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I am an 18 year old male and I have been on diet recovery 2 for two months and went from 138 to 188 pounds. I have gained almost 50 pounds!Whenever I look in the morior I say to myself, “boy, am I fat!” Part of the weight gain may be do to the anti-depressent that a started taking 6 weeks ago. Will my anti-depressent cause to keep gaining wait endlessly until I am 300 pounds?
My parents tell me that the ice cream and the McDonalds trips are all BULLSHIT and I should eat more “healthy” foods. I really do not understand how this program works! It seems like the weight gain will never stop! I am extremely skinny fat and the huge weight gain has caused me to be even more depressed then I already am. I am worried that if I keep eating like this my parents say that I will be 300 pounds! So far all this 180 degree program has caused me is grief and depression but my nails grow faster, I am less cold, and I have more frequent bowel movements. The positives don’t seem to out weight the negatives and I am very close to go back into old eating patterns of restriction. Please Help!
Wipergreaser,
I don’t know if I can help you too much because I am a 42 year old women and my issues are probably a lot different than yours but I was compelled to respond because I understand your frustration and fear. I have not gained as much weight as you have but I have gained a lot for my 5’2″ body. I have not allowed myself to weigh this much since I was 18, barring pregnancy weight gain. I started EFH in July and the weight gain and progress has been slow and steady, although, at first it came on pretty quickly. I would not have continued this had it not been for the positive progress. I can promise you, I would go back to restricting if not for the positive gains in my health. I would much rather be smaller than I am but I am at a point in my life that health is much more important than a number on the scale.
I really thought that I had stopped gaining weight but I haven’t. Today, I weighed myself after many weeks of staying off the scale. I felt so good about myself that I thought surely I had lost weight or at least I had maintained my weight from the last time I had weighed. No, I had gained a few more pounds. BUT, My temps are up enough now and I feel good enough now that I can do some serious weight lifting and I have had some major gains in strength that I did not have before because I was so tired and it took so long for me to recover from exercise. I think I was actually losing muscle before I began this journey. Now I believe a significant part of my weight gain is from muscle gain. I love that! I want to be strong and feel good!
I would say to you, focus on the positive gains in your health, listen to your body and ask yourself if going back to restricting is what is right for your health. Is the extra weight helping your body heal or not?
I hope I have helped you in some way. I know how hard it is to gain weight, believe me!
All the best to you on your journey to health!Wipergreaser, antidepressants are pretty much the most weight gain promoting substance you can take (topped only by antipsychotics and the like). They are extremely anti-metabolic. It’s not really fair to blame it on the 180 diet, which of course can also cause weight gain but nothing compared to what you can get on antidepressants.
I will also note that a few people I know had mental health worsen while on antidepressents, and they are known to worsen depression in some cases, so I would mention all these symptoms to your psychiatrist.
I’ve noted before and will again now that medications are far more powerful than diet and no one should expect any of the methods here to make up for medication effects and side effects. As long as you are on the antidepressants, I think your concerns would be better addressed with your doctor rather than on these forums.
Hello. I have to chime in here. I am on anti-depressants as well. I would never ever recommend you just go off your meds cold turkey! Do not listen to people who will tell you this. Also, yes, talk to your Doctor, but your Doctor will give you the standard answer. May I ask you which med you are on, because a 50 pound weight gain sounds like a lot even for being on an anti-depressant. Usually when you first start taking an anti-depressant it has the effect of suppressing hunger and you will lose. 6 weeks is just about the point where these drugs kick in full gear. Please, talk to your Doc. and do not just quit!!!
Let me just point out that I did not tell him to quit or go cold turkey. Come on now. I just pointed out the very real weight gain potential, and recommended he speak with his doctor, not look for answers on the forum because it’s not designed to deal with medication effects.
Usually weight gain on antidepressants is more in the realm of 20-40 lbs, but it can vary a lot. I personally know someone for whom it was 100 lbs. Yes, for many there is first weight loss, and then the gain happens, but not always.
Also, let me add that the fact is, some people do well on these medications and some do not, and it should always be a personal decision whether to be on them or not, based on your own feelings and research. It is never for anyone on a forum, or even a medical professional, to tell you whether a medication is right for you. It is up to YOU. Always.
Whastup guys.
Wipergreaser, I am a 19 year old male. I’ve been following Matt’s advice and guidelines since July right around my 19th birthday. I’m 5’8″. When I first started I was 150 or so lbs and barely had any muscle on me. I was definitely fat skinny.
Fast forward to now- I weigh almost 215 lbs. The weight gain scared the hell out of me at first. And it came with really bad acne. I had acne before, but nothing like this. I thought I was done gaining at 180, then 195, then 210, but seems like I’m still gaining, just a lot slower now. But I’m feeling better overall even though I look pretty unhealthy and sick. My temps are up, I’m more positive, I can focus more, I can laugh a lot more, etc.
I stopped listening to my body and started eating health foods again a month or two ago because I was so sick of being fat. That brought my temp down to 95 Fahrenheit upon waking and I was kinda becoming miserable again. Freaking out about the littlest things. The past week I’ve been pigging out on all kindsa candy, fast food, etc and I’m feeling better. My waking temp was almost 97 today.
