I am not the lightess thing in the world, and I have been told by many people that my axiety could stem from me being over wieght, I used to work out and be very active and skinny wear what I wanted , and now I weigh about 220 and i hate it I have my husband of 10 years touching me , i hate getting dresses, but what i dont understand is can me being over weight (i really hate it ) cause me to have panic attacks cause me to have thoughts that have no relation to weight, scary thoughts, ??? Like I said so people have said to me I bet malaya If you loose weight I bet you would get your self confidence back and you would be mentally heathier, Is this true ????

malaya

I think those people are just trying to help. If we are overweight or underweight we need to learn to love ourselves for who we are on the inside - not the out. That sounds like alot of pressure to think "if I could just lose this weight I would be rid of this anxiety and feel like myself again." No, I don't think the weight is causing anxiety. I think it is our negative thoughts, our overreactions to things, our not standing up for ourselves, our not taking care of #1. I was last on the list to be taken care of. I learned I have to be kind to myself and that i am a wonderful and worthy person regardless of anything else. Self esteem doesnt magically come from being the right weight. Exercise and eating healthy come when we've decided to be good to ourself just because we deserve it. It also takes lots of patience and us reassuring ourselves. Ok, thats my opinion. Reena

Reena's right. It's really about building self-esteem no matter what your body type. I think the exercise nutrition lesson is really about what is best for your nerves and not so much what will get you in shape as far as body type. I do know that walking 30 min a day has helped me sleep and I am overall less anxious. I can't speak to the diet part because I am severely underweight and desperately trying to gain some. The important thing is to avoid foods that make you anxious and exercise (strictly for the mental benefit don't worry about the weight) If you focus on your weight right now you may make yourself feel more anxious. Work on your mind and the body will follow!



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And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water .... and when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him, he said all men will be sailors then, until the sea shall free them.

I believe that what everybody has written is true but on a different note...I have also been studying this little phenomena within myself lately.

I am 5'-3" and 160 pounds. I am muscular and carry the weight well. I have a slender waist and should be happy with my body type. For the most part I am. In the back of my mind I have something telling me that I should be working out more or that I should not be eating that entire bag of chips. Over a few months time my waist band on my slacks is beginning to cut marks into me. I find myself glancing in the mirror and noticing that entra full face. Hmmmmm. This wasn't here two months ago. I begin to find myself worrying more about the calories, the carbs, and the fats. Pretty soon that is all that I am thinking about (while I am reading Self Magazine and eating oreos). LOL.

What I have been finding is once I begin feeling like this (down on myself) I actually begin to get anxious and I personally begin having panic attacks. My attacks only happen once in a great while - but for me it is always during one of these periods when I feel heavy. I can lose two pounds and just that little bit makes all the difference in the world to me.

Just my two cents.
Shawn.

Hi Malaya,
I quit smoking two years ago and I have put on about 50 pounds. I was thin and had decent self esteem before I put on the weight...but now I find that I worry about my health all the time, I put myself down, I have no self confidence to speak of, I don't like seeing people that I used to because I'am ashamed of the weight that I have gained. I can't think of any aspect of my life that this hasn't affected, from being sexual to being social it has permeated everything!!! I think this is part of why the agoraphobia and panic are so hard to kick, it is harder for me to go out and do things because I feel bad about myself but I'am doing my best and trying to change the things that I don't like so that I can get on with my life and be like I used to be. I don't think that the weight made me have panic but I think it adds to it just like many things that happen in my life. I know the one thing that has really helped lately is that I have been doing Walk Away the Pounds for the past 5 weeks and even though I haven't lost much weight I feel better about myself because I'am moving in the right direction. I really recommend the program it is wonderful!
Take care,
Jodi

My anxiety is very homonally related...and I do find it gets much worse when I gain weight and I believe it may have to do with the fact that hormones are stored in fat cells.

I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on TV but it seems to make sense that if my anxiety and panic attacks are related to my hormonal fluctuations...and fat is holding onto my hormones...

Well...I noticed too that my panic and anxiety are worse when I have more weight.

Just another pov

Peace

Jeanne ;-)

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