How to add easy nutrition?

MarianMarMoi

Hello everyone, I'm looking for some advice.


I had quite some plans for this year, I was going to become healthier and stronger... Long story short: I've become neither.
This year has been rough mentally, completely unrelated to food and fitness, but it affected pretty much every aspect of my daily life.

For the past 3 months I've been living on potato crisps and cookies. I haven't had the energy or will to stand and cook, every time I've bought veggies from the store with thoughts of trying again, I've left them in the fridge until they've gone bad and I have to throw them out. My pantry is full of things like quinoa, buckwheat, beans and such that I just feel too low to touch, so they are staying there until I'm feeling better.

I've now trashed the crisps and cookies and have gone to the very simple foods, just to get out of the spiral of only eating snacks. So now I'm living on vegan meat substitutes (that I never used to eat before), pasta, and ketchup, except for breakfast, there I have overnight oats with a banana.
I know this isn't good, but it feels like an improvement for now.

I'm taking my multivitamins and omega3, but I would also like to add something to the food that doesn't add any difficult element to making the food but would add nutrition. Anyone got any tips? I am vegan, so dairy products and eggs are not an option. I have mixed in vegan mayonnaise a few times just to up the calories a bit, but I'm not sure if that is something I want to continue doing.

I don't expect myself to be on this diet for that long, I'm hoping I will get back to eating a bit better in maybe a month or so, but I need some advice for now.


Thank you all in advance.

kimny72

Fruit
Bagged frozen veggies
Canned beans
There are plenty of convenience style foods that might not be perfectly healthy but will add nutritious foods you aren't getting. Spend some time in the frozen food aisle.

Hope you get to feeling better soon

xmarye

Like the previous poster suggested, the frozen food isle would have a bunch of quick and easy options for you as well. Maybe get pre-sliced fruit trays and bagged salad, they are easy and ready to go! Soups too, and they are really comforting. They're are some really nice smoothie fruit mixes in the frozen section too, that could make a nice meal with handful of spinach, a scoop of vegan protein powder and/or seeds. Just try to find a few things that you consider easy, tasty and healthy and stick to those. Maybe try to find a slow cooker recipe (most are really simple, dump and cook ones) so that you have a go to meal for the week. Hope this helps and you feel better soon! ox

jpnestler

MarianMarMoi wrote: »

but it feels like an improvement for now.

That's the operative wording. Small improvements over time are how changes are made. You can do it.

MarianMarMoi wrote: »

I'm hoping I will get back to eating a bit better in maybe a month or so, but I need some advice for now.

Start today. While difficult, you have to disrupt the story you've created as to why you have to wait to start. That's the biggest trick. I battle with this all the time. You have to short circuit that false narrative. Start today...even if it's a small change.

thisPGHlife

Microwave rice with the can of beans, some salsa, and guacamole. I love taking a box of mixed greens and eating it with dressing right out of the box. I love the Fiber One honey closures cereal as a snack. One serving had 40% of your daily dinner, 90% of your iron, and has 4g of protein. You could add glad meal to your overnight oats. Maybe add some chopped nuts or nut butter as well.

MarianMarMoi

Thank you all for the suggestions, I will take them all into consideration.
Frozen veggies can absolutely be a thing I do. I always used to have broccoli in the past (back when it was, along with cucumber and tomato, the only veggies I ate), maybe I could throw that into the pasta water while it's boiling.

The reason why I don't really want to touch the more "complicated" things (things that take longer time to make) yet is because I currently forget to eat until I start to feel really hungry. Things that take time, or that I have to prep, is just not going to happen right now. I have however been thinking of making hummus again because I miss it, I bought lemons 3 weeks ago because of that, they're still OK so I could make it happen.

Smoothies are really nice, I've never owned any vegan protein powder so that I would have to look up. I don't think we have any frozen fruit mixes around where I am, I've never seen any. But I suppose fresh fruit would work as well, even if I would have to prep those a little it might be easy enough.

I've never cooked rice in the microwave before, does that work? Sounds a bit too good to be true, haha.

COGypsy

Look for frozen rice in the freezer section. Uncle Ben’s also has microwave rice in the rice aisle.

