Depression, anxiety, menopause and weight gain

[nbb89]

At 54 I’m at the stage of life where everything has changed. Menopause has taken over! I’m suffering from moderate depression and severe anxiety. I have had counseling and using the tools they recommend, guided imagery ect. I am on hrt which is helping but something I’m really struggling with is the weight gain! I’m doing myself no favors either, I’m comfort eating. I’m not massively over weight so jabs are out of the question, I just need to shift a stone and I’ll be ok with that…but how do I do it when food is the one thing that’s giving me comfort. Every single day I tell myself today is the day I start to do something about it…then reach for the biscuits!
Any tips on how to get out of this cycle would be much appreciated.

The way I explain comfort eating is that when you were little and grumpy/bored or unhappy you would often be given something sweet to cheer you up, and it worked! Your subconscious learned a powerful lesson – that biscuits or chocolate or cake could magically make you feel better. That same strategy is still being applied, even though it's adding to your problems, not solving them.

There are lots of diets, supplements, etc which may work in the short term but until the basic belief that comfort food will make you happy is invalidated you will always come back to it. It IS possible to change the way you think but it has to be at a subconscious level.

As an aside what's causing the anxiety?

I'm similar @nbb89

@Eyesopenwideawake I’ve always suffered from anxiety, from being very young. It was sky rocketed since hitting menopause

Watching with interest. I feel your pain @nbb89 because I’m in the same boat on all of it. I do find if I can switch my unhealthy snacks to fruit that really helps. But it doesn’t take much to tip back into eating the sugary stuff again.

Was someone significant in your family the same?

@BlueberryFlapjacki do snack on fruit, then im doing my best Bruce bogtrotter impersonation but with a steak pie, I’m not even out the kitchen before I’m getting stuck into it! I honestly hate the way I look with the weight gain but I can’t stop bloody eating

@Eyesopenwideawakenope…not that I’m aware of

@Eyesopenwideawake I need help 54 constant spiraling and panic. Ive always been big and lost 180lbs so im not willing to do hrt or meds that will make me put on weight. The comfort eating us very real every 9pm like clockwork. I need help

There's a part of your subconscious mind that believes it's doing the right thing by urging you to comfort eat; the clue is in the title – it brings you short term comfort.

However there's a big difference between momentary pleasure and long term happiness and once your mind understands this, which is where I come in, the cravings will stop. Happy to give you my details if you'd like to DM me.