Many Moods

For me, developing new routines has been tremendous. And when the brain kicks into the old ways, I really try to understand the emotion that's driving that decision. Keeping a journal can be helpful. Not having junk food in the house is one of my first small victories. Please feel free to add me if you like.

Normally I keep my depression and anxiety under control with regular exercise, and increased exercise in times of increased stress, but this past year I went back to therapy. I love TeleHealth!

I also take Wellbutrin which, unlike other anti-depressants, is not associated with weight gain.

On the food front, it is super important for me to get enough protein and fiber. Without that, I could easily eat and eat and eat and eat.

What is your protein goal and are you hitting it consistently? Are you getting at least 25 g of fiber per day?

I find journaling helpful. If you are craving food when you wouldn't normally eat (I don't eat between meals, so this is important to me) or something not on the plan for the day, maybe check in (this is how I use my journal) and figure out if there are underlying reasons, like anxiety. Acknowledging your feelings and sitting with them can be helpful, as can spending a little time breathing or meditating or writing about what's going on. For me, that tends to help them pass and makes me less likely to give into the "must blot it out" panic reaction I otherwise am prone to.

I also find doing something -- it could be exercise, and if I am exercising regularly it tends to help generally, although getting too tired or overworked doesn't, or it could just be accomplishing something (like I'll consider if I need a snack after I plan dinner or clean up the kitchen or whatever) -- to be helpful.

With junk food, I'd figure out if you might be being more restrictive than necessary, and can fit some in, and then not feel like it's all or nothing. But if you want to generally abstain for a while, at least, from certain foods, I would make sure they aren't in the house. Makes it much harder to mindlessly eat them before remembering to check in and do the rest of it.

For me, what I eat isn't really related to these types of triggers at all, but when I am focusing on generally having a workout schedule and eating a healthful diet, it's easier to channel an obsession with eating into how to fit in a certain taste to my planned diet or even just finding figuring out how to hit all my goals as a positive thing to do that also helps with anxiety -- but that could be counterproductive, I suppose, if you are someone who tends to be orthorexic or likely to get anxious about diet stuff, so I'd say think through what your reactions tend to be.

Also, if you go through some steps to make sure you are eating something because you truly want it and it's worth the cals, I'd also say enjoy it. For example, Friday I had a dinner all planned and just decided (I was tired and stressed from the week) that I really wanted what to me is comfort food -- some soup and grilled cheese. It wasn't really on my plan and meant I was a bit over cals (not over maintenance) and didn't hit the same nutrient goals I otherwise would have, but it fit in fine and I thought it through and decided I would just thoroughly enjoy it, and I did, and was nothing but happy about going off plan. Having those days and decisions is fine too. It's just (for me) good when they truly are decisions, not just reactions.