Geez do I feel ya! When I was hospitalized I was close to 100 pounds...lowest Ive ever been in my LIFE ( so sick i stopped eating lost 70 or so pounds) ...then comes the AP's and instant cookie monster, Ive always been thick my whole life but now I'm too thick!

I admit to starving myself a couple days here and there, then everything tanks, Ive got the worst eating habits...starve all day and pig out at night, REALLY trying to change because my self esteem is taking a major hit..

Have always been an emotional eater, doesnt help when your bipolar : (

But I gotta keep trying

You already know what I'm going to write sweetie.. The last thing you want to develop on top of other things is an eating disorder.. Putting your body into a starvation mode doesn't help you to lose weight either (unless it's something continuous) and then back to an eating disorder..
I'm struggling to with the Seroquel... I've been cutting down though with more frequent but smaller meals.. I lost weight before with Seroquel quickly but I wasn't eating properly and gained it back..sigh.. So I'm trying to develop healthier habits..
I know you can do this but please don't hurt yourself...xo

I have a friend who is on shakes and bars and is in the care of a doctor. If you ever go that route make sure to eat a salad and or soup once in awhile.

My friend enjoys zumba, which is good for any coordination level and is fun.

Check with the p-doc about meds also.

Just be careful. I concur with SuncloudJD

I've thought about a salad. Don't tempt me.

The problem is once I eat something I get the fuck its and go all out. I tried a diet and that lasted all but a week since I got so hungry I couldn't take it any more. That's my max is about one week for diets. And I never lose weight on them. I actually feel more hungry when I'm eating a small amount then when I just don't eat.

I think it'll be some time before I have to worry about being in the care of a doctor. Besides I always break down and eat sooner or later so I doubt that will happen to me. Probably I will only be able to hold out for a day or two at a time.

I know it's not the proper way to diet but I don't know what else to do. I hate being obese. I practically have heart attacks every time I go up stairs.

(((Door))))~~

I don't think your body likes the starving thing, Door. After a couple days of starving it's hanging onto everything it's got.

When I was in the hospital last year at this time, there were several sessions pertaining to nutrition, weight management and lifestyle. At the time, I didn't realize the impact of weight gain due to pharmaceuticals. My pdoc asked me to check my weight once a week for about the first 3 months after I began meds. He was/is appropriately concerned about patient weight gain (or loss).

I wish our prescriptions came with a prescription for nutritional counseling and weight management services. Then it's just up to us to do our part.

Have you thought about seeking help with your weight loss, Door? I'm not sure what's available in your area but it would be nice to have a professional encourager in your camp.

Not scolding, but still suggesting that you'll do better if you choose a different method.

Even putting the matter of whether you have or will develop an eating disorder aside, your current method won't work as well as you'd like, when it comes to losing weight.

Depriving your body of enough calories for more than one or two days running will kick your body into starvation mode.

It will slow down your metabolism, making weight loss much much, much harder to achieve.
It's doing its best to hang onto every bit of weight that you have, since it can't count on getting the nourishment it needs.
And if you resume healthy eating, your slow metabolism will at first make you pack on the pounds even faster than you were in the first place.

If you're on 'weight gainer' meds, tell your doctor you want to try a med change, using only weight neutral drugs.

There's a zillion diets that you could go on, all of which may work, but there's a couple of things that almost all of them suggest doing.

Drink a lot of water. I think the general rule of thumb is still about 8 glasses of water a day. You can drink more than that if you like but you can actually kill yourself by drinking too much, so don't go crazy with it, thinking more is better. (It would take an awful lot to pose a health threat, though. Just don't start swilling gallons of the stuff.)

They say that sometimes we mistake thirst as hunger. And that if you're hungry, try drinking a glass of water first and wait about 20 minutes to see if you're still hungry.
Personally, this has never worked for me. 20 minutes later, I was still just as hungry.

Eat 5 or 6 small healthy meals throughout the day. this one isn't too bad!! It doesn't give you time to get super hungry.

If you're going to stick to 3 meals a day, do the 'breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and sup like a pauper.'

Whether you like it or not, you should eat a breakfast. It kick starts your metabolism.

Late night eating packs the pounds on more than eating earlier in the day does.

