Need some variety and motivation with a bad mood :(

MurphyIzzy11

I keep eating the same old things. Instant oatmeal, salads, string cheese, rice...I am starting to get bored. My mood the last few weeks hasn't helped anything, just been down in the dumps for no reason. I am on depression medication for anxiety and have been for years. Just trying to figure out what to do. I'm on a tight budget. So I have to watch what I spend and where. I keep having cravings for cereal at night. I eat dinner (I actually made potato soup the other night) but it did not satisfy me. I continued to want ice cream or cereal. Night time is my worst enemy.

Anyone have any healthy suggestions? I love fruits and veggies, but after eating those all day I want something else at night, something filling but not calorie consumed.

Thanks everyone!

cjazz72

I would look through a food magazine or even allrecipes.com to find some recipes to make something that looks tastey,satisfying, and healthy. I know for me I am not a fan of eating fruits and vegetables all the time so I juice them together to make smoothies or even ice pops. Even putting orange juice in the freezer and create ice pops works great too. As far as fixing a bad mood, my suggestion is go outside for a walk if its nice out or just remove yourself from the area. For me its either go for a walk, listen to music, play my guitar, sleep if i am tired, anything to forget I was in a bad mood. Changing things up once in a while can do wonders for the mind body and soul. Hope that helps

ChaplainHeavin

I keep eating the same old things. Instant oatmeal, salads, string cheese, rice...I am starting to get bored. My mood the last few weeks hasn't helped anything, just been down in the dumps for no reason.

You're just the opposite of me. I can eat the same things every day. My wife had me stop cooking dinner because the kid's would complain so much, "Mom, all he cooks is ham and beans." However, in your case, maybe you should eat different healthy foods rather than stick to a rigid routine. And one thing that fills me up is protein, whether it be meat, cheese, or heaven forbid, beans.

As far the mood, in my case, if I work out or go for a fast pace walk I've been amazed at how quickly my mood would change for the better. Sometimes, and this is in my case, my depressed mood was because my body was wanting me to get up and do something. Not saying it is the same situation with you, just for me.

StraubreyR

Skinny Cow ice cream is my salvation. I do my best to fit whatever it is that I'm craving into my plan. Some things that seem to fill me up are home made baked tortilla chips with guacamole or salsa and air popped popcorn. I budget my calories with quite a few left for a good snack at night. I eat six small meals a day, this seems to work best for me.

beckytcy

I can completely relate to this. I also suffer from some depression, and I feel that trying to lose weight actually makes it worse. I remember reading in psychology class that when you are depressed, you crave carbs because your body breaks the carbs down into seratonin. I am in the same boat right now because I've been trying to stick to my daily limits set by MFP, but in order to lose weight, I have to feel a bit hungry and unsatisfied (that's the basics of the calorie deficit), but it's making me so moody! Tonight I ate a bit more than i should have of my homemade dinner. It had lots of veggies and tofu so was pretty healthy but I still went over my calorie goal, and my BF made a frustrated comment like, "You are talking about wanting to lose weight but then you ate too much" (or something along those lines) and I completely overreacted to his comment and started crying and everything. How to stay on track and not feel so moody??!

As far as changing things up, do you like spicy food? I put Sriracha or Frank's Red Hot on a lot of foods and it gives them a lot of flavor without adding a lot of calories. If you are really craving cereal, maybe have a really small bowl and just track everything. If you love cereal, don't completely deny youself.

BecciJoWilding

I'm really bad at night time snacking too and so yesterday I started writing in my blog that mfp has set for me. After dinner and when my calories are up for the day I've decided to start writing in it like a journal and tell myself my goals and reasons why I don't need to eat anymore tonight. It really helped me think straight last night and I didn't snack at all. If you really want to snack at night, leave some of your calories. There's nothing wrong with snacking at night it's just that I'm usually at my limit after dinner. Also make sure you are eating enough calories. I like using the tdee method because then I don't have to worry about eating back my calories or not and it motivates me to workout everyday. But I was already in the habit of working out everyday 6 days a week and really never miss a workout so the tdee works for me as long as I don't give into snacking once my calories are up

tracywintn

I drink hot tea with splenda and a little bit of honey when I feel like eating (but I'm not hungry). It really does stop the food cravings, not sure if it's the sweetness or because it's hot? It's my go to most of the time.

