Hi Diana,

Just out of cusriosity, do you notice that your moods tend to be more stable when eating low carb? I too suffer from depression, and I find that the "highs and lows" that your body goes through when processing big loads of carbs can carry over into your moods.

I feel like my body and brain chemistry are more balanced when I limit the carbs in my diet.

Oh I feel for you! I have exactly the same thing. Through a lot of trial and error, I have found that what makes me feel the best is to not keep my carbs too low but not let them get too high either - if you see the plan I have listed, it's "Life Without Bread," where the only guideline is eat 72g of carb or less per day. I'm usually right around the 72g mark. If I go too low in my carbs, like Atkins, I start to feel the same way you do. And if I go too high, my autonomic stuff and heart palpitations act up like crazy and I start to get severe anxiety. The middle ground is good for me...I get the weight loss and health (autonomic/MVP/other stuff) benefits, but I don't get that really oogy feeling (physical and emotional) that induction-level carbs give me. And I get to eat stuff like fruit.

I hope you can get it all worked out! It is really frustrating.

If Atkins makes you feel sick, then your body might be happier with a slightly higher carb level. I'd also suggest South Beach, or Protein Power, or Life Without Bread. There are many levels of low carb.



I had a huge improvement in depression when I stopped consuming sugar, which includes fruit and cereals. Talk to your doctor about supplementing with Vit D, known to improve any kind of seasonal affective issues, and vit. B6, which is a big component in creating the happy brain chemicals.

Lowering your carb intake, and thereby your insulin levels might get your blood pressure naturally low enough that you could tolerate some of the anti-depressants after a while and be in a better place long term.

I have mvp too and totally relate to your sensitivity levels. The books I've read on mvp actually recommend cutting out sugar, chocolate, alcohol, aspartame and glutamine. When I started lowcarb my heart arrythmia decreased in frequency about 85%.

I am biased and believe lowfat is a nonsensical diet method. I feel best and love eating lots of chicken, fish, vegetables and nuts. I like my carbs 40-70 a day. It just happens to not be highfat.

Did you have these issues when you were low-fatting? Maybe that's the difference.

Also, you can do low-fat/low-carb. It means you eat a lot of veggies and protein and keep the fat lower. Have you tried that? Calories will probably be a lot lower too.

You might want to look at The Schwarzbein principle or Life without bread. Both of those plans are more moderate on the carb intake than Someothers, and you might find them doable with your fears. Honestly, I am less depressed when I low carb than when I am eating the stuff "I want". I create my own happiness, food should not make me happy. What you are looking for is self medicating processes. You really need to research different plans because each plan is slightly different with different focus.

I just wanted to let you guys know I've read all the replies, and will respond soon, in allot of 'back' pain today ... so can't be on the computer too long.

Hugs!

There could be other things that occurred which are responsible for your earlier success, something else other than the walking, something which you haven't identified.

For instance, I've been reading a little bit about how it is almost impossible to lose any weight during times when one is experiencing great S.T.R.E.S.S --- during intense stress, blood levels of cortisol soar and prevent weight loss.

I think most of us have had stress as a constant during most of our lives, but I've noticed that during those times when I was optimistic about the future, that although I was still stressed out, that I was able to lose weight EFFORTLESSLY, whereas when I had no reason to positively anticipate anything, there was no weight loss.

The hormone Leptin is also involved, not 'just' the cortisol, and of course, also insulin.

If your life was calmed down enough that you actually had the time and the motivation to walk three miles a day -- the weight loss MIGHT have been due to a lack of cortisol constantly coursing through your veins.

So many Americans have been living stressed out abnomal lives, often coupled with way too little sleep -- that it's possible that STRESS chemicals are in large part behind the current epidemic of obesity.

Are you aware that deep depression is associated wiht iron deficiency?

Since you say you didn't go really low fat, I assume you gave up "junk." Stuff like potato chips and doughnuts, which are full of fat but also over processed highly refined carbohydrates. And if you ate less "junk" you were probably making healthier nutritional choices that gave you more vital nutrients than you had been getting.

I'm on a low-fat, LC (10-20 grms/day) regimen and feel...............GREAT.

YMMV.

Hi Diana,

You posted this:



You are absolutely not alone in this. I am losing count of how many re-starts I have embarked on.... Admittedly, I have never gone back to really high-carb eating, either, because this WOE suits my metabolism so well, but I have often raised my carbs more than necessary and gained a few pounds again. The fifth time, the tenth time, the main thing is you haven't given up and are still looking for answers - that is the most important thing - to keep on having faith in yourself!



Have you looked into magnesium supplements, such as magnesium taurate, magnesium malate? I'm not qualified to say whether these are OK with your condition, but, generally, magnesium can help with depression and is good for helping regulate the heart rhythm (low magnesium causes arrhythmia - I know, it happens to me as soon as I forget to take my supplements regularly).
Oh, and it's good for fibromyalgia, too.



