Are Doctors Getting Tired of Drugs?

I have been seeing my family doctor for quite some time now for treatment for chronic depression. This is more then just a sad feeling or a little of the "blues". Chronic clinical depression is related to chemicals in the brain… whether too much, too little, or just not getting where they need to get, it’s definitely a real problem, not a fabrication or just a "mood" one happens to be in today.

Well I’ve struggled for years on different medications and some of them do seem to work for a while but I always seem to be back in the doctor’s office after a few months or even a couple of years. So she referred me to a psychiatrist to see if he could sort me out, or offer some suggestions.

After taking a history he did recommend a regimen of rotating medications. It seems there are actually a sub-class of patients with chronic depressive illness whose brains seem to reset after being on a medication for a while so he recommends switching every few months to avoid this. And THAT is where the traditional advice stopped!

The unexpected non-doctor advice

Now he leaned back in his chair, made a steeple with his fingers and put them under his chin, crossed his ankle up on the knee of the other leg and changed his tone to conversational. He asked me if I was aware of the body of research on light therapy for depressive illness. Of course, I am aware of it, but didn’t have any kind of depth of knowledge. He proceeded to tell me about studies and clinical trials, gauging my response, and when he saw I was open, he actually took out a prescription pad and wrote a script for the "Day-Light" light therapy lamp pictured above!

OK so now I am pleasantly surprised but he’s not done! We then discuss the research on diet and depression… how consuming fatty fish several times a week for the Omegas 3 and 6 can have benefit, and how flax seed oil, olive oil and avacados would be good as well. He talked about how sweet, fat processed foods are craved by people with depression because they stimulate serotonin release (a feel good chemical) but that it quickly crashes, so no matter how intense the craving do not give in to it, as this kind of carb consumption makes things worse. He talked about how replacing the cravings with slow release carbs like fresh fruits and vegetables would be healthier for the body AND the mind.

Next we’re on to the topic of exercise and now I am really liking the guy. He talked about aerobic exercise and how it releases endorphins that elevate mood. He noted that the endorphin release has the ability to lift mood and help you feel better. 

So now I am really shocked. I have never had a doctor talk to me, with any kind of knowledge, about diet. I’ve never had a doctor recommend exercise as a treatment for depression, and I have certainly never had a doctor write out a prescription for an alternative therapy device. How wonderful. How refreshing. How absolutely delightful…. Maybe we’ll get there after all!

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I feel amazing today!

Yes I really do! I had a fantastic day. I did the bike, I did an upper body workout with weights and I did some ab work. That was about an hour. After that I spent a full half an hour just stretching, holding the stretch, breathing deeply, and feeling myself IN the muscle as it lengthened.

It is amazing, I feel stronger, lighter, and happier. If you read my post from yesterday, then you know that I finally conquered the exercise demon. I simply changed the way I viewed moving my body. Isn’t it amazing what happens when you no longer give over the power, but take it back for yourself?

Today, my muscles feel sore. It’s the good sore that comes from DOING something! I am walking with an energetic step. I am standing erect of posture. I feel strong, confident and healthy. IMAGINE all of that in just a day. Just one day that I’ve been building up for, and laying the foundation for this past month.

This afternoon for a while, and again this evening I browsed the internet, exploring fitness blogs. I have been browsing "loss weight" blogs for the past month, and it is interesting how the energy changes slightly with the keyword.

so while I was browsing tonight I came across a fascinating post from Dave at TheTruthAboutDiets.com. It seems that he has been saying for some time that exercise is not enough to lose weight, unless you make diet modifications as well.

Here is his post… Enjoy!

Exercise Alone Ain’t Enough to Get It Done

Anyone who’s read my stuff or followed any of my programs knows that when it comes to losing fat, I say that nutrition is more than half the battle.

Well, now there’s some very good research that proves this point.

Basically this research took two groups of sedentary people, and gave one group a well-designed fitness program to follow for 12 weeks, while the other group remained sedentary.

They didn’t change their eating patterns at all. The results might surprise you. You can read the details in a post from Dr. John Berardi, who was part of the research team.

Here’s the link to the post.

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I was surfing through some of the sites in the Be Naturally Well Community and thought I would share some of the articles I found. I think I will do this regularly. There are a lot of great author’s out there!

From Robin Plan

How Super Sized Drinks Were Born

Do you know how supersized foods and drinks came about? Think it was McDonald’s? You’re not too far off but no it wasn’t McDonald’s or 7-11 with the Big Gulp.

The history of Supersizing:
In the 1960’s a man named David Wallerstein worked for a chain of movie theaters, where he struggled to expand sales of soda and popcorn, the high-markup items that theaters depend on to make profits.

