Sunday, February 16, 2020

My (imagined) health problems have been the most effective motivator for me to lose weight

Over the past year, I've become progressively anxious about what I believed to be heart problems. There are a few reasons for this - I have generalized anxiety disorder and genetically high blood pressure (diagnosed at 15, have it even when I'm at a healthy weight), both of which run in the family.

Last spring I called an ambulance for myself because I thought I was having a heart attack, and last week I went into urgent care for chest pains. Both times, my symptoms turned out to be the results of anxiety. (By the way, isn't it fantastic that many of the symptoms for anxiety and heart problems overlap? It's like my anxiety is causing my anxiety.)

So after coming home from urgent care, I made a decision - I can't spend my life freaking out about problems that aren't real, so I should do everything I can to improve my anxiety. I scheduled an appointment with my GP, joined this subreddit, and started following the CICO plan in the MFP app. Your mental health is linked to your overall health, so I believe losing weight will not only lessen my risks for the health problems I'm worried about, it will also make me less likely to worry in the first place.

I'm down about four pounds with CICO - I started at 2000 calories a day, working my way towards 1700/day. It's only been a week, so it's probably mostly water weight, but it feels good to know that this is the longest I've stuck with a weight loss program in years!

submitted by /u/erepato
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2uHpYC1

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