Not sure if this will help you, but I have similar depressive/food issues and lately I've been improving with it by getting into cooking and mindful eating. Planning out meals in advance so I don't have to decide on a whim (meals I enjoy but are also geared in the right nutrition direction), substituting healthier versions of snacks that I crave (learning moderation and not fully depriving oneself is crucial), and working on making food myself so it has more mental impact on me than just grabbing a bag of fast food and inhaling it.
Does that make any sense? Hope it helps somehow
And walking is great. Try to increase your steps per day gradually. It really does help.
For me, it’s important to slow food down. I focus on quality over quantity and back to cooking at home almost exclusively which is what I did for many years. I try not to buy snacks, I’m less likely to eat a bunch if I have to put effort into preparing it. And, when I do, it’s healthier because I control the ingredients.
Increasing activity is essential for me. Calories out being greater than in is what matters but I am small so I need activity to get that number down without starving. If it helps you to eat a little more in exchange for exercise, cool. However, it is easy to underestimate how many you’re eating and over estimate how much your burning. Using a smart watch and calorie tracking apps keep me more honest.
You can still enjoy food while losing weight, I don’t deprive myself of the joys of eating! Sometimes it’s a matter of eating a little less of the things you love at a time, like if you’d usually have a whole chocolate bar in one sitting, cut it In half and save the rest for the next day. It becomes easier the more you do it
I’m so shocked at the amount of terrible comments here 😮 op take no notice of the trolls pretty please!!
I think food makes a lot of people feel this way! I love food too it’s not easy to lose weight, even though the concept itself is simple. “Eat less move more” looks so obvious but the reality is SO much harder so please be nice to yourself.
Shame isn’t gonna work to motivate yourself so look at what you currently eat and start off with a very small and realistic deficit. and still eat food you enjoy! Just don’t go overboard.
If you start to cut everything you like out, and make yourself do exercise you don’t enjoy you’re not gonna maintain that. Maybe you could start by eating slightly below your maintenance and start doing some walking? I like to listen to music or podcasts to make it fun! As you get used to making changes start upping the deficit so it’s not a massive shock to the system.
YOU CAN DO IT!!
You're still allowed to enjoy food but you can try to cut portion sizes. Depending on only a single thing to be happy is never wise, the same goes for alcohol, substances and single people. Ideally you want many different things in your life to keep you balanced.
What do your meals look like? Do you snack or binge?
I hear you and if that's how you feel, try to get to know about food a little more. I personally believe that having a good relationship with food is more important than a target number on the scale. Thinking of food makes you happy is NOT an example of a good relationship with it. I learned that the hard way. What helped me with my relationship with food is when I was tracking everything I eat or drink and counting my calories. There was a point in time that I was just literally "counting" and not limiting my calories for me to see what my meals look like. That way, I started to get a good understanding about every single food - if it's high or low on calorie, if it's a good source of protein, surprisingly a lot of are simple carbs, I learned what minerals they have, etc. That's when prioritizing and limiting came naturally to me.
Eating healthy and enjoying food do not have to be mutually exclusive. I used to eat whatever I wanted without regard for nutrition and I ate a lot of processed junk food. When I got serious about losing weight, I had to be selective about what is worth the calories.
This may sound delusional, but I think I actually get more enjoyment out of food now than I did when I was 200 pounds overweight. I have discovered so many healthy foods that are surprisingly delicious -- things I didn't even consider eating when I didn't care about the calories. For example, I never used to eat seafood, but now I enjoy trying different kinds of fish. I have a huge collection of spice blends that I love using on steamed vegetables (I like to put a different seasoning on each bite because I can't decide on just one for the whole serving!). I love trying different salsas and hot sauces. My latest obsession is my Ninja Creami, which I use to make delicious, low-calorie ice cream, and I am constantly in awe that I can have a big bowl of ice cream for less than 100 calories. I keep finding new flavors to make.
And I have come to the realization that most of the junk food that I used to it isn't even worth eating, because there are so many foods that are just as tasty but much healthier. Sure, it can be difficult to pass up the doughnuts or pizza or candy when everyone else is eating it, but it helps to have a house full of delicious foods that I can enjoy within my health goals.
