Diet is a Four-Letter Word . . .

Diets don’t work for ordinary people in the long run, so only a fool would bet on a diet working for someone with bipolar disorder. Appetites of all sorts get amped up by mania and hypomania. The pain of depression is soothed by treats high in fat and sugar, and they are perhaps the least harmful substances with which we might choose to self-medicate. Add to that the psych meds that increase appetite, decrease metabolism, make us thirst for sweet soft drinks, and sedate us to the point where we can’t even be couch potatoes because we don’t have the energy to get out of bed and walk to the couch.

How addictive would meth be if it came in these flavors?

So . . . . FORGET DIETING.

Even if all you do is gradually improve your eating habits, the effects can be dramatic.

I have dramatically improved my eating habits VERY gradually. I started a little more than ten years ago, and I’m still working on it, but within months of my first steps, I had eliminated my IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and decreased my peri-menopausal symptoms.  As my eating habits have improved, the positive effect on my mood disorder have increased. My weight is right where I want it and my overall physical health is great – better than before my mental illness knocked me out of the workforce -- despite
the fact that I quit smoking and went through menopause during those years.

I’ve never been accused of being domestic

I’m not a great cook and there have been a lot of years in my life where I lived primarily on restaurant meals and takeout – when I bothered to eat meals at all. My adult children still joke that I couldn’t even make Kraft Macaroni and Cheese as well as our next door neighbor (and all she did was follow the instructions on the package).

I still eat a lot of crap

I have a jelly bean problem – and a spice drop problem. I’m very lucky not to suffer alcoholism along with my mood disorder, but as a former beer judge, I love a good beer. Even moderate drinking adds significant empty calories.

I have great goals which I regularly fail to reach

Did you know that maintaining good intentions can be twice as important as consistently carrying them out? Here’s my trick: I strive to meet my goals and not let my failures bother me at all. Getting upset because last night I ate an entire bag (or even two) of candy doesn’t help me feed myself better today.The candy binge thing happens on a regular basis. If I do this one day out of ten then I’m eating well 90% of the time, but if I spend a couple of days focused on each failure instead of on healthy eating I’m only eating well 70% of the time. In that case my self-loathing problem is doing twice as much damage to me as is my candy problem. If I decide I hate myself and completely give in to that inner voice that tells me I’m never going to eat the way I should,  I’m likely to buy out Costco’s entire stock of Jelly Belly jelly beans and eat nothing else until they’re gone [and, damn it, that sounds really good to me even as I write this].

Despite all this, I’ve got perfect blood work and I’m at my ideal weight

P.S.: Don’t believe I’ve really got a jelly bean problem? I am out of jelly beans right now. After I finished this post I walked by my cat’s litter box and saw a stray jelly bean right next to it. I gave myself BIG points for throwing it away rather than eating it – especially because there was no one there to see.

Subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss upcoming posts which will include related information on:
Losing weight and gaining health by eating more than you do now
How to improve your eating habits gradually

Note: I promise these will come, but I don’t confine myself to one subject at a time, so please be patient.