Watching My Weight On a Schizophrenia Medication

I’ve written recently about how I’m trying to lose weight while on a schizophrenia medication that causes weight gain. Now here’s an update. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m on an atypical antipsychotic medication for my schizoaffective disorder that causes severe weight gain: yes, severe. At times my natural weight has almost doubled on this schizophrenia medication.

I’ve tried different medications to treat my schizoaffective disorder, and although I lost weight, they did not help with my schizophrenic symptoms. Now I’m trying to lose weight while staying on a schizophrenia medication that causes weight gain but works well for me. Here is how.

How I'm Watching My Weight on a Schizophrenia Medication

I'm Staying Away from Sugar

It’s not as important to me that I lose weight as that I keep my blood sugar within a normal range so I don’t become pre-diabetic or develop type 2 diabetes (Which Atypical Antipsychotics Carry the Highest Risk for Diabetes?).

When I last wrote about trying to lose weight, I told you I get treats--I was letting myself eat a scoop of ice cream every night. I’ve stopped doing that. I did let myself have a couple of extras over my family’s recent trip to Door County, Wisconsin (including a scoop of chocolate custard). But in general, I’ve been staying away from all sweets and sugared soda. I’ve also been drinking lots of water.

Slimming Down by Walking A Lot

I’ve definitely slimmed down—I was a size 14 and now I’m a size 12—but the number on the scale is still the same. However, when I look in the mirror it’s undeniable, my belly is smaller. Maybe I’ve been gaining muscle from all the walking I’ve been doing.

I’ve been walking a lot. I treasure my walks to the beach every Friday night with my mom, and sometimes I walk to the beach with my husband Tom, too. Mostly I walk alone, though. I try to walk for at least a half hour every day. I find it much more versatile to walk than to run. For example, I can wear regular clothes when I walk and I can walk several times a day. I’m worried about how walking is going to go in the winter—maybe I’ll just walk laps at an indoor mall.

Worrying About Weight on a Schizophrenia Medication

I won’t lie to you—it’s definitely disappointing that I haven’t really been losing any weight according to the scale. But it feels so good to be a size 12 when at times I’ve surged to a size 18. And anyway, our worth as human beings is not measured by a scale or by the size of our jeans. As I said before, the most important thing to me is to have normal blood sugar levels. Not only do I want to be at a healthy weight, I want to have healthy body image, too.