Anxiety and Weight loss question

[amyamyamy14]

Even though if you are eating the same, can anxiety cause you to lose weight?

For the past 9 months I have been doing over 1 hour exercise for 5 days a week (sometimes everyday). I have also incopriated more fruit and vegetables in my diet

The past 2 weeks I haven't been able to do too much exercise as the weather has been too hot (It's summer in Australia). Because I usually use exercise to calm down my anxiety, not being able to exercise my anxiety levels have been as high as they have ever been. In the past 10 days I have lost 2 kgs. Even though I have squeezed an hour exercise every now and then, I don't understand why I have lost weight

The weight loss is making me panic even more, as I already have 2 swollen lymph nodes (both are small, moveable). Even though I know the lymph nodes are likely to be harmless (they are not fixed and haven't grown in 4 months), I can't help but put the 2 together. I also have not been getting much sleep in the past 10 days.

Does anyone else lose weight during very stressful periods or should I be concerned. I am going doctors on the 16th Jan.

It's fustrating as I should be happy that I am losing weight (struggled for most of my teen years and last year finally made some changes), but my anxiety has convinced me that something is wrong.

---------- Post added at 07:09 ---------- Previous post was at 04:28 ----------

I forgot to add that within the the 10 days I have skipped a few meals (mainly due to being to busy to eat or being too stressed). I am really worried :-(

[Pigeon]

Hello Amy

Please don't worry about the weight loss. I think it will be a combination of the heat (oh to be in Australia when it's winter in England!), anxiety, the changes in your diet, sleep-loss and the little bit of excercise you have managed to do in the past couple of weeks - and you say you've missed a couple of meals too so that will have an impact.

I'm not expert but the things you were doing up to recently are bound to make you lose weight but I'm not sure it's as straightforward as your body responding immediately - so you may be responding to the things you were doing before (if you get my meaning.) It may even be that your scales are faulty (mine seem to say as they please and give different readins in the space of seconds)!!

I have to say though that having said all this, I don't think that 2kg is significant. Everyone's weight fluctuates at various times. My GP told me that he wouldn't worry about anything less that a stone (just over 6 kgs). Personally I once lost around half a stone for no reason I could think of - but I was really stressed and worried at the time .

I think you are focusing on your lymph glands (which you KNOW are harmless) and becuase you aren't able to use your usual coping methods due to the heat, your mind is tormenting you.

Like you say you have been trying to lose weight so focus on the positives - you will look just that little bit more gorgeous than you did before!

Take care and good luck with everything

[HazG]

Hi when i lost my mom two years ago i had bad anxiety and depression and the weight just fell off me i went from a size 14 to an 8/10 in fact my son got married in june last year and my outfit was a size 8 never been an 8 in my life!! i have put some back on but i'm about a sze 12 now i was so fed up of people asking why i was so thin and oooh you have lost weight
so yes it can cause weight loss.

[Zee]

Yes, anxiety is one of the fastest ways for weight to come off. I lost almost 4 stones in 18 months due to eating very little and anxiety..apparently the stress speeds up your metabolism. I have managed to hold my weight now for 5 months. I just cant eat the way I used to which in one way is good as I eat much healthier foods now.

[amyamyamy14]

Thanks for the replies everyone it just bothers me that I have forever struggled to lose weight and keep it off, but now it's just coming off without all the that exercise I was doing so often. And I really need to start eating right. Instead of eating meals I would have a snack for breakfast, then throughout the day I would have little chocolate pieces, lunch, and sometimes no dinner. If I ever have dinner its only like fruit salad or a can of tuna or something like that. I usually have a snack in the evening as well.

[xfilme]

if it was rapid weight loss, then it was more likely weight loss through losing water retention. Fat cannot be burned off quickly. Also, remember natural weight loss works in plateau's. The same amount of exercise or the same kind of exercise for too long, makes your body hit a stage where it no longer recognises it as exercise. In order to get through this stage, you have to either have a break from your routine, change the type of exercise, or increase your routine. It sounds to me like your weight went down by losing water retention, or you broke through the plateau by stopping your routine for a bit. I lost 4 kilo in 2 weeks and freaked out when I changed my pill over. The doc said 4 kilo was not even significant. Hope this helps.

[dancingfrog]

hi amyamyamy, don't know if you got the reply from my posts, i just wanted to see if ure ok.

ps i am soooo jealous of you being in the heat, its freezing in england, and were having a mild winter

amy xx