Lifestyle tips

I'll start off with saying that I'm working with several mental health providers to help with the issues and I'm making progress with it.

The problem I'm having now is that I've been depressed/anxious lately and it's had a significant impact on my appetite. I get up in the morning and I get excited about being able to eat and work towards my goal body, but then as soon as it comes to trying to make food or decide what to eat I have absolutely no desire to eat. I was wondering if anyone has had this problem and if there was anything you were able to do to help with it. I'd like to put on weight but at this point I would like to at least maintain the weight I have. I've seen suggestions of smoking weed however that's not an option for me as I'm in the job hunt and have to be able to pass a drug test.

Glad you are getting help. Be safe, love. Kink aside, you deffo need to get some nutrition in you.

I have a sibling who is recovering from anorexia as well as dealing with bipolar disorder and ADHD. So sometimes eating feels like a chore to them. When that happens, they drink their calories instead. Their go to is Ensure, but you can use something else.

It’s important to reconginze that you won’t always have an appetite of a hibernating bear and will sometimes eat like a mouse, this happens to me when I get busy or if it’s just a hot day, a lot of the times I just go nuts for food once a day but it’s important to remember to eat something even if you don’t have an appetite.

im like this! ive always been at 100lbs and hardly flux past 110lbs when im not actively gaining. When Im upset i find it hard to eat, and life can have its stressers. Some anti depressants or anti psychotics help with appetite. its always good to have atleast something around you can grab because stimulating your appetite often (even just a lil) is important for building it. id say find some things you can make easily for breakfast and start meal plans too.

Do you have any quick and simple favorites that you can keep on hand so you can at least grab something right away before you get to that sort of frozen state? I try to keep some simple things handy like granola bars I like, bananas, my favorite iced teas, and recently I finally found a protein shake I like called Orgain (an oddly fitting name for us, but it's just a normal protein shake using milk protein with no artificial additives, so it doesn't taste like flavored mud like the vegan ones often do, or cleaning products like a lot of big brand name ones do).

Anyway with those sorts of things handy I can often get something in me right away, I usually don't have much time in the morning anyway because depression and sleep issues make getting up super early very difficult.

Sometimes I want to go eat but I just feel frozen, can't bring myself to put in the work and/or find the appetite. I understand what you mean. That's when really easy things help; I can usually drink something because I'm thirsty and my body is crying for some calories, sometimes a favorite beverage is comforting and helps me to feel better. At the very least I don't completely starve that day. Depression sure sucks. It's interesting how some people will stress eat or eat because they feel so empty, and some of us cannot eat when stressed or shut down so much that we can't eat.

I have noticed that gaining has helped with the depression, it makes my days feel a little more purposeful or meaningful, I have something to look forward to that I can see tangible progress towards, that I have some level of control over. I feel better about myself and more motivated to work on myself in other ways as well, I could even say it makes life feel more real and grounded than the detached floating-through-it-all feeling I've had. Everyone is different, but I think if you can engage in something that makes you feel just a little bit better about yourself, it helps give you the mental energy to work a little harder and achieve a little more bit by bit.

Yeah, gaining can alleviate some of the negative emotions I'm having that day. I'm starting to appreciate the progress I've made and that makes me feel really good and I know I can make progress towards getting the body I really want and engaging in activities that bring pleasure.

I'll need to find some more easy and frozen foods to keep handy. So far I've been living off of a lot of ramen which is something I'd like to move away from. I think if I had some premade protein shakes or similar it would help a lot.

I can't deal with salty stuff like the packaged ramen, or a lot of prepackaged/processed food. Remember that diet can affect depression tremendously too, gut health and nutrition play a major role in brain chemistry. If you put together a better diet with exercise, you may find that it helps alleviate the depression more. I think that's part of the reason gaining helps me as well, I realized that before I just wasn't eating enough and not getting enough nutrition. I thought I was, until I started tracking my food to help with gaining and saw what a difference it was.

I definitely recommend those Orgain protein shakes. I've been looking through the freezer at each supermarket I go to looking for frozen meals I can leave in the freezer at work for a quick economical lunch. Some of the things I've found on the healthier side still have a decent number of calories and taste pretty good, and don't leave me feeling sick from artificial crap and salt. You would be surprised how good and high in calories some of the vegan frozen dishes or meals are.

This is a slight tangent because it doesn't involve OP specifically but rather the feedist community as a whole.

A lot of feedists will eat like absolute shit to get fat and wonder why they feel horrible. There's a fear that if they eat healthy, they'll lose weight. I've run into people who avoid veggies or only eat fast food because of this.

These people are some of the most miserable, mentally unstable people I've seen. There's a reason why we were told growing up that junk food is a sometimes food - it's not just about staying slim.

I'm not going to say that a good diet fixes depression, but it certainly can help.

Back on topic. To OP, SkinnyD is right. It's good to get something nutritious you won't struggle to eat. At the same time, however, sometimes eating something is better than eating nothing. Sometimes life is hard, and the best you can do is bologna and a bag of chips. It's not the best, but it is better than nothing.

That is so very true!