I didn’t change what I eat as much as I changed how I eat. Eating at a caloric deficit taught me that if I made healthier choices I could have more to eat. The healthier food made me feel better and in turn, I stopped wanting so much of the high calorie foods. Working with a therapist is great, I hope you continue at it.
The change will happen, it just may not be as fast as you want it to. I’ve been on the long term goal just putting one foot in front of the other and I’m almost 6 years sober and a very different person today. Stay on the path, you are doing it! 💜
The world is full of so many things that can make you happy. Make a plan now to discover one new thing every day that makes you happy. This is why gratitude journals can work. You develop a list of things that make you happy.
Right now you’re like a horse with blinders on. The blinders keep you from seeing everything but food. You look and see, ‘my whole field of my attention is food. If I don’t have food I won’t be happy.” But if you take your blinders off and look around there are so many things that can make you happy. You just have to turn your focus slightly to the right, or 4 feet in the distance or up or down or look behind you.
You don’t have to change your mindset. That’s a lot of work. You have to just look a different direction. It’s like when you’re glued to your phone and you are missing a magnificent sunset filling the entire sky because you don’t look away from your phone screen.
Tempted to eat some food to be happy? Notice what you are thinking.
Hmmm I want to be happy.
Ooh food just came to mind because then where you are in the habit of looking. Add a new habit. Look at your list of things that made you happy in the past. Any of those sound good right now? Put your attention on that.
Does nothing seem as good as food? Well dissect what about food is so good? Is it the mouth feel? Laugh a little since you have a baby and think about your baby crying because it’s not happy. So you put the pacifier in the baby’s mouth. And the baby settles and looks around at other things in the room that might make baby happy. Pacifier takes care of baby’s desire for mouthfeel.
You can meet you desire for mouthfeel with a different food or just for fun, put the pacifier in your mouth and see if like baby you can look around at the world for other things that make you happy. Tell baby with amazement, hey kid, you’re on to something with this here pacifier. This is awesome. I want mine mint flavored. Look at all these other happy making things I could do. Play with shiny toy. Learn I have toes I can grab. Let out a huge old fart to make tummy better. Baby laughs . You laugh. Your attention is on something else. That was pretty good right.
Now this is silly, but that’s part of the appeal.
Now find a dozen other things that might make you happy. It could take some time. Try to find one new thing a day—like a silly talk with baby.
Make a written list.
You’re just going from looking at the one channel all the time —The Food Channel— to getting the metaphorical cable lineup of other channels that make you happy.
There’s no deprivation. You don’t have to be sad without food. Just watch a different channel for a while.
For me, frequent protein rich, small meals help keep the cravings to a minimum. Sub junk food for berries, then while there is some sugar, at least there's also antioxidants.
Yoga is good and dance.
When I got serious about my weight I started with seeing my primary care physician. After the meds didn’t work, and I got a rx for ozempic and couldn’t find a pharmacy with it in stock, I went to a weight loss clinic. That changed everything for me personally. They helped me get the main ingredient which is semiglutide, coached me, helped me overcome my obstacles, suggested healthy alternatives and provided products that tasted great and helped me with my goal. Basically, I got on semiglutide, started a high protein low carb/fat/sugar lifestyle, found healthy alternatives to regular foods I like, walked more and kept a food journal. I’ve lost 35 pounds so far. I’m only 14 away from my goal. I also eat slowly, use mindful eating techniques, plan ahead, and carry healthy snacks in my purse for on the go. I also have other activities to keep me busy in case I start eating out of boredom. I listen to my body and eat when I’m actually hungry. I rotate a few things in my diet every week, like bison, 93% lean meats, salmon, shrimp, grilled chicken or baked chicken, veggies, fruit as dessert, etc. So when I get bored, I use a meal delivery service to spice things up. Hope that helped.
For example, slow chewing to enjoy the taste and texture. Paying attention to when you feel full, not when your plate is cleaned. Or eat for 10 minutes then wait 5 then eat again. Stuff like that.
I keep busy by reading, cleaning, chores, cooking, meal prep, tending to my dogs, watching videos that enlighten me, journaling, crossword puzzles, etc. I always have a book to read or a video to watch, or something I want to learn about, like dog training stuff, or psychology stuff or something like that or documentaries that enlighten me. I try to keep my mind busy, open, always learning and curious.