MarianMarMoi

Thank you, I will check that out.

livingleanlivingclean

Grate zucchini in to your oats (zoats... It's a thing)

admaarie

So sorry you’re having a hard time. I hope things get better.
As for quick fixes, like most people have said - frozen fruits and vegetables are great.
Also try to cook/precook ONE healthy meal a day. Whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Try at least one.
Then after a week or two, introduce 2.
Potatoes, beans, rice, chic peas etc are all items that’ll take longer to go bad or won’t go bad unless opened so those are easy things to purchase and prep as well.
Make things you enjoy. Maybe add in healthier snacks (veggies and hummus, crackers with cheese and fruit) so that way they’re not full on meals that you may not have the energy to make but are still on the “healthier side”.
I’ve been where you are before. Hoping things get better for you soon & hope this somewhat helped! 💙

MarianMarMoi

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

Grate zucchini in to your oats (zoats... It's a thing)

That sounds very interesting. We are currently flooded with zucchinis, so I think my roommate would appreciate me taking some of those, haha.

admaarie wrote: »

So sorry you’re having a hard time. I hope things get better.
As for quick fixes, like most people have said - frozen fruits and vegetables are great.
Also try to cook/precook ONE healthy meal a day. Whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Try at least one.
Then after a week or two, introduce 2.
Potatoes, beans, rice, chic peas etc are all items that’ll take longer to go bad or won’t go bad unless opened so those are easy things to purchase and prep as well.
Make things you enjoy. Maybe add in healthier snacks (veggies and hummus, crackers with cheese and fruit) so that way they’re not full on meals that you may not have the energy to make but are still on the “healthier side”.
I’ve been where you are before. Hoping things get better for you soon & hope this somewhat helped! 💙

Thank you, thankfully my anxiety (aka my main issue) is 100 % linked to university/anything study-related, might sound weird to say "thankfully" about that, but it means that once it's over, it will be gone. That's also why I'm counting on being "back to normal" in a month, because it may all be over in a month, but it's likely that I will be dragging this for another few months since the anxiety is crippling, I find myself just trying to ignore the world. It's so stupid, but it is what it is.

I will try to do hummus again, I have one 500g box in the freezer with chickpeas that I prepared some months ago, so making that first batch of hummus wouldn't be too much work. I do have some bags of black beans (soaked and cooked, ready to eat) in the freezer as well, but I'm not sure what I would want to do with those yet.

admaarie

Maybe make a black bean and cheese quesadilla, add some to rice, have some on the side as your carb source!

Zinka61

Some of my favorite "quick meals" are a piece of plain tempeh, microwaved maybe 3 minutes, with store-bought hummus spread on it. I eat it like an open faced sandwich, and it really helps with protein and keeps me full. My quick breakfast is a whole wheat pita, microwaved 1 minute, spread with almond butter and topped with slices of 1/2 apple, eaten warm. If you can stand minimal food prep or buy pre chopped squash, I like chopped, frozen Brussels sprouts, chopped squash, and a chopped apple sprinkled with salt and baked in the oven on parchment paper 425 degrees F for 45 minutes, no turning or mixing. It takes a little time, but I don't spend much time actually standing and cooking. You can make extra to have leftovers on hand. A quick nicecream I make is pre-chopped and frozen banana pureed with powdered peanut butter, vegan protein powder (I use vanilla Evo brand) and some cocoa powder, plus enough soy milk or walnut milk or whatever to make it the right texture.. It's quick as long as you occasionally chop up some bananas and put them in the freezer in a freezer bag. Other easy ideas are marinara on legume-based pasta, like lentil pasta, chickpea pasta, etc, the Beyond Burger, microwaved (It's made with pea protein), plain baby carrots, apples, bananas, grapes, bell peppers, etc. Even a pb-banana sandwich would be fast if you have good, whole grain bread. Frozen veggies roasted on a parchment-lined baking sheet with just a spray of olive oil "no calorie" cooking spray and salt are wonderful and very easy. You can put your feet up while they are roasting. I like frozen, mixed-vegetables with just a little salt in the microwave, too. Also, potatoes are loaded with nutrition, and you can make one fast in the microwave, then top with commercial guacamole, hummus, salsa, whatever you like.

MarianMarMoi

admaarie wrote: »

Maybe make a black bean and cheese quesadilla, add some to rice, have some on the side as your carb source!

Thank you for the tip. I've never made that (quesadillas), found some recipes online and it seems a bit too much work for my brain atm, but it looks tasty, so I might try it out when I have the energy The black beans can live a while longer in the freezer.

