Sadness, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness are all associated with depression. Many people who are dieting are prone to feeling depressed. Here are some signs to watch for:
1. Bad dreams or the inability to sleep soundly.
2. Lose appetite.
3. Waking too early and have difficulty getting back to sleep.
4. Can’t concentrate at work.
5. Anxiety
6. Getting emotional or bursting into tears for no apparent reason.
7. Become short temper.
8. Waking up still feeling worn out and exhausted.
9. Insomnia.
Depression during dieting usually has two major causes: your depression has nothing to do with your diet. It is about something in your life that is causing you to feel down. You need to try to evaluate where the feelings are coming from and find a solution to the problem, or the diet itself is responsible for your depression because you aren’t getting the results you want quickly enough.
No matter where your depression is coming from it’s important for you to deal with it as quickly as possible since it will be virtually impossible to lose weight if you’re depressed. Try to trace the source of your depression. It could be someone you spend time with, your job, or many other things. If it’s related to your diet here are some things to look out for:
1. A study show that antioxidant can prevent depression, you should check your current diet and see if it is already contain enough food with antioxidant in it such as red bean, blueberry, blackberry, apple, strawberry, black plum, spinach, broccoli, asparagus, and papaya.
2. Serotonin is a chemical that regulates several body functions including intestinal movements, appetite, mood and anger. Research has shown that eating whole grain carbohydrates and low protein can increase Serotonin levels by producing more insulin. If your diet is ultra low on carbs you may want to up the amount of carbs you eat. Don’t increase your carb intake too dramatically though since this could lead to insulin resistance.
3. Another study shown that low selenium levels in the diet can lead to irritability and depression; the government is recommend daily intake of selenium by 75mcg for men and 60mcg for women, so you should include food source of selenium in your daily diet such as cereals (corn, wheat, rice), walnuts, beef, chicken, egg, cheese, and tuna.
4. Take a walk. Regular exercise has been shown to help reduce stress, depression, anxiety, and help with weight loss. Meeting your weight loss goals is an excellent way of improving your self esteem. Just try to do a little exercise on a regular basis.
If after dealing with the points listed above you are still feeling depressed it could be that you aren’t realistic about your dieting goals. Many people will have negative body images when they look in the mirror and will expect overnight results from their diet. Before you let unrealistic expectations sabotage your diet you need to get your head around the whole concept of a diet:
1. With all the wild promises floating around about losing 10 pounds in 10 days it’s easy to get discouraged. You have to remember that these testimonials are the extreme cases, not the norm. Few people will lose that much weight that fast on a healthy weight loss program. Everyone is different. As long as you are making steady progress forget about all the hype and just keep moving forward.
2. No matter what people say, losing weight is a long term endeavor. You may reach a point where your body will ‘plateau’ and you may not lose as much weight for a short while, that is normal. You can’t let that get to you and give up. Stay motivated, work your plan, ask for help and you will get back on track.
3. If you don’t follow your plan for a day because of a party, or you just didn’t feel like it, don’t worry. Eating right is a lifelong commitment and no one is good all the time, you don’t have to be. You can reach your weight loss goals and maintain a healthy weight even if you overindulge every now and then. The trick is to get right back on track the very next day, and maybe add a little extra to your workout.
Being depressed about your weight is totally normal, but in the end you need to control and eliminate it if you want to make progress. Check your diet composition, make sure it is already contain good exercise and food that you need to suppress depression, usually a diet which contain all food groups in its meal plans will sufficient; then set the right concept in your mind for the process ahead, this will make a good start and hopefully in the end you’ll obtain a good finish too.
Select a diet that contain all food groups from a list of weight loss program by Stefan Vincent to avoid depression while trying to lose weight; check Diets That Work for a guide on how to select a diet wisely and efficiently.