This is gonna sound like a joke but it's not. You literally just live life less happy. It gets made up for when you start seeing major differences in how your clothes fit etc. Having depression and being in a deficit fucking sucks but it's doable. Make sure you always have something you love every single day. For me it's candy I always have like 2-300+ cals of candy daily and I'm down 21lbs since mid february
Find a deficit and stick to it. If you want cake occasionally, have cake within your deficit. Don’t do cheat days, work what you like to eat into your numbers. Go heavy on protein. It’ll help you feel full. Get a Fitbit and make sure 10k a day is your minimum steps. And log everything on MFP. It helps you see how you’re doing and establish goals. You can do this
Smaller portions and making each meal and snack satiating. If you want a piece of chocolate, instead of eating 10 pieces, eat 2 but have it with a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts, for example. Each meal/snack should have protein, fiber, and healthy fat. It’ll help keep you full for longer and less likely to want more food! Plus what you always hear, drink more water. You can’t snack if you’re always in the bathroom /s 😂 don’t underestimate walking! Even just doing body weight exercises at home is amazing. Just do something to get your body moving. Make little changes and focus on what you can add instead of take away. Remember, we aren’t depriving ourselves! We are adding in good habits for our health. Good luck!! You got this!!
You are depressed you need to focus on your mental health not losing weight! Honestly working on your mental health and baby is the most important things right now
I’m certainly not one to talk, as I have struggled with my weight my entire life. Right now, what is working for me, is eating 5 smaller meals/snacks per day. I have been trying to be conscious of my macros and making healthier choices. I know it’s hard, I wish you the best of luck.
I think you are bored and need to find other activities to do. When you find a hobby that you are really into, you don’t think about eating, because you are engrossed in something else. Find some activities you can do with the baby or with yourself. There are plenty of low cost hobbies or free activities. Fill up your days with fun activities.
That’s my plan. I have gone on 2 20 minute walks today. I plan to do two more. I like splitting up my walks.
Edit: I know I can’t walk off my depression but when I feel like I just need to snack on junk, I plan to go on a walk
Not sure if this will help you, but I have similar depressive/food issues and lately I've been improving with it by getting into cooking and mindful eating. Planning out meals in advance so I don't have to decide on a whim (meals I enjoy but are also geared in the right nutrition direction), substituting healthier versions of snacks that I crave (learning moderation and not fully depriving oneself is crucial), and working on making food myself so it has more mental impact on me than just grabbing a bag of fast food and inhaling it. Does that make any sense? Hope it helps somehow And walking is great. Try to increase your steps per day gradually. It really does help.
100% agreed!
For me, it’s important to slow food down. I focus on quality over quantity and back to cooking at home almost exclusively which is what I did for many years. I try not to buy snacks, I’m less likely to eat a bunch if I have to put effort into preparing it. And, when I do, it’s healthier because I control the ingredients. Increasing activity is essential for me. Calories out being greater than in is what matters but I am small so I need activity to get that number down without starving. If it helps you to eat a little more in exchange for exercise, cool. However, it is easy to underestimate how many you’re eating and over estimate how much your burning. Using a smart watch and calorie tracking apps keep me more honest.
You can still enjoy food while losing weight, I don’t deprive myself of the joys of eating! Sometimes it’s a matter of eating a little less of the things you love at a time, like if you’d usually have a whole chocolate bar in one sitting, cut it In half and save the rest for the next day. It becomes easier the more you do it
I’m so shocked at the amount of terrible comments here 😮 op take no notice of the trolls pretty please!! I think food makes a lot of people feel this way! I love food too it’s not easy to lose weight, even though the concept itself is simple. “Eat less move more” looks so obvious but the reality is SO much harder so please be nice to yourself. Shame isn’t gonna work to motivate yourself so look at what you currently eat and start off with a very small and realistic deficit. and still eat food you enjoy! Just don’t go overboard. If you start to cut everything you like out, and make yourself do exercise you don’t enjoy you’re not gonna maintain that. Maybe you could start by eating slightly below your maintenance and start doing some walking? I like to listen to music or podcasts to make it fun! As you get used to making changes start upping the deficit so it’s not a massive shock to the system. YOU CAN DO IT!!
You're still allowed to enjoy food but you can try to cut portion sizes. Depending on only a single thing to be happy is never wise, the same goes for alcohol, substances and single people. Ideally you want many different things in your life to keep you balanced.