Zinka61 wrote: »

Some of my favorite "quick meals" are a piece of plain tempeh, microwaved maybe 3 minutes, with store-bought hummus spread on it. I eat it like an open faced sandwich, and it really helps with protein and keeps me full. My quick breakfast is a whole wheat pita, microwaved 1 minute, spread with almond butter and topped with slices of 1/2 apple, eaten warm. If you can stand minimal food prep or buy pre chopped squash, I like chopped, frozen Brussels sprouts, chopped squash, and a chopped apple sprinkled with salt and baked in the oven on parchment paper 425 degrees F for 45 minutes, no turning or mixing. It takes a little time, but I don't spend much time actually standing and cooking. You can make extra to have leftovers on hand. A quick nicecream I make is pre-chopped and frozen banana pureed with powdered peanut butter, vegan protein powder (I use vanilla Evo brand) and some cocoa powder, plus enough soy milk or walnut milk or whatever to make it the right texture.. It's quick as long as you occasionally chop up some bananas and put them in the freezer in a freezer bag. Other easy ideas are marinara on legume-based pasta, like lentil pasta, chickpea pasta, etc, the Beyond Burger, microwaved (It's made with pea protein), plain baby carrots, apples, bananas, grapes, bell peppers, etc. Even a pb-banana sandwich would be fast if you have good, whole grain bread. Frozen veggies roasted on a parchment-lined baking sheet with just a spray of olive oil "no calorie" cooking spray and salt are wonderful and very easy. You can put your feet up while they are roasting. I like frozen, mixed-vegetables with just a little salt in the microwave, too. Also, potatoes are loaded with nutrition, and you can make one fast in the microwave, then top with commercial guacamole, hummus, salsa, whatever you like.

Thank you for the suggestions. I've started to realise that I'm very unused to using the oven, I lived at a place with no oven for 3 years, before that I would use it all the time but that was also before I became vegan. Maybe I should play around with it a little.

I had some lentil pasta today, first time ever. Actually thought it tasted better than regular pasta (and much better than bean pasta), but it's so expensive. I wish food wasn't so expensive, I almost don't dare buying the nicer stuff now since I have this tendency of leaving it for too long and having it turn bad.

I've thought about buying somekind of protein powder just to make it easier for me, but I don't know what I would mix it with to make it not taste weird. I would put it in smoothies if I could, but the only cheap (or free) fruit here is pears and apples, and they give me stomach ache. That one banana a day that I have I consider a luxury since it's basically 1/6 of the cost for an entire days worth of food (for my normal food intake, not what I'm on now). Maybe I could mix some protein powder into the overnight oats...

gallicinvasion

You say that other parts of your life have been affecting your ability to eat in a healthy way. For what it's worth, it might be good to try to see if there's any improvements or help you can get with the other parts of your life that are causing this stress. Are you able to see a behavioral therapist or even just a counselor? Sometimes an outside perspective can help you identify any changes you can make to help your mental health or change your living situation.

I have been in a really similar slump to yours for a big big part of my adult life, except I would eat fast food for every single meal because it was easy, quick, and satisfied my processed food addiction. My work stress was impacting my daily life and it made it feels absolutely impossible to even ATTEMPT cooking, meal prep, or choosing healthier foods. I felt unable to change anything for a long time, and I felt like this was just how I would be for the rest of my life, and that was incredibly depressing. But finally I took a friend's advice to reach out to a behavioral therapist. She helped me make one tiny change at a time, and now 5 months later I honestly feel like a completely different person, making choices that make me happier and better able to handle stress.

I wish you well! Small changes are key, and there is definitely help out there.

Lounmoun

Canned fruit, frozen fruit, fresh fruit
Canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, pre-cut ready to eat vegetables
Canned beans
Bread
Nut butters, sunflower butter
Nuts or seeds
Canned soup
Frozen bean burrito
Frozen veggie burgers
Hummus
Salad
Granola bar or protein bar
Instant oatmeal
Sandwich/wrap
Baked potato- white or sweet
Vegetable or fruit juice
Soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk
Pasta mixed with things like hummus, marinara, peanut sauce, pesto... throw in some vegetables or beans.

musicfan68

You need to address the anxiety. People can make all the food suggestions in the world but it wont help if you don't deal with why you feel the way you do. If you are in school, go see the counselor there to help you deal with your anxiety.

MarianMarMoi

I study on distance (do not live where the school is) and this is my last course. It will soon be over, I hate talking feelings generally, and I'm fine as long as I ignore everything school-related (can't do that during the last course though).

Thank you all for the help, I've been doing quite alright the last few days.