Well, no, I know it has, I just don’t know how drastic it is.
Stress, medication side effects, and the fact that I’m too lazy to do the dishes so I have to eat stuff that requires little to no cooking means I’m eating a lot less. This in itself is not a bad thing- I need to lose some weight. Or a lot of weight.
It’s not that I’ve totally lost my appetite, I still get hungry, just not hungry enough to do anything about it. Intellectually, I know I should eat, and I do, just not a lot. And after a week of eating like a bird I don’t want to force myself back into my old eating habits. I’d probably be sick just trying to eat that much.
With a loss of appetite and apathy towards food, what to do? How little food is too little? I know that what I’ve had today isn’t sufficient- a leftover piece of grilled steak, some mashed potatoes, and some corn. That’s it. I’m getting hungry again, and I’ll probably make some black beans and rice since that only requires one pot and not a lot of cooking.
Any tips for making myself eat more? Like I said, I don’t need to eat as much as I once was, since I need to lose weight and this is a handy side effect to have. I just need to eat enough not to starve. What’s that, like 1200-1500 calories a day?
There was just a thread relating to this, at least if you’re a girl, but it should apply to anyone:
There are some online calculators that will estimate what you need to eat for your current weight, height and lifestyle, so you could go a little below that to lose weight. The usual disclaimer applies that you should consult a doctor.
Yeah, I actually posted in that thread. :smack: That was before I really noticed that I hadn’t been eating much- it was very easy not to, since my hunger’s been cut in half, it never really reaches that “HEY! FEED ME!” point. I just realized today that all I had to eat yesterday was two small muffins because I was running around all day.
Keep simple snacks around all the time? Portions of nuts, fruit, grab a glass of milk? Make a schedule for eating if you are really concerned about not eating enough to keep healthy.
Try cooking/preparing something new. Got one of Mom’s old recipes you’ve never made? Leaf through a cookbook and find something you’ve never considered. Check out some of the recipe threads here.
As I prepare a meal, I find myself growing hungry without even working at it so I’m ready to eat once the cookings done. I believe the solution to your problem is to get out of the same old eating rut.
Last thing, get them dishes done. It’ll put you in a whole new frame of mind.
I doubt you’ll eat so little you’ll starve. More likely you’ll end up slightly malnourished but not really lose any weight. Sure, you might drop 5 or 10 pounds if you keep it up for a month, but without exercise and smart selection of food I don’t think you’re in any danger of sustained weight loss or any really significant upswing of good health.
Healthy eating isn’t something that happens by accident, neither is good health. It is certainly not an inverse function of dishwashing. If you’ve got a history of being overwieght, it’s very likely due to a combination of overeating, poor selection of food, and lack of exercise.
ETA: If you want to increase your appetite in a natural and healthy way, and your heakth allows it, I would recommend exercise.
I did do half the dishes last night, so I just have the silverware (my least favorite part, for some reason) and some bigger bowls and things left.
But I made the beans and rice, since I knew I had to eat. I made myself a decent plate- about what I’d eat normally, half the package, technically a serving and a half based on the package (so about 300 cal, 2 grams fat). About halfway through it, I couldn’t take another bite- not because I was full, just because the idea of food sort of disgusted me.
So I’ve got a bit of the hunger pangs again this morning, but I don’t really want to eat. It’s hard to describe. I’m about as hungry as if I’d had a good breakfast, and I’m getting ready for lunch, even though I haven’t eaten anything. I’d bet $20 that when I go get myself a glass of tea right now that will fill me up to the point I don’t want to eat.
It’s strange. It really looks like I’ll have to force myself to eat.
I go through phases like that, especially when I’m stressed (final exams start this week…) but it rarely lasts more than a few days. I’m lucky to have my husband to cook for me, and he insists that I eat what he prepares, even if I can’t finish the plate. I hate cooking, so when I’m alone (when he’s away on a business trip), I tend to slide into unhealthy/insufficient eating patterns, but I make a point of going to the store, picking out the items for just one healthy meal and making it. Then I do it the next day. A day-to-day goal of “at least eat something” usually gets me through. As I said, after a day or three, I’m back to eating normally again.
If this persists, see your doctor about it. Many meds have a lack of appetite as a side effect, but if that is too severe, either a change in meds or in dose might be necessary. Being hungry and malnourished won’t help you fight your depression.
Yeah, weight loss (I guess through loss of appetite) is one of the side effects. I’d discussed it at length with my doctor, we’d settled on this medication because one other possibility I’ve taken before, it caused intolerable nausea, and it requires constant monitoring to make sure my liver isn’t failing :eek:. My doctor and I had discussed how I’m trying to lose weight anyway, so the weight loss side effect would not bother me (in fact, I am rather glad because I’ve put on quite a bit of weight from other meds in the past). I’m just shocked at how much I really don’t feel like eating, and if I don’t think about it, I’ll go all day without eating so much as a single bite.
ETA: Should I give up on trying to eat meals, and switch to snacking throughout the day? That seems like I’d be able to stomach it better, I don’t think I can handle a whole lot of food at once.
To me its really important when I’m depressed not to have enough calories, but to make sure my moods are impacted by my food. i.e. lots of slow processing proteins, fruits and vegetables - and few cheap sugar highs (like Coke). Eat small snacks often to keep the blood sugar even - have things around the house you don’t need to cook or need dishes for. Make sure to eat SOMETHING for breakfast - toast with peanut butter, a bananna, yogurt. Severely limit alcohol, which affects moods (by severely limit - you probably shouldn’t touch the stuff at all). But do treat yourself on occation to small amounts of chocolate if you are a chocolate lover.
Don’t push yourself to eat a lot when you aren’t in the mood for it, but feed yourself regularly so you don’t become a victim of not being in the mood for it.
(I drop weight like crazy when I’m depressed, sadly, I put it on again when the real deep cloud lifts).
