Diet is a mess

littleblackDRS

Hi all
Long time lurker, first time poster, so go easy on me!

Am just going to prelude this by saying that I am a student, and I do suffer from depression.

Stats:
Age: 20
Height: 5'3
Weight: 63kg

Ok, so my diet is an absolute mess. I know I should be eating better, but I've managed to get myself into a rut. I'm too tired/disinterested to cook, then I'm tired because I'm eating sh*te.

My average day would be
-No breakfast, or just tea with milk (never been a big breakfast eater, prefer to eat around 11)
-Lunch: Chicken breast roll with mayo, and a can of coke or fanta
-Dinner: Either pizza and chips, or burgers and chips. Would have peppers on the pizza, and lettuce and tomatoes on the burger. Sometimes I'd do stirfry or pasta bake or curry if I can bring myself to.
-Snack: Sometimes donuts, sometimes cookies, depending on what's reduced in tesco usually just tea though.

I know, it's bad I'm embarrassed even looking at it.

I'm just so lost as of where to start. I've accepted that this problem is't going to fix itself, so I have to take control of the situation. I have been plugging everything into myfitnesspal, not finding it incredibly useful though, I find I just start obsessing over calories and start restricting, and I'd like to start eating better, not less.

Because of the depression, I don't enjoy food like I used to, so it's really hard to motivate myself to put more effort into a meal. But it's a roundabout problem, the depression is being fuelled by my bad diet.

So I think I'm just looking for suggestions on where to start, and what changed to make. I'm currently re-reading the stickies, I'm totally motivated (today) to start making changes!

vitani

I'm not going to give you advice about what to eat but I will tell you what worked for me in terms of how to change without getting overwhelmed. Big changes can be hard to keep going - what I'd suggest is try fixing one meal at a time.

Breakfast is probably the easiest - for the next couple of weeks, commit to having a decent breakfast every day - something like porridge or eggs. In a couple of weeks, when a decent breakfast is part of your routine, start improving your lunches. Then dinner, then snacks.

SamforMayo

vitani wrote: »

I'm not going to give you advice about what to eat but I will tell you what worked for me in terms of how to change without getting overwhelmed. Big changes can be hard to keep going - what I'd suggest is try fixing one meal at a time.

Breakfast is probably the easiest - for the next couple of weeks, commit to having a decent breakfast every day - something like porridge or eggs. In a couple of weeks, when a decent breakfast is part of your routine, start improving your lunches. Then dinner, then snacks.

This is a sensible approach, try that as well as dropping that can of fizzy drink for a start. Start adding some fruit and veg, the ones you like already and introduce some exercise if you are not already doing some.

oscar_mike

Hi littleblack DRS, would have to agree with the other posters. For the moment just try develop a good breakfast habit. Get up slightly earlier and make yourself eat a nutritious breakfast. And by that i dont mean a big bowel of cocopops. Try oats and fruit, omelette with peppers, mushroom and cheese, fruits smoothies etc and plenty of water.

You would be very surprised at how quickly this turns into a habit, and its fairly simple. It will totally set you up for the morning and you will be less likely to eat sh!t throughout the day. Other simple changes you could start on is switching to diet drinks, cut out salt, switch to artificial sweeteners in tea/coffee

Dont worry about counting calories, diets and fitness pal just yet until you change you habits.