difficult weight loss

Question
Good Morning,
My name is Susan and I am a 47 year old diabetic. All of my life I have never had a problem with weight loss, 1300 calories, 2-4 pounds a week. About a year after I have been married, the weight loss just does not happen no matter how hard I try. I even went home for 2 months, did not eat as well, and weight started falling off. My husband is a epileptic, a-typical, bipolar alcoholic. He is very mentally abusive to be around, self destructive. My mother who finds the good in everybody said if I were to write a book about my life, nobody would believe it was a real person. Besides that, he causes me to never have a good nights sleep due to moving to my side of the bed, yelling at me in the middle of the night and seizures. I am just wondering if all of this has an effect on weight loss?
Thank you so much for your time and help!
Susan

Oh yes, since I have been eating better, whole grain etc. my sugar has been fabulous, I have always had a 5.6 a1c, but I can't wait to get one now, no spike and my sugar nearly every time I check it is between 72-99. I am very happy about that.

Answer
Hello Susan,

There are lots of issues going on in your life that could prevent you from sticking to your healthy eating pattern. Recent studies show that people who get less sleep take in more calories on a daily basis. There is also evidence that an increase in stress hormones stimulates appetite. And, of course, when you have so much stress with your situation, it's not possible to focus 100% on healthy eating.

It's likely that you are eating more than a 1300 calorie intake on a daily basis. When people are stressed they often turn to food to help comfort or calm them.

My advice is (1)to start keeping a food diary and see exactly how much you're eating on a typical day, and (2) please get the support you need to help resolve the situation in your marriage--you will be suffering in many ways as long as you're living with abuse.

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