Exercise, depression & nutrition.

massoia

I have bipolar depression. It's pretty well managed most of the time (thanks to horrid, horrid meds!) but the one thing I often struggle with is making sure I eat enough food. I've never had an eating disorder or anything, it's not that bad, it's just that my appetite vanishes when my mood is a little low and I struggle to motivate myself to prepare and eat meals.

In a typical day I'll have a couple of slices of toast with something on it for breakfast. Lunch might be a meaty pasta dish, a vegetable tian, whatever. Dinner will be anything I fancy - fish, sausages, roast meat served with potatoes, rice, veg, salad etc. Sometimes a Chinese takeaway once or twice a month! I'll have the odd snack here and there thoughout the day - oat biscuits (love them), a few chocolates, a piece of fruit, a slice of cake (I bake a lot). I don't count calories (because I've always been quite slim and have never worried about it) so couldn't tell you how many calories I eat in day.

On my "low" days, I might have breakfast if I remember. I'll have lunch or dinner, sometimes both, depends on whether or not someone else is around (to remind/prompt me to eat properly!) and or my appetite kicks in.

All of this naturally has an impact on how often I exercise. I like to exercise to help keep my mood up and also to keep myself in reasonable shape. My weight is fine but I would like to try to swap a little fat for muscle, so my goal is a little fat loss rather than weight loss, if you see what I mean. If I'm struggling to eat enough I exercise less, otherwise I would just burnout and make myself feel even worse! Even when my mood is okay I struggle to "eat back" my calories.

I think I should start making sure we have cashew nuts in the house for snacking. I can't really use nutrition shakes because after a period of severe ill-health a few years ago my digestive system doesn't deal with gluten and lactose very well! If it weren't for that I might just throw together a nutrition shake once a day.

Since I'm hoping to make some slight changes to my body composition I'd really value some advice from MFP veterans! I need some help formulating a plan of action. I need focus! Any ideas please?