I actually found nutrition first before I was officially diagnosed bipolar. So I know which foods will trigger which responses. I know which supplements will help with which symptoms. I used diet, exercize, supplements, and a therapist to stay in balance up until this fall when my world crashed around me.
So far, I can't blame my 8 lb weight gain on the mood stabilizer-Tegretol. It doesn't seem to be a side effect. I blame it on the incapacitating depression that is working it's way out of my body. I haven't cared what I put in my mouth and I haven't cared what activity I was doing. I KNOW that those are key factors. I HAVE A PLAN to start being disciplined again.
Thank you for the reminder of writing down everything. It IS a key. IT DOES WORK. It's how I lost 30 lbs and kept it off for 5 years before gaining this 8 back.
Monday I will start again with that part of the plan.
God Bless You,
Shelly
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while this is good and is very helpful
it also can set up an obsession, an addiction, to track every literal intake of food
and in doing so... if one perhaps eats one bite too much... may cause the obsessiveness and/or addiction to kick in... which sends some with those traits overboard
it's like getting on the scale every morning... then you get on it every day at lunch... then you get on it every evening because you simply ate
the desire, the obsessiveness with being thin... not being healthy but being back to that superficial visual thinness... can lead some to dangerous eating behaviors
so yeah... psych meds do put on weight and with many... it's not about the amount of food consumed or even the lack of exercise... it's simply the meds being ingested slow down the metabolism
and yes... weight gain causes heart issues and blood sugar issues as well as joint issues
and yes... everyone should be mindful of their diet and to exercise regularly
and yes... it is possible to lose some, if not much, of the weight gained if a real concerted effort is made
I just know too many folks who are so extremely particular about tracking every literal bite consumed that they decompensate mentally and emotionally... and some often times punish themselves physically... because they found they ate 1 too many bites on a particular day