 Exercise
Those of us who live with psychiatric disorders tend to be less physically
active because the disorder saps our energy and motivation. So we get
the double whammy of weight gain resulting from both our sedentary lifestyle
and our medication. Our self-esteem plummets, contributing to our depression.
But, exercise has many benefits beyond the physical. It lifts mood, improves
sleep and lowers anxiety.
Create your own fitness
plan that incorporates calming/breathing exercises, relaxation training,
stretching and flexibility exercises, warm ups and cool downs. Here
are some exercises and stretches you can do on your own. Check out
the local municipal recreation facility or join a health club. Consider
tennis, yoga or water aerobics
classes. Build exercise into your everyday activities. Rake the leaves
or mow the lawn. Park a little farther away and walk. Take the stairs
instead of the elevator. Take a walk on your lunch hour or after dinner
with family members. Walk the dog. Start walking 10 minutes a day and
increase the time by five minutes each week until you can walk 30 minutes
a day.
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Diet
Here we get another double whammy with both our meds and our illness working
against us. Many psychiatric drugs bulk us up no matter what we eat; some
of them stimulate our appetite, making us overeat. And mood disorders
create carbohydrate cravings, because carbs increase serotonin, which
makes us feel better, so we eat too much of the wrong foods.
Here are some basic guidelines to a healthier diet.
- Eat more fruits, whole grain, vegetables,
lean meat, fish, and poultry.
- Drink six to eight
glasses of water each day.
- Drink fewer alcoholic
and high-calorie beverages.
- Eat smaller portions.
- Eat more frequent
small meals and snacks to lower insulin levels, reducing the production
of body fat.
- Eat slowly to give
the stomach time to signal the brain when it's full.
- Prepare food by
broiling or baking more often instead of frying.
- Try not to soothe
your negative feelings with food.
- Here are some tips
from the National Institutes of Health
Lose
Weight
Healthy
Eating
Related articles
Medication side effects
Taming the cravings
Food for thought
More articles
Sources
Jim
Phelps, M.D., Corvallis Psych' Clinic
Kathleen Franco,
MD, Dept. of Psychiatry and Psychology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Gay Riley, MS, RD, CCN
Norman Sussman,
M.D., Dept. of Psychiatry NYU Medical Center
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