Gaining weight has been a big issue with me. I have been dealing with it all my life. I gained over a hundred pounds. I think it was mostly due to depression and lack of energy. It is easy to lay in bed and eat, then face the world. Depression will beat you up. How do you lose weight, when you are not sure that you want to live?
Here is how I lost the weight. First of all losing weight is not easy no matter what your circumstance is. The first thing I did was get on the scale. I weighed in at 293lbs. I am 5'9" tall and 49 years old. The one thing I did have is that I was still alive. I was lucky to be alive after some of my manic episodes.
Looking at that number made me even more depressed and turning it around seemed impossible. I decided I would not make any more excuses. I decided to take charge and make a plan. I would not make any excuses for not losing the weight such as, money, meds, time, age or let anything stand in my way of losing the weight. I layed out a simple plan.
1. I weighed myself (know where your starting from)
2. Create a diet of healthy foods that you like, that you can stick with forever. That way when you lose the weight your diet will not change.
3. Decide what is a realistic number of weight that you would like to be. Know how many calories you should should eat to achieve your desired weight.
4. Be stubborn! Stick to your plan. If you have a bad day, jump back on the next day. Remember, no excuses.
5. Exercise. It cost no money. I started out walking. Pick any activity that you like. I use a stability ball and a couple of weights to do all my exercises. You can do a lot of ab exercises and tighten your core. That way if you have a lot of weight to lose you can decrease the amount of extra fat that will hang if you do not exercise.
I think eating is about 80% 15% is exercise and 5% is genetics as far as weight loss goes.
I did not set a time frame for losing my weight. Time will pass and the weight will come off. Take it day by day. Eventually the weight comes off.
I did not set a goal. That way there is no failure. I did become stubborn. I was only stubborn one day at a time. I woke up and was stubborn. I was not going to give in to my old excuses for this one day. That was my thinking.
After a while it becomes automatic. You start to see results and even get compliments. So far I have lost 93lbs. I still have a little bit more I would like to lose. It has taken over a year to get this much weight off, but it doesn't really matter because I have designed a way of life for me, not just race to get the weight off.
Yes, Bipolar is a struggle and it is very hard sometimes. Feeling better about your body also helps your self esteem and your over all health. Exercise also helps with depression. It is not easy, but if your stubborn like me, you can and will lose the weight.
GOOD LUCK!
DAN
Here is how I lost the weight. First of all losing weight is not easy no matter what your circumstance is. The first thing I did was get on the scale. I weighed in at 293lbs. I am 5'9" tall and 49 years old. The one thing I did have is that I was still alive. I was lucky to be alive after some of my manic episodes.
Looking at that number made me even more depressed and turning it around seemed impossible. I decided I would not make any more excuses. I decided to take charge and make a plan. I would not make any excuses for not losing the weight such as, money, meds, time, age or let anything stand in my way of losing the weight. I layed out a simple plan.
1. I weighed myself (know where your starting from)
2. Create a diet of healthy foods that you like, that you can stick with forever. That way when you lose the weight your diet will not change.
3. Decide what is a realistic number of weight that you would like to be. Know how many calories you should should eat to achieve your desired weight.
4. Be stubborn! Stick to your plan. If you have a bad day, jump back on the next day. Remember, no excuses.
5. Exercise. It cost no money. I started out walking. Pick any activity that you like. I use a stability ball and a couple of weights to do all my exercises. You can do a lot of ab exercises and tighten your core. That way if you have a lot of weight to lose you can decrease the amount of extra fat that will hang if you do not exercise.
I think eating is about 80% 15% is exercise and 5% is genetics as far as weight loss goes.
I did not set a time frame for losing my weight. Time will pass and the weight will come off. Take it day by day. Eventually the weight comes off.
I did not set a goal. That way there is no failure. I did become stubborn. I was only stubborn one day at a time. I woke up and was stubborn. I was not going to give in to my old excuses for this one day. That was my thinking.
After a while it becomes automatic. You start to see results and even get compliments. So far I have lost 93lbs. I still have a little bit more I would like to lose. It has taken over a year to get this much weight off, but it doesn't really matter because I have designed a way of life for me, not just race to get the weight off.
Yes, Bipolar is a struggle and it is very hard sometimes. Feeling better about your body also helps your self esteem and your over all health. Exercise also helps with depression. It is not easy, but if your stubborn like me, you can and will lose the weight.
GOOD LUCK!
DAN
