STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Karina · Chanel

Gaining Weight (can't stop eating, lazy, not working out, no water)

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

yup :( I am going through a very personally difficult time right now and I have gained about 8 pounds in the last 4 months.

I decided I am going back on low carb eating to shed the weight because it will allow me to loose the weight even without tons of excersise.

I would suggest keeping a food feelings journal- every time you eat write down what you eat and what your were feeling when you ate it. my old trainer used to have me do this to see how my emotions often lead to bad food choices.

Collette · Chanel

I was there with you. Over the winter I was really depressed and doing nothing but eating bad no workouts etc same as you. Over the last few months I've dropped 15 pds (5 more to go) and realized that just working out again and picking back up some of my healthier habits helped with the depression. Also a huge thing was I wasn't sleeping more than 3 hours a night due to anxiety and stress. Most of the weight loss happened after I was given an ant anxiety pill to sleep. I've learned that just getting good sleep has really helped with my daily mood, decision making etc. Have you talked to your Dr about it at all? Perhaps getting something just to help you sleep could help?

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

I gained about 15 lbs over the winter -depression, not working out, long days at work...it all just added up. I find that my moods are very much linked to the weather. As soon as the sun came out again, I was able to start working out and enjoying life again.

Anyway, I think Collette hit the nail on the head - getting enough sleep is enormously important, and I think you should focus on that first, and then hopefully everything will flow from that.

Good luck! Just know that you're not alone in this...

Karina · Chanel

it's not that i can't sleep, it's that i don't have enough hours in the day to sleep. by the time i get home, make dinner and get to bed, i have 5 or so of sleep left. i sure as hell dont want to work out when i get home :(

BellinaJessica · Kenneth Cole

I'm with you. I'm going through a tough time right now too and just keep eating crap.

I'm a single mom so I totally dig the not enough time to sleep thing. Can you do things to improve the quality of sleep that you do get? A better mattress? Some supplements that help you sleep deeper, like magnesium?

Our bodies naturally want to eat more when we are low on sleep, it's how we replace the energy we should be getting from sleep. Try and focus on healthier eating habits. The key for this with me is lots of water, if I'm dehydrated my body thinks it's hungrier than it is and I tend to binge more.

Also I find that having a goal in life that I am focused on and excited about usually stops the depression binging. Just focusing on stopping the binging alone is never enough for me, I have to have a reason to feel better, something to look forward to. Can you find something like this? A hobby or something?

-- Edited by BellinaJessica on Saturday 23rd of May 2009 10:48:26 AM

Grace · BCBG

Don't think that you have to change it all at one time. Start with one thing and once you get back into that routine, pick up another. Don't bring junk food into the house. If it's not there, you won't be so tempted. Granted, I don't know your work situation but if at all possible, I hope you could knock a couple hours of work off each day. I've seen too many people you let their job rule. Good luck!

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

I wanted to ask you since you posted this - how has your week be going?

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

I'm sorry. This is hard. You have a number of good reasons to feel upset. And food gives you a fast way to feel good.

I jsut wanted to say something because I noticed you said that you're "lazy."

I'm not sure, but sometimes with me, I notice that when I'm talking to myself this way, calling myself names, it makes it harder to do what I want to do. If I say, "I'm so lazy for not doing this paper..." all of a sudden you couldn't pay me a million dollars to write it. Sometimes backing off that kind of self-criticism makes it a little bit easier to do what you want.

You have some good reasons to be eating and not working out (you need a quick pick-me-up, and you have a LOT of demand on your time). There's no need to beat yourself up, even if you think it will be motivating. You're a good mom, a conscientious person, and it sounds like you're a good employee too. You are also stressed and not eating the way you'd like. Don't hate yourself for it. From an outside perspective, it's pretty understandable.

kenzie · Chanel

Ugh. I feel like this, too. With everything I have going on, I barely have time to sleep and eat. I've gained 10 pounds this year and I feel disgusting. I really want to get a bike and start biking, but the weather here is so crappy and unpredictable (too humid, too hot, too cold, too rainy), I feel like I wouldn't use it. Maybe I'll get a bike when we move to Cali, but in the interim I need to do something!

mz.shanzie · Kenneth Cole

-- Edited by mz.shanzie at 21:36, 2008-08-19

mz.shanzie · Kenneth Cole

Collette wrote:

I was there with you. Over the winter I was really depressed and doing nothing but eating bad no workouts etc same as you. Over the last few months I've dropped 15 pds (5 more to go) and realized that just working out again and picking back up some of my healthier habits helped with the depression. Also a huge thing was I wasn't sleeping more than 3 hours a night due to anxiety and stress. Most of the weight loss happened after I was given an ant anxiety pill to sleep. I've learned that just getting good sleep has really helped with my daily mood, decision making etc. Have you talked to your Dr about it at all? Perhaps getting something just to help you sleep could help?

