Dealing with Anxiety

[averill 0]

Hi, All......I always used food as a salve for anxiety/unpleasant emotions. How do you all deal with anxiety/emotion without food as a crutch?

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Hi, All......I always used food as a salve for anxiety/unpleasant emotions. How do you all deal with anxiety/emotion without food as a crutch?

I had to come up with something that wasn't dealing with food and now it is exercise. I never thought I would write those words but it's true. ;o)

[Elisabethsew 50]

Hi, All......I always used food as a salve for anxiety/unpleasant emotions. How do you all deal with anxiety/emotion without food as a crutch?

You have to develop new ways of coping and that takes time. The cravings are diminished a lot post-op so that helps but you always have to make a conscious decision and ask yourself if you're really hungry or are you falling into a habit. Once you begin losing weight and notice your clothes getting looser, you want to stay in that pattern. Success breeds success.

[Jaffa 5]

Xanax? Just kidding!!!!! Well, I work in the yard a lot more then I was before?

[Malaika 50]

Hi, All......I always used food as a salve for anxiety/unpleasant emotions. How do you all deal with anxiety/emotion without food as a crutch?

I spend all evening trying to catch up on the all the new posts ... not time to eat ...

It was so much easier to keep caught up when I wasn't at work ... go figure!

I also intend to get back to counted cross stitching and scrapbooking.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I've had a lot of anxiety since April when my dad fell down and broke his pelvis. I had my first panic attacks and every time I started freaking out, I went to the gym and worked out and felt so much better.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

I spend all evening trying to catch up on the all the new posts ... not time to eat ...

It was so much easier to keep caught up when I wasn't at work ... go figure!

I also intend to get back to counted cross stitching and scrapbooking.

Do you know I have been working on the same counted cross stitch project for almost 20 years now? HA! I guess my heart isn't really in it but it is going to be beautiful someday. ;o)

[Malaika 50]

Do you know I have been working on the same counted cross stitch project for almost 20 years now? HA! I guess my heart isn't really in it but it is going to be beautiful someday. ;o)

LOL ... too funny. I do really large projects and love it - got away from it when I started having trouble seeing ... now I have glasses and will actually be able to see the squares, I'd like to get back to it. In all the years I have done CCS I've never kept anything for myself - it's always been gifts. I'd say after 20 years, you may never finish it ... just a guess!

[Bob_350lbs 105]

you know, when I am frustrated now, since my stomach is so small, I can't eat to sooth myself, and I find myself getting angry and expressing the anger or repressing it and sorta get teary eyed, almost to the point of crying. It's probably the real emotions I needed to get out to begin with. I don't have panic attack though, but my sister has panic attacks real bad and always carries xanax with her. It is the only thing that has ever worked for her. Now, since my weight is down, I like to soak in the tub after working all day..that is very relaxing, and coming here to post :-) Also, I think I am getting addicted to the rush that aerobic exercise brings.

[HetKF 33]

Prior to surgery, my coping mechanism has always been food. I have had anxiety/depression issues for years. I actually went off my meds post surgery thinking I needed to "feel the pain"...so to speak....so I could deal with why I ended up as I did. Not a wise idea. I go to therapy weekly with a Psychiatrist. Who specializes in eating disorders....and have since before my VSG. Weight loss has been good physically but mentally....a total mind-f**k. Needless to say, I ended up back on my meds in September and will be on them for the forseeable future. I can't fight genetics or chemical imbalances that I had in the first place. You see....I consider myself a recovering food addict. I have weeks where I am ok....then there are days I get angry because I can not go back to my old behaviors to make myself feel better. I am still learning how to cope....it has not been an easy process. I have had to fight my way through it and am still fighting. I am trying to learn who I am again.....I lost her for 25 years.....and I am trying to not protect her with layers of fat and skin.

[JaspersGirl 147]

someone wrote xanax as a joke... i take xanax!! lol

[Failure 32]

I put headphones on with music that I like and I meditate. Nothing special or new age-y, just sit there and close my eyes and relax and listen to the lyrics or the beats. Any kind of music that puts you in a good place, it doesn't necessarily have to be upbeat music but it has to be something that won't depress you or make bad memories come up. When I feel anxiety or a bad place in my head keeps popping around that's what I do, I put the nice headphones that I bought for this purpose on and just chill out for about 20 minutes.

If you really wanted to you can use this technique with something else like gardening or your exercises or anything.

[segatz80 14]

This tpoic has been very helpful & really eye-opening for me. I was sleeved a little over 2 weeks ago & have had lots of trouble sleeping & sometimes walk around my house at night not knowing what to do because I have so much anxiety. Before surgery if I felt this way, I'd head to the fridge & eat. And I would feel better!

Last night I started crying because I was just pacing & couldn't get to sleep.< /p>

My comfort is gone. My love of food, my desire to eat, GONE!

I guess I'm in mourning in some way.

I'm going to try some light exercises tonight & maybe a little meditation.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences & suggestions.

[A.c. Nelums 11]

OMG! I feel the same way. Before surgery, food was my emotional crutch now it's like what can I turn too. So I end up crying. I've cried almost every day since surgery for one reason or another. My anxiety is through the roof. And I don't know how to clam down because again food was my crutch. HELP!!!!

[Fiddleman 4,376]

I think exercise and eating clean are great tools for anxiety and depression It was my sedentary lifestyle and consumption of sugar that led to many of my anxiety and depressive episodes pre VSG. And I had them in the worst way. I have not had any such episodes since changing these two parts of my life : daily exercise and eating small balanced meals throughout the day. I know it sounds crazy, but the wrong food (as a drug) really messes with your mental quality of life.