I recently restarted an antidepressant that I have been taking on and off for a while–Wellbutrin. Each time I take it I lose weight, but I have never truly paid attention to how/why until this time. Some background: I have always had a bit of an unhealthy relationship with food–I used to binge a lot, and even now I eat for comfort and out of a sense of habit (for example, if I come home and don’t have a snack, I get really anxious and don’t calm down till I eat). I vacillate between normal and overweight, depending on how much exercise I do (as I get older, I more often find myself overweight than not).
So today is day 2 of Wellbutrin, I have noticed the following:
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I don’t think about food as often, and can very easily ignore my physiological “hunger” signals
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Food doesn’t taste as good
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Food doesn’t give me a global calming effect anymore
So I have a couple of questions for y’all
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Overweight people (or people who think they have a poor relationship with food)–how much time per day do you spend thinking about food? Does eating calm you down or otherwise soothe you? Does it give you a “happy” feeling?
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Normal/underweight people, or people who think they have a good relationship with food–Do you enjoy eating? Does it make you feel happy (not just in the “I satisfied a basic biologic need” sense but in a wholistic sense, perhaps a bit like orgasm does?)? If so, do you think it is the greatest source of pleasure in your life? How much time do you spend thinking about food?