your life.
3. Start out slowly -- Suddenly introducing dramatic changes into your routine is a recipe for disaster. Make changes slowly and give them time to take effect. If can take 30 days for a new routine to become a habit so be prepared for a long journey. Weight loss entails not just diet and exercise, but also a lifestyle change. It will require patience and consistency, but change will come as a result of your diet and exercise efforts.
4. Don't go it alone -- Involve friends and family to help keep you accountable and motivated. Get a trainer if necessary to help you exercise properly. Enlist the aid of a nutritionist if you have to so that your meals can be tailored to your needs. Sign up with a meal program that has a support group. Surround yourself with people who are committed to seeing you achieve success.
5. Stay motivated -- Keep yourself going. Be sure to always tell yourself that you can do it. The key to success in any area of life is to keep going because eventually you will reach your goal. Just don't quit. When you quit is when you fail. This is not to say that you will never have set backs, that you will never give into cravings, that you will never just not feel like going on. All these things will happen, but with any journey, you only reach your goal when you keep going to where you want to go and do not stay in the ditches you may fall into along the way.
6. Educate yourself -- As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Educate yourself so you can help yourself. Ask questions, read, and journal. Learn what works for you and what doesn't. Learn what foods trigger cravings. Learn what exercises you enjoy the most. Write everything down so that you can look back and see how far you have come.
7. Celebrate -- When you reach a milestone or achieve a goal or overcome a stubborn obstacle, celebrate. Living with symptoms and drug side effects is difficult enough and can reinforce negative self-images so celebrate when you achieve because you did it. You made yourself a better person through your own efforts and that deserves celebration. When you celebrate though, do so in a positive way. Don't celebrate with food, but try something else you like whether that is music or a book or a new outfit. When you celebrate though, try to include those who may have helped you along the way to reach your goal.
We've looked at 7 tips for helping people living with bipolar, anxiety, or depression disorders burn fat and lose weight. You may have thought this article would have been a list of 7 foods not to eat or 7 exercises you have to do, but those things come after the steps outlined above. The most important item to reaching your weight loss goals is to never give up. As long as you keep working, keep learning, and keep going the exercise and diet information you need will come along.
Remember, when it comes to burning fat and losing weight faster,
it is important to follow a good regimen of diet and exercise.
For your FREE guide to start you on your weight loss visit my website at http://www.BuildingAThinnerYou.com
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Dennison
For your FREE guide to start you on your weight loss visit my website at http://www.BuildingAThinnerYou.com
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