The Battle Continues

Well, my battle with weight continues. As I mentioned on a previous post, I seem to be getting older and larger. Ugh! I've been trying to watch what I eat and doing cardio at least 4 times a week, but it is not helping. I found this out when I went into the doctor for something minor and they asked me to step on the scale. I was actually excited, because I hadn't weighed myself in awhile and with the semi-diet and exercise, I was sure I lost some pounds. Wrong. I actually was up to 192. Holy Moly.

The shock was awful. To be working on something and have it not happen was so discouraging. What to do? I finally decided to face reality. It's not just me. It is the medication I'm on. For the last ten years I've been on Prozac for anxiety. In the beginning my weight was fine, but after all these years, and two more kids, I've reached a plateau. So,  I decided to do some research.

 

It was time for Google. I researched how to loose weight while on Prozac. Tons of articles and books popped up, and after awhile of reading, I realized they all said the same thing, basically that there was not much I could do. Yep, I was stuck.

Anti-depressant weight gain is well documented and doctors know all about it.  The problem is that there is no solution, besides going off your medicine. Some suggested trying to change to a different anti-depressant, but as I continued reading, even that didn't show great results. Research showed that small doses of anti-depressants could result in weight gain of 20-40 lbs. A larger dose, which is mine, can result in 60-100 lbs gained. Wow.

Many of the experts I researched said the same thing, the battle is in controlling the weight. The solutions mentioned included exercise (of course) and a different type of diet than the one I thought I should be on. The difference- I was told to eat carbs. Yep, the enemy. But, for those that are on anti-depressants, the medicines themselves can cause slow metabolisms, sugar cravings and late night carb (bad carb) cravings.

Evidently serotonin is highest in the morning and naturally degrades throughout the day. So, usually breakfast and lunch are fine, but those on anti-depressants have cravings in the late afternoon and evenings which cause binge eating. The articles I read suggested that you should eat proteins in the morning and at lunch, but for late afternoons and dinner you should eat healthy carbs like whole grain pastas and oatmeal. Why? Because cabs naturally boost your serotonin levels back up, reducing the chances of binge eating. Who knew?

Several of the articles I read mentioned this book- The Serotonin Power Diet by Judith J Wurtman and Nina T Fusztajer. I ordered it from Amazon and can't wait to read it. I'll do a follow up soon and let you know if things are working.

My weight loss journey

It was horrible. I hadn't stepped on a scale in probably 6 months, but when I was at my sister's house visiting during the LDS Storymakers conference, she had one of those cool, super advanced scales. I couldn't help myself. I just wanted to see it work. Bad Idea-yes, but motivating- yes. I was the heaviest I'd ever been- 189 pounds. I felt ill. I couldn't believe it.

All my younger life I had been skinny. I didn't need to try, I just was. Even after my first four kids I was around 120. Then things changed. I started having panic attacks, and the doctor put me on medicine. Another friend of mine told me that the medicine would slow my metabolism and that I would gain weight. At the time I thought nothing of it, after all, not having panic attacks was worth it. Two years passed and I was fine. My husband and I talked about having more children, and soon baby #5 was on the way. Unfortunately, I ended up with gestational diabetes and bloomed up to 160 lbs. Worse, the weight didn't go away after the baby was born like it always had before. Then came baby #6 and at 180 lbs I peaked. Did I mention I'm 5'3.

It has now been over 5 years since my last baby, and the weight just won't go. For awhile I was doing Nutrisystem and exercising and got down to 164 lbs. Then the weight stayed the same. After two months I gave up, discouraged. I'm not an over eater. Sure, I love my fast food, but I'm not a huge snacker nor do I binge eat. 

After I saw the scale at my sister's house I knew it was time to step things up again. I actually enjoy exercising on my stationary bike or elliptical, so I've started up again. Plus, I decided to go back on Nurtisystem, not the whole plan, I actually don't like the food (thought the frozen stuff is SO much better now), but the a la carte menu. The are several things I enjoyed and you just can't get them anywhere else. What sucks is that they just won't let you order their food, you have to pay an a la carte fee. Ugh. However, I did notice that Walmart is now selling Nutrisystem in their Diabetes aisle. They have the muffins, shakes, and cookies that I like.

So here I go again. Wish me luck. I feel like no matter how hard I try that I more maintain my weight than lose it. Plus, I've heard you have to do at least an hour of cardio plus strength training everyday, so about 2 hours. What mom has that much time? It is not a realistic goal unless someone has nothing on their schedule everyday of the week. Hmm, not me. So, I'll keep to my 1 hour of cardio and dieting and cross my fingers.
-Dorine