Lizzy622

When I get in food rut, I like going to the farmers market and finding some fruits or vegetables that I haven't tried or haven't had in sometime. The bright colored ones seem to really work for upping my mood.

knra_grl

If you know you habitually want to have something at night try to save enough room in your goal cals to have something - satisfy your craving and know it's okay because it fits. When I was a kid it was normal in my house to have an evening snack - we didn't sit around eating all night but we normally had something around 8:00 or 8:30 at night.

shinkalork

try oatmeal with fruits...

bwogilvie

To help control cravings, you need dinners with a fair amount of protein and fat. Except for string cheese, the foods you list are all low in protein and fat, and high in carbohydrates. You'll digest those relatively quickly and be hungry again. Add some fish, a handful of nuts, some beans or lentils, etc., and you'll be more satisfied.

Fish is a great dinner food. It's fairly lean, unless you get salmon, bluefish, or related fishes, and those have healthy fats. If you're pregnant or nursing, you should limit the amount of fish you eat to a few servings a week, and if you buy canned tuna, light tuna has less mercury than albacore (but albacore is fine once or twice a week). Otherwise, you can go to town. Canned tuna is relatively cheap.

(For more on health benefits of fish and the relatively minor risk from contaminants, see this page: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fish/)

(Edited to fix a typo.)

craftywitch_63

Not sure if this will fit in the budget, but Arctic Zero Ice cream. 37 calories per 1/2 cup or <150 calories for the entire pint. $5 or so per pint. Store locator at http://www.arcticzero.com/locations.php

Because sometimes only ice cream will do. :happy:

craftywitch_63

Skinny Cow ice cream is my salvation. I do my best to fit whatever it is that I'm craving into my plan. Some things that seem to fill me up are home made baked tortilla chips with guacamole or salsa and air popped popcorn. I budget my calories with quite a few left for a good snack at night. I eat six small meals a day, this seems to work best for me.

You speak my language!!

ebayaddict0127

You sound a lot like me. I'm bored with my food choices. My husband and I are trying to find simple recipes we can start incorporating to make things less blah. As for night time - I too struggle. I like to eat berries. I buy them frozen (no sugar added), let them sit out for an hour or so and then have that as my final snack/dessert. It's sweet and usually satisfying. And the slightly frozen side makes it feel like sorbet or something.

alfiedn

You can try banana "ice cream"! It's so good! Freeze some bananas in chunks, put in a food processor and process until it looks like soft serve. I sometimes add cocoa powder. Yum!

Hearts_2015

I keep eating the same old things. Instant oatmeal, salads, string cheese, rice...I am starting to get bored. My mood the last few weeks hasn't helped anything, just been down in the dumps for no reason. I am on depression medication for anxiety and have been for years. Just trying to figure out what to do. I'm on a tight budget. So I have to watch what I spend and where. I keep having cravings for cereal at night. I eat dinner (I actually made potato soup the other night) but it did not satisfy me. I continued to want ice cream or cereal. Night time is my worst enemy.

Anyone have any healthy suggestions? I love fruits and veggies, but after eating those all day I want something else at night, something filling but not calorie consumed.

Thanks everyone!

Check out the recipe section here, some have added recipes and also there are many recipe sites ppl have shared. Browsing through recipes helps the mind be elsewhere.

Regarding lifting the mood...comedies, comedies, comedies.... I just flipped on some British Shows on Netflix and am somewhat where you are in mood for some reason today.

Stay away from drama (as in sad type movies/shows) for now and put yourself some place else... maybe a book you've been wanting to read.

Or check out some friends food diaries to help renew what you've been eating. Instead of instant oats, how about trying some variety that you put together yourself. You can make Irish oats in a Crockpot over night and add all sorts of fun flavors. Makes life easier if you plan it but add variety... not just talking about food but all things in life.

Or take a nap if you need to rest your mind. Sometimes that all we need to do... grab a nice cozy blanket and book.... just step away from the food diary and see what else is out there for the day.

Hang in there, life will straighten out and things will shake up in a good way.
For me if I switch things up the world looks far different.:drinker:

Hearts

ETA: btw...eat the cereal at night... fun to do breakfast for dinner...great way to mix it up...eat what you crave, if you want something light...go for it. No rules about when you can eat cereal... maybe being a bit more flexible might help with food not feeling boring as well as the 'down in the dumps' feelings as well.:flowerforyou:

Boogage

Quake with a splash of milk and a sachet of low cal hot chocolate powder mixed in tastes like Angel delight and has around 10g protein

miller2010

I browse healthy recipes often. I get very bored with food very fast. Good examples are cookinglight.com, and I like the the Live Better America page on facebook. They have great low calorie options.

arathena720

After eating fruits and veggies all day, I usually have a tofurkey sausage and quinoa, or some homemade stew.

Oh, and I'll eat cereal and milk at night if I crave it. Or yogurt and protein powder.