Hi there..
I could really use some advice on getting myself healthy again... I have been going through a really bad stress & depression phase and I am one of those people that cannot eat when I'm stressed... Unfortunitely I caused some serious damage to my body.. lost an excessive amount of weight and I am having trouble getting my diet back on track.. I just don't have the energy to even think about doing anything, eating included.

What kind of diet plan can I get myself on to get healthy again? Or what can I do to help myself get back to normal?

Thanks for the advice...

Does eating with other people help? Or maybe drinking health shakes? Do you like cooking? What do you like to eat?

I like eating anything.. I'm not a picky eater at all!
I just need healthy!! Foods that will give me a pick me up and just boost my overall health.... I don't even know where to start, since I don't really cook :(
But I can learn, or get my family to help me, I just don't know what types of food I should eat if I want to get healthy and feel better....

Carbohydrates are known to increase the seratonin levels in our bodies, helping us feel good, so it might benefit you to try and eat more starchy foods such as wholemeal breads, baked potatoes, pasta, brown rice, cous cous etc.

B vitamins are really important for energy levels, especially B12 so try and include asparagus, broccoli, spinach, bananas, potatoes, dried apricots, dates and figs, milk, eggs, cheese, yoghurt, nuts and pulses, fish, brown rice, wheat germ and wholegrain cereals in your diet, which are all really good sources.

I know how easy it is to just not eat when you feel stressed, but try and get into some kind of routine of just eating at least something, every few hours to keep your energy levels up, even if you don't feel like a big meal just have a handul of nuts or a piece of fruit - anything to stop those energy levels slumping. good luck

Why dont you ask your Doctor if they can refer you to a Nutritionist?

they are usually surgery based in the UK and they will give you fact sheets and advise you on the best build up foods to start back on.

I was on a liquid diet only for about 9 months, i lost 4 stone, but now a year later my stomach is sensitive to some foods (bran especially!), and i struggle to find foods that are nutritious but not too laden with calories. These diets are ok whilst you are losing th eweight, but the hardest part is keeping the weight off, and re introducing foods back into the stomach.

Although quality of food is important, if you experienced excessive weight loss you also need to think about quantity of food. Irrespective of how you feel, you'll lose weight if you consume fewer Calories than your body expends. How much your body expends depends on how much you weigh and how much you exercise. If you exercise very little then your body will expend somewhere around ten times in Calories (by "Calorie" I mean that which commonly appears on food labels in the US - actually a kiloCalorie - 4,200 Joules) what you weigh in pounds (if you weigh 120lbs then 10X120=1200 Calories). Under no circumstances should you consume less than this (92,400 Joules per Kilogram).

CHOOSE A REALISTIC TARGET WEIGHT!

I know that this may be tough. Perhaps there's someone you could get with that you trust who could help you make some tough calls. You can always change it later, so long as it remains realistic and isn't grounded in subjective feelings - so long as you keep your eye on your target weight and continue consuming a reasonably varied diet consisting of at least ten Calories daily for each pound of target weight you should be immunized against weight loss to the point of organ failure.

You may not reach your target weight consuming ten Calories per pound. Your activity level might be 15 Calories per pound. You may need to change things. <removed> You need to be watching, however approximately, how much you consume and how much you weigh and adjusting things.

You don't need to do much arithmetic but you should do some. Your body is doing a daily relentless balancing of accounts. You should too.

AT LEAST ten times in Calories your target weight (not your current weight) in pounds.

Your very good health...:)

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