Newbie :( didnt know where else to go

[CommaKozzee]

Ok hello there, i am very new to this. for starters, i started doing low carb just this week but not for weight loss because i am thin enough as it is, but more so because i suffer from severe depression and anxiety and i hear carbs and refined sugars are the culprit. i thought it was a bunch of hooey myself then after doing it i notice my mood has elevated. call it a placebo effect if you will but i believe low carb has contributed to it. But anyway yes at first i started off great eating only meat,eggs,fish, protein & fats along with a few veggies thrown in the mix. and was doing quite well. well that lasted for 3 days until yesterday when a friend visited and we went out to an icecream shop, of course i was going to resist temptation and just stick with a black coffee, well OUT OF ALL THE DAYS they were giving out free samples....And being the american that i am, i just cant turn down free samples, i mean that would be a sin! so i had a free sample of chocolate frozen yogurt and immediately hated myself, i felt my bloodsugars skyrocket and the crash immensely afterwards. told myself nope im not going to do this again. well i got home later that night. and being only 19, i live with my parents who LOVE CARBS, there was this delicous warm pita bread they had bought that i love. I couldnt help myself i ate the whole thing along with hummus so the next morning i told myself Todays a new day, back to my lowcarb diet! and you think since i would have a really good reason for doing this other than weight loss i would stick to it....nope I started off great this morning with 2 eggs and a cheese stick with pepperoni and a black coffee. i felt great, then got back home and my parents being the bread lovers they are just made fresh honey cornbread....ohhhh the temptation. Sugar,cookies,icecreams stuff like that could never match my love for bread. So i dove right to it like the wildabeast i am. It gave me that happy warm feeling but i knew how wrong it was,how a failure im going to feel like later. the crash it will bring i just dont know what to do anymore, im doing this for my health and my happiness but my body [ and my willpower ] just obviously doesnt care. ahhhh.....sigh. Help?

[sterlinggirl]

Well i dont know how to help you other than to say this.. It take 30 days of working on anything for it to become a habbit for one.. And for two.. NEver feel like a food choice you made a faliure.. the only true fails are when we say screw it who cares and stop!.. One of the biggest chalenges in healthy eating will always be our brain.. where the mind goes the man follows, so you must first change your way of thinking.. Also antoher thing that has helped me was this saying..

Eating clean will require dedication.. will require willpower and i MUST make healty decisions! This will require sacrifice, and there will be temptation.. but i promsie you, when you reach your goal(what ever that may be) ITs WORTH IT! Best of luck to you dear.. and dont quit the good fight~

[janetsbreeze]

I am someone who is bipolar and can tell you that low carb eating is one of the best things I have ever done for my mental health. There is a lot of science supporting ketogenic diets and mental health and I suggest you google it.

If you stick with it, you will feel better,

[CommaKozzee]

thankyou so much the both of you for your advice & experiences
@sterlinggirl encouraging words definitely something i need to write down and keep near me so i can read everytime a temptation comes up
and @janetsbreeze multiple members in my family suffer from bipolar as well, im sure i also have it but i never went to get it medically diagnosed but depression,bipolar,anxiety all seem to stem and relate with each other. if you could, any advice,tips, or more so And such would be very helpful coming from someone i could relate to but thankyou both!

[janetsbreeze]

I would check into reading "The Mood Cure" by Julia Ross. Really great stuff about healing your body and mind with amino acids and supplements.
I've found some really beneficial stuff in tha book.

The best thing I can say is just keep at it! When you first start a low carb diet, your body will start screaming for those carbs. It will pass, I promise. It takes about a week and you will feel crappy for a while but you will start feeling better soon. Having my moods even and a happy outlook are worth more to me than a piece of cake, no matter how badly I want it!

[JHoberer]

Welcome!

You my friend need to learn how to make some low carb breads and treats right away! Ice cream is so easy and there are many great bread and cake recipes. "Potato" Salad, "Doritos", cereals, all kinds of things. People ask me "don't you miss x or y?" I can make it! Or come quite close.

But I haven't figured out corn on the cob yet.

I suggest you compile a list of recipes that interest you from the "help for newbies" posts and from recipes you feel you will miss first or most often. Check and see if there are any special ingredients... almond flour, reduced sugar ketchup and/or bbq sauce, coconut flour, milled flax seed, unsweetened coconut flakes, sweeteners (I recommend EZ-Sweetz and Truvia), either guar or xanthan gum (thickener for gravy and more), Plain Greek yogurt, cream cheese, heavy cream and Torani or DaVinci sugar free syrups (I love use the vanilla, pineapple, pancake and coconut ones the most) and sugar free chocolate/chocolate chips.

Since you are not dieting, perhaps starting at 50 net carbs a day would be a great start for you. Get your carbs from yogurt, fruit, veggies and nuts first. See how you feel after a few weeks of that.

[OverIt25]

I have mental illnesses (bipolar, borderline personality disorder, eating disorder, and panic disorder with agoraphobia) and doing low carb has helped my symptoms somewhat. It hasn't been a huge difference, but it helps, especially avoiding sugars and breads. Exercise helps a lot too. When I'm having a really bad day I work out and 9 times out of 10 I feel better afterwards.
I'm 24 and still live with my parents. Everyone else in my house loves their carbs. It is a temptation, but you just have to get to a point where your more important. Like when I go off my diet, I know all the negative effects its going to have on me, and I think about those things and decide that my health is more important than that bread or whatever. Maybe make a list of all the negative effects you have from cheating ie: guilt, anxiety, depression etc. and carry it with you. Look at it when you're tempted.
Anyways, good luck to you.

[MaryMary]

Welcome, Commakozzee,
I hope you stick around. Low carbing has helped my mental health issues - depression, anxiety, ADD and panic attacks, as well as other health issues such as ADD, pre-diabetes, cholesterol and obesity. i have seen underweight individuals do well on it too. My dr says the genes are closely connected for addiction, depression and anxiety. He is supported of this. My life is totally different. I have heard that to gain weight, find a structured plan that gives you what you need one day at a time. Whereas when I was eating 1700-1800 calories I was maintaining my weight, You might have to get yours around 2000 cal a day to gain some. I eat 100 total carbs a day now, but no grains, sugar or alcohol, just proteins, veggies, fruit and fats. It works. Will keep you in my prayers.