Featured Fitness Professional

"Depression and The Obese"

By Erin Morgart

Has depression killed your desire to be fit, healthy and desirable? Are you simply too overweight or even obese to think about stepping on an elliptical machine, let alone a scale? Perhaps you have family members or friends who are clinically obese and are taking antidepressants to curtail the depression that has eroded the very fiber of their lives -- or perhaps this describes YOU.

Is your physical image causing you this depression? Do you desire to be healthy, happy, and fit for life? Do you dream about the day that you can FINALLY overcome depression and, in turn, become the fit, happy and healthy person that you KNOW you can be?

If so, be prepared to read on and gain wisdom into the life-changing ideas that can catapult you from a depressed and obese person into a spiritually, nutritionally and physically transformed version of the REAL YOU.

Depression is commonplace among our society, and antidepressants are usually prescribed to alleviate the symptoms of depression, but not the cause. The medical community, try as they might, simply cannot MAKE the overweight or obese patient lose weight! They just cannot do it! Oh, they might "suggest" to their patients that it would be a good idea to lose 12 percent of their body fat so that they could fall within the healthy guidelines and thus increase their lifespan.

But can they force a person to not eat at night, to not ingest that third glass of wine, to not partake of yet another fast-food particle? No, they cannot. Now add to that equation the overweight or obese AND depressed patient. Really, can one be found without the other? Much as they might skirt around the issue, I think not.

In fact, I would assert that in most cases depression can cause unwanted weight gain and, in turn, the extra pounds will most certainly cause even more depression. Guess what? Now the depressed and overweight person is part of the infinite vacuum of Cause-and-Effect.

Once this cyclone of despair is entered, the patient/individual must be thrown a life jacket of sorts. We'll call this life jacket the Physical Health Solution. Of course the patient will usually refuse said Life jacket the first time and continue on towards the eye of the cyclone. What happens next is KEY.

By this point, the patient is simply too overwhelmed, depressed and filled with self-defeating behaviors that the Life jacket of Health must be thrown yet again. Only this time, the patient (possibly you!) will accept it and willingly grab on and HOLD ON for life! Who throws out these "life jackets"?

People like myself, or perhaps physicians, even well-meaning friends. I have had numerous clients whose one phone call to me was their way of "asking" for such a life jacket. Another client initially came to be "rescued" by way of her husband making the initial contact.

The important component here was and is ACTION! When a depressed AND overweight person takes any kind of action, it is truly a miracle! Why? Because they finally are acknowledging that they need more than antidepressants -- they need a physical transformation which inevitably becomes a Life Transformation!

Likewise, this transformation also results in a Spiritual Transformation, one which brings the formerly depressed and overweight individual face-to-face with the issues that really matter, the self-talk that previously belittled their self-esteem and destroyed their physical self.

Is this metamorphosis or transformation an easy one? Can it happen overnight or even in a few weeks? No. In fact, quite the opposite! Usually when an obese and depressed client begins this change by improving their diet and engaging in meaningful exercise, they will often respond by becoming irritable with you and with their family and friends.

As well, they will see this life change as a chore and will resent others who "appear" to be in check physically and mentally. In fact, it is extremely hard work and only the most dedicated will be successful! At times I have had to act as "Big Brother" on more than one occasion to keep these types of individuals in check and accountable for their actions and food choices.

I have had to call clients every night to make sure they were not eating past a certain time or to offer words of encouragement and support. More often than not, it is this support by the Personal Trainer that makes-or-breaks the relationship between the client and the trainer. That said, the most important "prescription" I can prescribe to my overweight and depressed clients is this: DO NOT QUIT.

About the Author:

Erin J. Morgart is the CEO/Owner of BellaFiguravita LLC and a Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor, holding classes for a local military base in Boot Camp, Spinning, Kickboxing and Muscle Pump. Erin currently holds a BA in Psychology and Graduate Studies in Clinical Counseling. She also is an Adjunct Professor and Home-school Co-op Teacher instructing students in Anatomy and Nutrition. Erin holds numerous certifications including ACE and Scirion. She is a member of IHRSA and the Medical Fitness Association (MFA). Currently residing in Virginia Beach, VA, Erin and her Navy Captain spouse and two children will be relocating to Honolulu, Hawaii in July 2007. Her website is www.erinmorgart.com.