So, I started a certain anti-depressant 7 months ago and since then I have put on 5 inches around my waist. I have even been eating healthier with more fruit, healthier options and becoming maybe 75% vegan, I love meat so could never go all the way, I even took up exercise and nothing has worked just more and more weight and becoming ever more unhappy and unsatisfied in life. I have been a size 34 for 15 years and now my waist is getting close to 40 just in the last 7 months with a much healthier diet, exercise and starting antidepressants.
This weekend I had enough, I tried my fave jeans on and couldnât even do them up. I am a total fussy bugger (I prefer the term selective ) so I donât like much veg, salad etc. So I am very limited and most of my diet is then carbs. I wish I liked salad as it would be much easier
I hit the internet and I found massive positivity surrounding Huel, a person I know tried to get me into Herbalife but that just seemed a little culty to me. So I signed up
Iâve went for the banana huel and just had my first one, wasnât a massive fan so going to try it with semi-skimmed milk and some frozen fruit to add to the flavour.
Also coming off the antidepressants today, so August is going to be a weird month
Did my weekly shop and cutting out my lunch sandwich stuff, breakfasts etc it was ÂŁ15 cheaper! So more than covers the cost of Huel.
Excited to see how it all goes and I am sure the community will be super supportive so iâll keep you posted
Best of luck with it! I think it takes some time to find which flavour or method works for you so experiment a bit! The community here is really supportive and lovely so youâll get lots of encouragement and ideas.
Hope it goes okay coming off the antidepressants. I had a horrible experience with âzapsâ so I hope you are spared that!
I was just going to go cold turkey but after reading up thatâs probably not going to be the best bet, so going to taper off it for at least a week, Iâm only on 15mg and the lowest dose is 7.5 mg. Iâm preparing myself for a tough few weeks!
Antidepressants did not make you gain weight. Being on a caloric surplus made you gain weight.
With Huel, it is easier to track calories than with anything else. Hence if you keep on a caloric deficit thanks to Huel, you will gradually lose weight.
Speaking from absolutely no scientific understanding whatsoever, I have had friends who said antidepressants numbed certain feelings, including appetite so it can be harder to judge the right amount of food to eat to sustain your body without eating too much or too little. I get what youâre saying about it not physiologically being the reason the OP has gained weight, just like me being bullied in high school wasnât the direct reason I gained weight, but it WAS the trigger for my comfort eating, which led to the weight gain. The relationship many of us have with food is a very complex one and life events / changes in circumstance / medication can have huge knock on effects.
I have read on other posts about your approach to food and am led to understand that you do not have the same associative link between food and pleasure / pain / joy / celebration /good times / bad times, but many of us do and it is a hard nut to crack for us.
Regardless of Tonyâs direct cause for weight gain, pointing this out is neither helpful nor supportive in this situation. Coping with depression has enough challenges (believe me, Iâve been there) without a visit from Captain Obvious.
@rikefrejut you are correct. Anti depressants enable a chemical cascade that may induce hunger or cause a person to eat more. This is diffetent to anti psychotics which are the cause of cardio metabolic syndrome which in turn can cause weight gain. Calorific overload increases this weight gain.
I get what youâre saying, but my reply needs to be read in context of what I said after the âobvious statementâ. So perhaps let me rephrase it.
Antidepressants themselves do not somehow magically violate with the law of thermodynamics (as many unfortunately believe, and use it as something to blame their weight gain on). They can however mess with oneâs feelings (obviously) including feelings of hunger/satiation/etc.
Huel comes to the rescue here, because it allows you to precisely measure (using kitchen scales, or even the scoop) how many grams (related to calories) of Huel you need to achieve a certain goal. This is superior to e.g. guessing the amount of calories youâll get from fried chicken wings (how much mass was bone? How much oil stuck to the chicken?).
Now this goal youâre aiming for could be weight loss if youâve gained some weight as a result of eating at a caloric surplus. Or it could be the prevention of unhealthy weight loss as a result of feeling like the world is crashing down and you not even being able to feed yourself due to sudden feelings that preparing food is an insurmountable challenge. Both depression on its own, and antidepressants too can pose a challenge to eating well - and Huel can certainly be an aid here in maintaining health or becoming healthier (both physically and mentally).
Couldnât have said it better, thank you I know fine well anti depressants donât just make you put weight on but since starting something has set a trigger off and made me eat too many cals.
they work but side effects⌠dont get me started.
good luck on your journey âŚ
remember to have long term expectations, for reasons such as : it takes a long time to lose weight (but its worth it - its a rewarding journey) and if u lose it too quickly u might get saggy skin.
) so I donât like much veg, salad etc. So I am very limited and most of my diet is then carbs. I wish I liked salad as it would be much easier
!