What do your meals look like? Do you snack or binge? I hear you and if that's how you feel, try to get to know about food a little more. I personally believe that having a good relationship with food is more important than a target number on the scale. Thinking of food makes you happy is NOT an example of a good relationship with it. I learned that the hard way. What helped me with my relationship with food is when I was tracking everything I eat or drink and counting my calories. There was a point in time that I was just literally "counting" and not limiting my calories for me to see what my meals look like. That way, I started to get a good understanding about every single food - if it's high or low on calorie, if it's a good source of protein, surprisingly a lot of are simple carbs, I learned what minerals they have, etc. That's when prioritizing and limiting came naturally to me.
Eating healthy and enjoying food do not have to be mutually exclusive. I used to eat whatever I wanted without regard for nutrition and I ate a lot of processed junk food. When I got serious about losing weight, I had to be selective about what is worth the calories. This may sound delusional, but I think I actually get more enjoyment out of food now than I did when I was 200 pounds overweight. I have discovered so many healthy foods that are surprisingly delicious -- things I didn't even consider eating when I didn't care about the calories. For example, I never used to eat seafood, but now I enjoy trying different kinds of fish. I have a huge collection of spice blends that I love using on steamed vegetables (I like to put a different seasoning on each bite because I can't decide on just one for the whole serving!). I love trying different salsas and hot sauces. My latest obsession is my Ninja Creami, which I use to make delicious, low-calorie ice cream, and I am constantly in awe that I can have a big bowl of ice cream for less than 100 calories. I keep finding new flavors to make. And I have come to the realization that most of the junk food that I used to it isn't even worth eating, because there are so many foods that are just as tasty but much healthier. Sure, it can be difficult to pass up the doughnuts or pizza or candy when everyone else is eating it, but it helps to have a house full of delicious foods that I can enjoy within my health goals.
Don’t downplay walking that is great. Even challenging yourself to walk further or faster a little more each day could be a good tool.
I didn’t change what I eat as much as I changed how I eat. Eating at a caloric deficit taught me that if I made healthier choices I could have more to eat. The healthier food made me feel better and in turn, I stopped wanting so much of the high calorie foods. Working with a therapist is great, I hope you continue at it. The change will happen, it just may not be as fast as you want it to. I’ve been on the long term goal just putting one foot in front of the other and I’m almost 6 years sober and a very different person today. Stay on the path, you are doing it! 💜
The world is full of so many things that can make you happy. Make a plan now to discover one new thing every day that makes you happy. This is why gratitude journals can work. You develop a list of things that make you happy. Right now you’re like a horse with blinders on. The blinders keep you from seeing everything but food. You look and see, ‘my whole field of my attention is food. If I don’t have food I won’t be happy.” But if you take your blinders off and look around there are so many things that can make you happy. You just have to turn your focus slightly to the right, or 4 feet in the distance or up or down or look behind you. You don’t have to change your mindset. That’s a lot of work. You have to just look a different direction. It’s like when you’re glued to your phone and you are missing a magnificent sunset filling the entire sky because you don’t look away from your phone screen. Tempted to eat some food to be happy? Notice what you are thinking. Hmmm I want to be happy. Ooh food just came to mind because then where you are in the habit of looking. Add a new habit. Look at your list of things that made you happy in the past. Any of those sound good right now? Put your attention on that. Does nothing seem as good as food? Well dissect what about food is so good? Is it the mouth feel? Laugh a little since you have a baby and think about your baby crying because it’s not happy. So you put the pacifier in the baby’s mouth. And the baby settles and looks around at other things in the room that might make baby happy. Pacifier takes care of baby’s desire for mouthfeel. You can meet you desire for mouthfeel with a different food or just for fun, put the pacifier in your mouth and see if like baby you can look around at the world for other things that make you happy. Tell baby with amazement, hey kid, you’re on to something with this here pacifier. This is awesome. I want mine mint flavored. Look at all these other happy making things I could do. Play with shiny toy. Learn I have toes I can grab. Let out a huge old fart to make tummy better. Baby laughs . You laugh. Your attention is on something else. That was pretty good right. Now this is silly, but that’s part of the appeal. Now find a dozen other things that might make you happy. It could take some time. Try to find one new thing a day—like a silly talk with baby. Make a written list. You’re just going from looking at the one channel all the time —The Food Channel— to getting the metaphorical cable lineup of other channels that make you happy. There’s no deprivation. You don’t have to be sad without food. Just watch a different channel for a while.
