YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

While I still suffer every day from the isolation that naturally comes with my asperger's, over the past few months, largley because my coach suggested it to get ready for the next boxing season, I switched permanently to a low-carb diet in which I have cut back to <150 grams per day of carbohydrates I have felt more energetic and awake and haven't had a single relapse into depression. This means that you have to cut back on some things that you might like, but it is simple to do, replace pasta (even whole wheat dishes) with fish or chicken or steak or veggie protiens with a lot of veggies on the side, grill instead of fry. Two of the easiest things that you can do to begin is if you are a chocolate fiend move to the darker stuff and begin to eat more fresh fruit (especially berries) You can eat just as much or even more calories and still lose fat while putting on muscle.

Health is 80% nutrition, 20% exercise.
This by itself makes me feeel better every day that I do it. I am not perfect and when I do begin to up the sugar intake, the depression returns.

Health is 80% nutrition, 20% exercise.

I love that! Just told my sister in law last night that getting a handle on her diet and exercise will go a long way towards easing her anxiety and depression. She is facing some major emotional challenges (alcoholic husband, heading for divorce with two small kids and she doesn't work...) but I think that sometimes when you take care of the day to day stuff it makes the "big" stuff seem less daunting.

Don't know if I could totally give up carbs, but we try to stick to whole wheat and other whole grains. I have been on the "holiday sugar train" lately and it is not a good thing. I think the easiest way to deal with it is to just keep it out of the house. Regular exercise helps so much with the endorphins. I exercise just about every morning, and I make it a point to go out and walk for 15-20 min at lunch when I'm at work to help with the afternoon blahs.

Great! It's definitely a start. And try not to get too caught up in the deadmill treadmill. Go for walks or even if you can in your area go for hikes. And I thought like you at first and I took a very slow ratcheting down. You shouldn't ever cut out anything completely, but moving from the American average of 300 g of carbs per day to eventually a 100-150 g was a HUGE step in me feeling better about the way I look, and better about the way I feel. I actually gained weight doing it because before I was severely underweight and this was a way for me to fill out without gaining a lot of unhealthy fat.

And try not to get too caught up in the deadmill treadmill.

LOL I hate treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes... any of the exercise machinery! I get so bored. I have lots of DVDs that I do at home - cardio, weights, yoga, kickboxing, etc. I try to switch it up every 3-4 weeks so I don't get bored. I go to a yoga class once a week at the Y. And if I'm waiting around for my kids at a baseball/volleyball/basketball practice I try to get a walk in rather than just sit around waiting for them. That, or I listen to a podcast and knit.