Just wondering what Rx they gave you for sleep? I have been contemplating going to the doc for a sleep aid for MONTHS now. I took Ambien a few years back and it made me feel really weird. Anyway if you get a chance, just wondered the name :)

Collette · Chanel

Just wondering what Rx they gave you for sleep? I have been contemplating going to the doc for a sleep aid for MONTHS now. I took Ambien a few years back and it made me feel really weird. Anyway if you get a chance, just wondered the name :)

It's not necessarily a sleeping pill but an anti anxiety pill that makes me nice and calm and drowsy enough to get a good nights sleep. I tried Ambien once and it killed me. I take Clonazepam 1 to 1 1/2 mg a night and it really helps.

blubirde · Chanel

I agree with the sleep thing. I'm going to sound like an idiot because I can't speak specifically, but my doctor is constantly telling me that some hormone (or something) that makes you hungry rises significantly in your body when you lack sleep. I also understand not really being able to do anything about that currently.

I'm with the other girls with doing one thing at a time. I've lost a bit of weight lately by doing a low-carb type diet. It's not anti-carbs or anything, just limiting them and eating them at the end of a meal. If changing your diet isn't something you feel you can handle, just try drinking more water. That will make you feel better almost immediately and it will drop a couple of pounds off pretty quickly. I find that if I drink a glass of water first thing in the morning, I'm much more likely to drink all the water I'm supposed to all day long. Can you grab a liter or so at a convenience store on your way to work? You could work on finishing that over the day for your first goal. Once you get the water down, you might feel up to tackling some of the other bad habits.

Either way, I think everyone's been there. Hang tough. It'll pass and you'll feel more in control of things.

mz.shanzie · Kenneth Cole

Collette wrote:

Just wondering what Rx they gave you for sleep? I have been contemplating going to the doc for a sleep aid for MONTHS now. I took Ambien a few years back and it made me feel really weird. Anyway if you get a chance, just wondered the name :)

It's not necessarily a sleeping pill but an anti anxiety pill that makes me nice and calm and drowsy enough to get a good nights sleep. I tried Ambien once and it killed me. I take Clonazepam 1 to 1 1/2 mg a night and it really helps.

Thanks! Yah I have suffered from anxiety forever too, so it wouldnt be a bad idea to try...that is when my brain just goes on a tangent is right when I lay down. It doesn't help that my fiance snores like a darn bear all night either hahaha.

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

Anti anxiety pills have really helped me too ...

Karina · Chanel

i have joined the gym! so far i've gone twice this week, hopefully i can keep it up :)

blink · Coach

I recently rejoined a gym myself. It feels so good to be exercising again. I am shooting for 4 days a week, it was challenging to make it a new routine with two children, but I am finding it's not as much of a burden as I thought and a little bit is way better than the nothing I have been doing already. Luckily, mine really like the club's kid care, so I don't get to use them as an excuse not to workout.

Good luck! We're in the same boat!

Karina · Chanel

i wanted to bump this thread up again because i have fallen into the same rut.
this time, i cannot keep myself away from the sweets and i just have no ambition to go to the gym. are there any vitamins or herbs i can take to stop the sugar cravings?

NCshopper · Hermes

Karina wrote:
i wanted to bump this thread up again because i have fallen into the same rut.
this time, i cannot keep myself away from the sweets and i just have no ambition to go to the gym. are there any vitamins or herbs i can take to stop the sugar cravings?

I would recommend weaning yourself off the sweets slowly and in time, you'll lose your taste for it to a large extent. Giving up sweets entirely and stopping cold turkey will backfire, so like almost everything, it's all about moderation.

Instead of eating high fat, super sweet foods, try to find some healthy alternatives: fruit and berries with some whipped cream, greek yogurt with honey, low cal frozen yogurt, dark chocolate--that kind of thing is a much better alternative than say, pecan pie.

The other thing I'd recommend is trying to identify when you're craving sweets. Are you stressed at work and dive into the office candy? If so, bring some trail mix into work and eat that instead (it'll at least give you some protein). Or do you crave a frappuccino in the afternoon when your energy level gets low? If so, drink some green tea with honey instead. Figuring out when you're craving certain things can help you mitigate those cravings.

No one's perfect all the time, so most importantly, don't beat yourself up when you feel like you've fallen off the bandwagon a bit and don't let one splurge mean that all bets are off for the day--just eat better the next meal.