Try cutting all or most sugar out of your diet and refined flour, too.

Add exercise, if you're not already doing so.

If you've done all this -- really stuck to it -- and you're still not losing weight, I guess you're doomed.

Mind you, even though I know all this stuff, I'm not doing much of it.
The Seroquel makes losing weight so difficult, I get sick and tired of trying and just say the Hell with it. My scale reflects my lifestyle.

I've got a couple of new health concerns going on, all of which could benefit from weight from loss.

I see my Pdoc on September 11, and I think I'm going to tell him to take me off the Seroquel.
Again.
I went off of it before, for the same reason. I wasn't willing to gain any more weight.
But I tried a million other drugs in place of it and none of them worked. They either did nothing or developed unacceptable side effects.
And while I lost some of the weight I had gained, I still didn't lose all of it.

So, right now I'm following the 'To Hell with it' diet.

But that is soon going to come to an end.
I will start losing weight.
The downside is I will also start losing my mind.

Good luck!! I hope you find a healthy way that works for you!!!

I had an embarrassing moment at the doctor's the other day so I am super down on my weight.

I tried eating healthy for two days and then I got mad and told my husband to pick up Chinese food for me which is my comfort food. The next day a friend in the dieabetic group mentioned faux fried rice. I thought to myself, fried rice made out of cauliflower-yeah right.

Last night my husband and I made the recipe and were amazed. My husband doesn't even like vegetables, but he loves fried rice. I have a feeling we will be eating it almost everyday.

I put the simple recipe in Off Topics on the board. It is worth a try. Instead of starving, imagine eating a plate of fried rice which is really a plate of cauliflower.

I have strugg;ed with weight problems for many years..... because of different meds (prednisone and anti psychotics) I put on a total of 150 lbs ove a couple of years. I did manage to lose 30 of it but then got stuck when my thyroid went out of whack.

Starving yourself won't help as much because your metabolism shuts down. You need to eat. I just started the South Beach Diet a week ago on the recommendation of my doctor and I lost 2 lbs this week. The first two weeks are the hardest as you only get to eat lean meats and vegetables but you definitely don't starve.... and the cravings for food went away in a couple of days. I got the book on Amazon for about $4. I know it's only been a week but it is pretty easy to stick to and it does seem to be working.... which is great because weight loss for me is tough between the anti psychotics and my bad thyroid.....

yikes, i know the fuck its all too well, anything you eat makes you feel guilty, so fuck it, might as well get something good!

There are really great replies here...thanks for posting this Door : )

well I did break down and eat a salad.

I'll look into one of those diets soon.

I agree with what everyone says. I wouldn't starve yourself...you will just go crazy when you eat again. I am on Zyprexa, which makes me the carb monster but I am also doing Weight Watchers which actually works (when I follow it, LOL - I have been premenstraul and eating everything not nailed down). I actually lost 10 pounds when I followed it closely and it took about a month and a half. Slow but steady. If that's not do-able due to price restrictions, Spark.com is a free site that you can track your food on. I've used that before. I feel your pain about being overweight. I am too embarrassed at my size to go to my 15 year class reunion. It sucks.

Thank you for sharing Doornob. Very heartfelt and a struggle I share.

I have been through extreme ups and downs several times in my life; losing as much as 100 and gaining as much as 75 in a year. My appetite always felt out of control; it had its own life but was always connected to my mood. With extreme lows or highs I would not eat much.

I had a med change a month and a half ago and now I am very hungry again and fighting the urge for sweets and carbs. I am so afraid of regaining weight again!!

Prednisone is my main enemy both for appetite and hypomania. I have not had great options with lupus. I had a manageable appetite increase on Abilify. Stimulants help me on so many levels--with my ADHD especially. But, I have been skipping my Adderall due to having symptoms of hypomania and it is killing me attention and productivity wise as well as in having the muchies 24/7.

Annnnnyway. I am with you. I hope you find success and are able to get to a healthy weight.

Think: healthy eating. Small portions. Baby steps. No excuses. And get moving. Those are all my weight loss key thoughts. You know what to do. It is a force of will. Just do it.

Good luck!!! and (((((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))))))))))