Depression is a common mental disorder, and it is characterized by intense loss of interest in activities, including food. This mental disorder causes significant impairment. It’s estimated that globally, over 264 million adults experienced at least one major depressive episode.
People suffering from depression usually don’t care about most things in their lives. They develop apathy and withdraw to themselves, not mind how such things affect their lives, including loss of interest in eating or eating abnormally.
According to medical experts, the symptoms of depression ranges from mild to severe, chronic or occur as just one time episodes. Depression often results due to the experience of traumatic events such as an accident, loss of a loved one, prolonged illness, crash of marriage or unfortunate financial situation.
Eating good food is very important for the metabolism and functioning of the body. Food rich in good nutrients helps the body to stay in good shape. However, for people dealing with depression, finding solace in food is often hard. Some people tend to take towards junk food, alcohol and drugs to get through their episodes rather than eating good food, posing more serious threats to their health.
Very importantly, some research has linked eating well to lower depressive moods. Medical experts have indicated that people who consume a lot of food rich in vegetables, including fruits, meat, fish and grains, are less likely to suffer major or chronic depression.
It is difficult and frustrating dealing with frustration; however, like most things in life, there is hope for better and positive things to come. There are ways you can motivate and push yourself to resume your normal routine and sustain interests in activities that including eating properly. Here are some ways you can stay motivated and eat when dealing with depression.
Hang out with loved ones
One sure way to motivate yourself to eat when depressed is to hang out with others. If you have positive relationships and good friends around you, they can encourage you to eat when you are depressed. Spending time with someone that makes you happy will improve your mood and increase your motivation to eat something when you are depressed.
Physical exercise
Physical exercise has been found out to be an effective treatment for depression as it works as antidepressants for some people dealing with depression. It is hard to be interested in exercise, but taking a stroll around your vicinity can relieve your mood, stimulating hunger. Whenever you feel depressed or disinterested in eating, indulge in exercise.
Do not cook
Cooking is always the least desirable activity to do when depressed. Tasking yourself to cook may be counterproductive as you could end up giving to and resorting to eating junks. Rather than cooking, You can order good foods from healthy food restaurants or eateries around you. That way, you can stay without having to stress yourself to cook.
Stay away from your phone
When you’re depressed, you have difficulty concentrating on doing important things. Spending time on your phone or social media can fuel that habit. If you constantly spend time on social, you may be diverted from the more important tasks you need to accomplish, such as eating. Although it may be difficult to do, staying away from your phone and taking a break from social media can help you eat when depressed.
Don’t throw away your leftovers
In the case you find the strength to cook or someone helps you make a meal, do not throw the leftover away. Keep it, and you can always freeze and microwave them to eat the next day without bothering to cook again.
Stock your refrigerator
Another way to stay motivated to eat is to stock your refrigerator with fruits, vegetables, dairy products like milk, eggs, and yogurts. You can make smoothies using the fruit, drink yogurt, fry the eggs, and take it with bread.
Go for simple foods
Easily prepared food such as omelettes, pancakes, scrambled eggs and so on are recommended. They’re nutritious and easy to make. You can serve them with smoothies, vegetables and fruits.
Bottom Line
Depression is very unhealthy, and it saps out our energy to do even the basic things. Most people even have difficulty finding motivation to bathe when depressed. However, these points discussed above can help motivate you to eat when depressed.