I feel ya on the parents thing. Mine are difficult too. Not much understanding. Can’t change em though, can only make the best of the situation and stay positive.
I guess I’ve just come to the conclusion that this is what I gotta go through to heal. I don’t really have a choice in the matter. Just something I gotta get through. I’ll be stronger and healthier because of it in the long run. Sometimes thinking of the long run helps me stay positive when I feel like things suck. A lotta things in life are like that I think. You gotta get through the pain period to find the real rewards and happiness.
I think you’ll be happy if you stick it out.
Peace
Oh yeah, I’ve got some muscle on me now too! But the fat definitely came first. I know it sucks being young and fat, but what can ya do?
Also, the fluid thing I think is essential too. The less I drink, the warmer I seem to get. I think that was something I wasn’t watching carefully enough before.
Good luck bro. Keep us posted on your progress. I’m interested to see how it plays out for ya
“Usually weight gain on antidepressants is more in the realm of 20-40 lbs”
^I respectfully disagree wholeheartedly with this as a definite conclusion. I am not on antidepressants at the moment but have been on a bunch (seriously, almost every single SSRI plus a few of the others) over the years and have never seen much impact on my weight. I have known literally dozens of people on antidepressants (due to making friends during multiple stints in psych treatment programs) and some have had weight fluctuations but none anywhere near 20-40 pounds. And for every person who maybe went up a few pounds after starting meds, there was one who lost a few.
Amy! I am sorry if it seemed like I implied that you said that wipegreaser go off his meds, because I didn’t mean that. I am a retired Mental Health professional, and that is my line that I spit out as I have always been trained. I know all to well how anti-depressants can add weight and how they do it. I just have been witness to people that will dump their meds because of the weight issue. Even though, like I said I was a professional, even I, did the thing recently where I thought “Meh, this weight gain is too much and the culprit has to be the meds!” Yep, then I did the very thing I KNOW is the wrong thing. Needless to say, in two weeks I was a wreck. Then I had to fess up with Doc. and then we just went really low dose on a new medication. I agree with tennosa the weight gain on SSRI’S are minimal. I think with depression it is a complicated disorder and can contribute and walk hand in hand with many physical ailments!! I know, because I experience it myself!
Sorry, not my personal experience and I know many people who’ve been on these things, and of them all only 2 did not gain weight, and both of them were extremely restrictive to avoid the gain. Yes, of course, some people luck out and don’t gain,or even lose, but they are well known to be very associated with longterm gain. I don’t think the effect is minimal at all. There is even a specific “look” to the type of anti-depressant weight gain, IMO.
Yes, depression can definitely walk with other ailments. In my opinion it’s because both generally stem from deep unresolved emotional stress.
I think if someone wants to go off their meds because of weight gain it’s fine. I would want to. I have a friend who had an eating disorder who was put on them with no mention of weight gain. She gained abut 30 pounds (only 10 of which were needed). I will add she also was less tuned in socially and a rather difficult person to be around while on them. She went off after 5 years and 20 lbs fell off effortlessly within a few months. She is now very angry that she was not warned about the weight gain, and thinks it was cruel to do that to someone with an eating disorder. I must say, I agree with her. But everyone who goes off should do so as an informed decision, with a very slow taper under medical supervision, not cold turkey. Withdrawl from SSRIs is not pretty, and people do feel like a wreck for awhile as they stabilize, even when it’s done slowly.
I think we maybe are missing a bigger issue for the OP here.
OP, if you were living in a hell of dieting/restriction before to get down to 138 pounds, which is likely because that weight for any male (unless you’re particularly short) is very low, then your depression was most likely largely a result of the restriction and insufficient intake of cals, fats, salt, and other delicious things that are demonized by dr. oz. And your fears about gaining forever endlessly sound very eating disordered. You are a 16 year old dude and you should be eating mcdonald’s and pizza. If doing so causes you or your parents anxiety, there is an issue there with the thinking and perspective, and NOT with the number on your bathroom scale (Which I suggest you eliminate from your life anyway.)
Do you have a therapist or counselor? If the weight gain is a healthy one (i.e. your body actually needs it despite what your mind is saying) then I think this is probably the best route to deal, mentally, with the physical changes that are happening.
Wow thank you soo much for your advise tennosea! I really think the scale is just a stupid number! The big problem is my parents! Because my parents constantly tell me to watch what I eat or I will get fat, I am forced to follow their instructions. They hate the fact the I sneak out to go to McDonalds and they have taken away my debit card.They say that if I go out to eat a McDonalds one more time, “I will be thrown out of the house.”
I do think that my body needs the weight gain but I cannot get through to my parents. Does anyone have any advise on that?
@wipergreaser and @mmmfood-
You guys are both in your late teens and are probably producing more anabolic hormones than you ever will again. Take advantage of that! You should be fine eating all the pizza and McDonald’s you want, but only if you’re active too. If you don’t play sports, you need to exercise. Lift weights. Go jogging. Take up a martial art. Force your body to turn all those calories into muscle. At your age, you shouldn’t be thinking about dieting, but you shouldn’t be wasting away on the couch either.
As far as antidepressants and weight gain, it depends on the drug and the person. I took one antidepressant for a couple years and it didn’t affect my weight at all, but a different one had me eating like a pig for the month that I took it, which naturally led to weight gain.
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