Wallerstein tried everything he could think of to boost sales, two-for-one deals, matinee specials, but found he couldn’t get customers to buy more than one soda and one bag of popcorn. Why? Because going for seconds makes people feel like pigs.

Wallerstein discovered ……Read More

From Althea Hughes Wills:

For the love of Aaron and Paula

I love the Food Network. I love food, food, food…but raw vegan food because I know that is what’s best for me. But…when I watch Food Network, I’m always thinking, "how can I vegan-ize that?" And since my husband and kids are still cooked vegans, anything that calls for chicken can easily become tofu. (And I was SO happy yesterday when they had an episode of Rescue Chef where Dan helped a sister named Zion in the kitchen. Everything was vegan.)

Today my whole family watched  Read More

From Tom Rooney:

We Are Eating Ourselves To Death

Have we finally reached the point where we “as a society” can’t control our weight?  The disturbing trends of overweight Americans is an epidemic now and there is no clear change in sight.  Today’s people have gotten to the point where things are too convenient.  Fast food, comfortable cars, video games, and remote controls have made our life so easy that we don’t do the things our parents and grand parents did in order to control weight gain. 

I blame the start of this all on McDonalds as Read More

From EJ Cooksey:

Exercising and You - How to Get Started

We all know it’s necessary, but we don’t want to get up early in the morning to do it.

What is this "it" I’m talking about?

It is exercise and it is essential for a long and healthy life. I’m not just saying that either. Ask anyone who has lived to be sixty, seventy, and over who move better than some people half their ages. They have used exercise to turn their life around.

Exercise is getting our bodies moving and burning calories. To lose one pound, it takes a deficit of 3,500 calories. I know what you’re thinking - it might as well be a million calories. But, it is not as hard as you think. Exercise doesn’t have to be organized at a gym for it to be legitimate and to "count."

The best thing about exercise is that it is cumulative. That means Read More

From Mark:

Fat How Much Are You Eating ?

We know as people that we all need to eat less fat but when you’re eating foods like take-away’s and eating food in restaurants there is no real way to tell how much you are exactly eating.

The only way to get a idea of the amount of fat you are eating is by reading  Read More

From Carb Queen:

Be the Turtle

My favorite leader, Karen, has been enamored of Uno, the beagle, since he won best in show at the Westminster Dog Show in February. She has talked about "being the beagle" off and on since then.

I’m about to celebrate a birthday — my double-nickel to be exact — and a very good friend of mine recognized my birthday by giving me a small turtle. It’s heavy for its size, which makes it just perfect for dropping into a pocket to fiddle with or holding while on the phone with a computer user (I do tech support, among other things, for a living) who is having trouble with a Word document. When I opened this marvelous little package, my friend told me to "be the turtle."

I knew immediately what she meant:  Read More

From Cynthia:

The good, bad and the ugly

Monday could’ve gone better for me…

The good part is simple, a one pound loss!

The bad, well, I went too hard in the pool, aggravated upper right arm and shoulder again. Had no idea until this morning when I could barely move it. Gack! New goal… go a little easier for a bit. I do not HAVE to do my water aerobics like I’m on speed! Though that will take some of the fun out of it!

But then there’s the UGLY. Apparently, my body was just raving for calories and when I Read More

That’s just a few excerpts from the bloggers in our community this last week or two. To visit more bloggers from the Be Naturally Well community you can click <===  there, or up above where it says  Health Links.

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OOPS Mexican Restaurant Food on Friday night!

Ok well I never said I was going to be perfect, especially in the beginning. As I mentioned on day one, I believe that when you are changing lifelong habits you need to make baby steps. So if I eat very well all week long and then eat fried foods on Friday night (along with a double strawberry marguerita) don’t say I didn’t say so at the beginning! Unless we are planning to become a raw food purist, then we still need to live our LIFE. Living life to me means "when in Rome…. enjoy yourself).

So I did the whole salads and good raw healthy foods yesterday all day. Read the rest of this entry »

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Losing Weight is still a game on day 2!

Well here we are. The second day of our  ‘walk’  together. I’ve been through this before, so I know that I should still be feeling motivated and excited. The drudgery of the day to day routine hasn’t kicked in yet. I am also somewhat obsessed (as I think many people are) with my weight, and body image, especially since I have started so publicly on my program. I go to sleep thinking about my fat, and wake up thinking about my fat. I am going to try to shift my thinking a bit. If I HAVE to think about it, I should go to bed thinking about my muscle! (more on that later!) I got a bit more of the website done yesterday and meant to get back to post what I did yesterday but didn’t get a chance. (TOO many things to do!) So I’ll just give you a run-down on how my first day went. Read the rest of this entry »

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