-
Does Losing Weight Make You Happier?
For most people, losing weight does seem to make them happier, because then their weight is one less thing to worry about, it provides a sense of accomplishment, and can allow the individual to feel more comfortable in their body. My Experience A couple times in my life I have lost 20+ pounds of weight. The first time was after I came home from the Virgin Islands when I was 19. I had been away from home for my first extended period of time, I studied abroad there. I was away from my Mom’s home cooked food, and in the school dining hall ate everything in front of me. Kind…
-
Can Mental Health Affect Weight
Mental health can affect weight, mental illness can increase the occurrence of comfort eating, anxiety, and depression, and various psychotropic medications all have the potential to contribute to weight gain. From my own experience, as I talked about in my opening blog post, I know that mental health can absolutely affect weight. I gained about 40 pounds over the last year, that I am almost positive I would not have gained if my mental health had been better. Normally I am pretty good about monitoring my weight and making sure that it doesn’t get too out of hand. However, over the past year, I just ate whatever I wanted, whenever…
-
Can Losing Weight Help Mental Health?
Mental health and weight loss are both very complex subjects, with many variables. What is the relationship between them, and how does losing weight affect mental health? Losing weight can help to improve mental health through improving self-esteem, and possibly reducing rates of depression and anxiety. Greater Self-Esteem Self-Esteem is the opinion that we have of ourselves. When we have good self esteem, we feel more positive about ourselves, and about life. We are better able to deal with the ups and downs of life. When our self-esteem is low, we are less able to deal with life’s ups and downs and the challenges that life throws at us. When…