Moody Foody, Part 1: Depression is Tough, Ice Cream is Not


Depression is tough! Ice cream is not tough. Ice cream is soothing, mood lifting, deliriously delicious! For the few moments that I am eating ice cream I am NOT DEPRESSED!

 Recently, in one of my many attempts to alleviate some symtoms of this insidious bipolar disorder, I tried a different way of eating. 

 My cravings left! Disappeared! Without those cravings I was not grabbing for bread, fruit, icecream.

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Without cravings I was eating less. 

 Eating less caused me to assume my healthy weight.

 Plus - my mood improved! That was my goal.
I succeeded at something!

THAT is NOT DEPRESSING.

 Do I still have bipolar depression? Yes I do, but the symptoms are not as extreme. That's wonderful!

 My moods have dictated what I eat for a long time. And I have a lot of different moods. Because of rapid cycling bipolar, my moods are always on the move. Each mood is an excuse to eat something I don't really need. 

 LOW MOOD: "I feel lousy anyways, why not eat that entire bag of jujubes."

 HIGH MOOD: "I'm feeling good for the first time in a week, why not celebrate with an icecream cone?"

 Unknown ObjectMoods are not the only enemy of weight control. Medications can work against weight control. There are many meds that will increase your appetite while decreasing your metabolism. They don't actually make you gain the weight as we would like to think. You do eat those calories. But the meds increase cravings, sometimes making you feel downright hungry all the time. That's a tough battle.

 The meds I take for bipolar do not cause weight gain. Something to be thankful for. But depression itself can cause me weight gain because for the few moments that I am eating an ice cream cone I don't feel depressed. And if that ice cream I had yesterday made me feel better for awhile (at least for the length of time it took me to eat it!) then an ice cream every day might help? 

 My goal in trying this different way of eating was to alleviate some of my bipolar symptoms. I achieved that goal. Losing weight was just a bonus.

 But there was even a bigger bonus than that.

I lost my FOOD CRAVINGS.
I was no longer a slave to food.
I was victorious over something! 
That's success!
Success is NOT depressing

The point is to stop being a slave to food and stop using food as a feel good drug.

The goal is to be victorious over your food cravings.

 The hoped for result is to alleviate some of your depression symtoms.

 If I can do it you can too!

 WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? Would you like to feel better? Are you willing to make some changes?

 Don't give up! There is hope for depression.

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