In a total slump... need motivation to climb out of it today

[seashells]

Since February, I've totally dropped any semblence of trying to eat healthy or exercise.

I eat HORRIBLY. I eat Corn Flakes in the morning, pasta for lunch, frozen pizza for dinner. No, I do not believe those are good for me. At all.

I don't exercise. At all. Like, I sit in a chair all day and hardly move.

I keep thinking that in some future date I'll finally pull myself out of it. At first I was thinking when it gets warmer, and when I can get some sunshine. Well, those days are here. Now I'm thinking, when my CSA opens. That's not for another month.

I'm afraid my diet will have long term consequences. Feel free to scare me, it might motivate me. I just keep figuring I'll deal with it later but what if I'm permenantly hurting myself TODAY?

I don't think one bowl of corn flakes will kill me, but it's been two months of eating nothing but crap carbs out of a box.

It's not a craving problem, believe it or not - it's pure laziness. I'd love if someone were cooking me TF food.

Scare me. Please.

[Toposlonoshlep]

Oh, honey... Do you really think that someone on here is going to come to your house and pry the spoon out of your hands? You know the problem and only you are the solution. Fill your day with exciting, life-affirming activities (do you hike? bike? draw? dance? play ball with your kids?) and you won't want nasty food. You will feel good and will only want to put good things in your body. You want someone to come cook for you? Why don't you discover cooking? It's a great way to get in touch with your food. Try new recipes, do it with your family, make it a production! No one will save your life if you won't save it yourself. That's why so many people are dying without help or dignity from being obese in this country.

[Doodadsmom]

I'm trying to make some changes myself. Maybe if you made some small changes to what you're already doing. Have you tried kefir? It's not half bad as a milk substitute with cereal (though you might not agree - DH refuses to try it). Throw some strawberries in there and you don't have a half bad breakfast.

[seashells]

Um. I'm not sitting here spooning ice cream into my mouth.

I know how to cook. I am an excellent traditional cook.

Thanks for nothing. I'm not dying of obesity or looking for someone to slap the spoon out of my hand. I was hoping that someone might be able to give me some motivational information about how even a short term of eating bad can have larger consequences.

[TonyaW]

It sounds like you could be experiencing depression. If that is possible, I would see a doctor and maybe get a prescription. I understand what it feels like to be lazy, but when I am depressed, I can't get out of the laziness mode.

Also, make sure you are getting enough vitamin D. For a while I was so down and felt so lazy. I had really low vitamin d3. Increasing that helped a lot.

You know what you are doing to yourself. So now you need the motivation to get out of the slump and that may take some help outside of yourself. Exercise alone will help boost your mood.

I hope you figure this out and seek out a doctor to see if you are experiencing depression.

[kkfum]

Originally Posted by TonyaW

Also, make sure you are getting enough vitamin D. For a while I was so down and felt so lazy. I had really low vitamin d3. Increasing that helped a lot.

[pianojazzgirl]

I also thought that it sounds like you might be suffering from a bit of depression.

Have you read "The Mood Cure"? (I haven't but it is highly recommended by a lot of mamas here).

Getting enough vit D makes a big difference to me as well. Fish oil and Magnesium supps help my mood too (I have anxiety and depression and laziness all tangled together).

[Mom2M]

The only things I could find were that the short term effects of eating unhealthy food are that you will feel bloated, lethargic, depressed, an unbalanced diet with all the calories coming from carbs can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes...(that's a pretty bad one)

I guess the most serious long term consequence (besides the insulin resistance/diabetes) is that you would continue beyond this 2 month period because of these short term effects and instead of it being a temporary problem it becomes your normal way of eating.

Sucks to feel this way.

[seashells]

I am definitely, without a doubt, chemically depressed.

And that is what is making it so hard to just snap out of it and do the things I need to do to feel healthy. A vicious cycle.

I was doing fine up until early February (I cooked from scratch 100% of the time, exercised 6 days a week, etc.) but then I crashed.

The diabetes thing is a good point. I will make that my motivator. Obviously I don't want diabetes, and I can prevent it better than I can manage it after the fact.

The Mood Cure, yes I've read and I've popped 5-HTP and Tyrosine for a few months but recently I think one or the other has been making me crabby/irritable so I stopped. I stopped only recently - stopping didn't cause the downward spiral in February.

I think I need to do just 1 thing at a time. I am absolutely overwhelmed at the idea of suddenly, today, cooking 3 meals and exercising and cleaning my house (plus I work full time). Honestly I'm overwhelmed at the idea of just cooking 1 meal. The fridge is disgusting and I can't properly meal plan for produce if I can't find it (or, worse, if I find it under 3 week old leaking leftovers). I'm overwhelmed at the idea of just cleaning the fridge, but DH said he might do it today. If he can do that, then maybe tomorrow my task will be to meal plan for 1 week, and that meal plan will include 1 cooked dinner each day, doesn't have to be some really complex casserole thing but just some basic thing like stir fry.

[choochootrain]

if you are thinking of changing one meal per day, see if you can change your breakfast. eating more protein, less carbs, less sugars will give you more energy. you might be setting yourself up for very low energy just with eating cornflakes for breakfast.

one easy way is to make egg cups--mix eggs, grated cheese, some ham and / or veggies, and bake those, in a big batch in muffin trays. you can freeze them for a week or so. then you just grab one or two for breakfast, and warm them up.

I find simple stews are even easier than stirfries, especially if you have a delayed start option on your stove. Toss veggies and some meats together in a baking pan, put it in the oven for a couple of hours, and your meal is ready by itself.

when i was in my tired /low energy phase, i bought baby potatoes, and baby carrots so that i didn't have to wash or cut anything at all.

if you can afford it, buy some pre-cut trays of veggies--easy to snack on. nuts are great for snacking as well.

as for long term effects, you are changing your blood chemistry. your cholesterol could be going up; you might be making yourself sensitive to gluten. and yes, of course, diabetes, as a pp mentioned. most people have the tendency to only start taking care of their health when something really bad happens. maybe find a diabetes forum, or chron disease forum, for an immersion experience of what it is really like to live with diabetes. maybe this will help.