I believe you!



You write here about "the foods that make you happy", but, if these are grain-based foods, such as bread, they might also be precisely the foods that are causing your fibromyalgia... Grains apparently have addictive qualities, which means your body says you need these foods, even though they are bad for you... Sugary foods cause big insulin swings, which cause mood swings... If you want to go through rollercoaster emotions, then the best thing to do is eat high-carb sugary foods!



Again, these cereals (do you mean breakfast cereals, or just grain-based foods in general, like bread?) may be what is causing your fibro. There is a lady on this forum, whose name I could pass on if she is OK with it, who has "gone paleo", i.e. stays away from all grains and all dairy, and she is now PAIN-FREE!!! There seems to be growing consensus that there is no such thing as a "healthy" grain in the modern world (the way cereals are prepared today makes them unhealthy, it seems: in the "olden" days, different preparation methods, along with raw milk, were used).



I totally understand this, as I live in Germany where they make very good bread. But I am trying to wean myself off bread as I think it is no longer good for me.



I really feel for you, I really do. This sounds horrible. I can only echo what another poster said: either start supplementing with vitamin D3 straight away, without getting tested, or have your levels tested. I would bet the farm that your levels are low. This can cause all sorts of health problems.

I also wonder about your magnesium levels: do you have any problems with your legs or toes cramping easily, Charley Horses, twitchiness, stiff neck and shoulders, heartbeat irregularities? These are some of the typical physical symptoms of magnesium deficiency; anxiety is one of the mental symptoms.

I was taking magnesium daily before I started taking Vitamin D3 and within days I noticed the difference. Prior to taking the D, I had had - for the first time ever - symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (it was November), feeling really low and tearful for no outward reason, getting upset over other people's comments that I would normally brush off without a second thought, all things that kind of frightened me, because I'm normally a cheerful, happy-go-lucky sort of person. BUT!!! These reactions were due to a chemical imbalance: after three days of 4,000IUs per day, I was a new person!!! In fact, initially, I was almost euphoric!

Please look into vitamin D3 and magnesium. If you are low in magnesium already, and start taking Vitamin D3 without extra magnesium, this can result in a more pronounced deficiency than you had in the first place, because the Vit D3 improves your uptake of magnesium, which can then mean your "stores" are very quickly depleted. I have "witnessed" this with someone on this forum, so I'm not making it up!



Life is not being kind to you at the moment, so it is definitely time for you to be your own best friend. If you take charge of these health issues and look into how you can improve your health by taking a few simple steps (such as taking a few supplements and looking into giving up grains as a long-term project), then you will feel much more in control of life and not just a victim of fate.

I can really understand that, if you are depressed, then everything seems like you are wading through treacle (been there, done that), but there is the potential for change for the better.

If you want me to get in touch with the lady on this forum who has seen her fibro symptoms DISAPPEAR after "going paleo", then just contact me via my journal. Oh, and by the way, she recommends a proteolytic enzyme called serrapeptase as being good for the pain she occasionally gets (I think this happens if she strays from the paleo path, but I'm not sure).

You take care now, and hang on in there.

Here's the link to a site on magnesium which also mentions that mitral valve prolapse (is that the right word?) may be caused by low magnesium, and says that the anxiety symptoms connected with it can be relieved by magnesium supplements. Please have a look at it!

http://www.ctds.info/5_13_magnesium.html

amanda

In my opinion I think most people can lose weight on most restricted diets, its just a matter of whether you can be happy while on your particular regime. But for me the Low Carb way makes me feel better, more alert and less hungry. Plus I lose weight faster.

I think that many people can and will lose weight with a low fat diet. People can lose weight with just about any diet on the market right now. Now with that said, will they reach their goal? Most, probably not, and then the hardest part which is maintaining that loss for a lifetime. I don't know anyone personally who lost weight on a low fat approach and was able to maintain it. Now I know many friends who lost weight on a low fat diet but always gained it back. I know for me, I could never live on everything lean and baked forever or counting calories and fat grams in everything I ate........ I would lose my mind!

I lost a bunch of weight on low cal (and lower fat) and felt good. However what I thought was great then was not even close to how good low carb makes me feel.

You should get a healthy mechanism for dealing with stress. I personally recommend qigong and taichi. If the teacher is any good it will help tremendously not just as a stress reliever but also teach you how to not get as stressed about stuff. If you are interested I can help you find a teacher.

Good luck!

There's only one reason you lost fat: You ate less carbohydrate. As we cut calories, we invariably cut carbohydrate. Dietary fat doesn't have the capacity to cause you to grow fat. Nor does protein. Only carbohydrate has the capacity to cause you to grow fat. Thus, the only solution to lose this surplus fat is to cut that which caused you to grow fat: Carbohydrate.