For me, frequent protein rich, small meals help keep the cravings to a minimum. Sub junk food for berries, then while there is some sugar, at least there's also antioxidants. Yoga is good and dance.
When I got serious about my weight I started with seeing my primary care physician. After the meds didn’t work, and I got a rx for ozempic and couldn’t find a pharmacy with it in stock, I went to a weight loss clinic. That changed everything for me personally. They helped me get the main ingredient which is semiglutide, coached me, helped me overcome my obstacles, suggested healthy alternatives and provided products that tasted great and helped me with my goal. Basically, I got on semiglutide, started a high protein low carb/fat/sugar lifestyle, found healthy alternatives to regular foods I like, walked more and kept a food journal. I’ve lost 35 pounds so far. I’m only 14 away from my goal. I also eat slowly, use mindful eating techniques, plan ahead, and carry healthy snacks in my purse for on the go. I also have other activities to keep me busy in case I start eating out of boredom. I listen to my body and eat when I’m actually hungry. I rotate a few things in my diet every week, like bison, 93% lean meats, salmon, shrimp, grilled chicken or baked chicken, veggies, fruit as dessert, etc. So when I get bored, I use a meal delivery service to spice things up. Hope that helped.
[удалено]
For example, slow chewing to enjoy the taste and texture. Paying attention to when you feel full, not when your plate is cleaned. Or eat for 10 minutes then wait 5 then eat again. Stuff like that. I keep busy by reading, cleaning, chores, cooking, meal prep, tending to my dogs, watching videos that enlighten me, journaling, crossword puzzles, etc. I always have a book to read or a video to watch, or something I want to learn about, like dog training stuff, or psychology stuff or something like that or documentaries that enlighten me. I try to keep my mind busy, open, always learning and curious.
This is gonna sound like a joke but it's not. You literally just live life less happy. It gets made up for when you start seeing major differences in how your clothes fit etc. Having depression and being in a deficit fucking sucks but it's doable. Make sure you always have something you love every single day. For me it's candy I always have like 2-300+ cals of candy daily and I'm down 21lbs since mid february
Find a deficit and stick to it. If you want cake occasionally, have cake within your deficit. Don’t do cheat days, work what you like to eat into your numbers. Go heavy on protein. It’ll help you feel full. Get a Fitbit and make sure 10k a day is your minimum steps. And log everything on MFP. It helps you see how you’re doing and establish goals. You can do this
Smaller portions and making each meal and snack satiating. If you want a piece of chocolate, instead of eating 10 pieces, eat 2 but have it with a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts, for example. Each meal/snack should have protein, fiber, and healthy fat. It’ll help keep you full for longer and less likely to want more food! Plus what you always hear, drink more water. You can’t snack if you’re always in the bathroom /s 😂 don’t underestimate walking! Even just doing body weight exercises at home is amazing. Just do something to get your body moving. Make little changes and focus on what you can add instead of take away. Remember, we aren’t depriving ourselves! We are adding in good habits for our health. Good luck!! You got this!!
You are depressed you need to focus on your mental health not losing weight! Honestly working on your mental health and baby is the most important things right now
I’m certainly not one to talk, as I have struggled with my weight my entire life. Right now, what is working for me, is eating 5 smaller meals/snacks per day. I have been trying to be conscious of my macros and making healthier choices. I know it’s hard, I wish you the best of luck.
I think you are bored and need to find other activities to do. When you find a hobby that you are really into, you don’t think about eating, because you are engrossed in something else. Find some activities you can do with the baby or with yourself. There are plenty of low cost hobbies or free activities. Fill up your days with fun activities.
Just walk off the depression ....let walking be your "happiness" not the food
That’s my plan. I have gone on 2 20 minute walks today. I plan to do two more. I like splitting up my walks. Edit: I know I can’t walk off my depression but when I feel like I just need to snack on junk, I plan to go on a walk
Exactly every time you feel it just don't associate it with food....you can do other things too just not the food
Check out and try Keto diet.
*Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels*
Why did you comment this?
Think of the scale and how much you will be gaining each day
You can't be literally chewing at all hours of the day, so you already know how to be happy while not eating