Tuesday, 1 May 2012

When depression sets, do we watch what we eat?

I am obsessed with nutrition.  I have noticed that when I get depressed, i have a tendency to relax on my eating habits.  It has to be natural for just about everyone else to be relaxed on their eating habits when they get depressed.  What is it like for Aspies since we have a harder time snapping out of our funk?  I can't speak for everyone else on this topic, only for what I know about myself.  As I am writing this, I am watching Super Size Me (I very rarely, and if ever eat McDonalds)  I even watched Food Inc. about a week ago as well. 
I have been reading a book called Allen Carr: Lose Weight Now.  Allen Carr was the person who authored the book called Easyway to Quit Smoking, which is the book I used to help quit smoking.  So far I have learned that high amounts of sugar can be addicting and can cause all sorts of problems.  I have also learned that I should listen to my hunger tell me when to eat and when not to eat.  Pretty difficult for me to do when I have a routine on when to eat and what to eat even.  Typically, my breakfast consists of Oatmeal, with a teaspoon of brown sugar, with blueberries mixed in and a banana, as well as a glass of milk.  My mid-morning snack consists of a slice or two of bread and peanut butter and and apple.  My lunch consists of two servings of real vegetables, and either leftovers from dinner the night before, or a sandwich of some kind.  I will snack on almonds, nuts, or seeds in the afternoon, while also grabbing an orange or grapes before going for a workout after work, or a walk.  After a workout, I will consume a protein shake which usually ends up being the only time I ever consume a protein shake during a day.  An hour after a workout, I will make a meal or eat the previous days left overs again.  Meals will consist of rice, pasta, vegetables, salad, steak, chicken or other meats.  One last snack about an hour and half before bed could either be more nuts or seeds, or another serving of fruit  That is what I eat on an ideal day.  On weekends, I may have problems eating the same way.  I go longer without eating as I am a little lazier and don't need the calories or the carbs.
I weigh about 197-202 lbs and stand 6'1.  My ideal weight should be 190 in my honest opinion.  As a smoker, I weighed 185 lbs.  Around the time period where I get depressed, my eating habits do take a change for the worse as I eat out more often, I found myself consuming more alcohol than normal.  I may be eating more potato chips or chocolate bars.  That is what I noticed when I was depressed as a smoker.  As a child or teenager, I was on anti-depressants and always ate a bunch of junk food for some reason and over ate as well (I noted that a lot of children or teenagers eat a lot of food and never seem to gain weight).  The junk food pretty much negated the positive effects of the anti-depressants.  The negative side effect of these pills was weight gain, so overeating and junk food definitely helped that side effect.
Aside from what I eat, and what habits affect my weight, I find myself consuming on average 3-4 litres of water a day, and that does not take into a account total liquid consumed.  I have switched Gatorade G2 out of my lunch for two Sunrype juice boxes as they claim to have natural sugars from fruits and vegetables.  So far it does not make me feel dizzy from consuming too much sugar compared to G2 which approximately contains 12 g of sugar per 591 ml bottle and sugar is the second ingredient on the list of ingredients.  The two juice boxes contain about 46 grams of sugar and sugar isn't even in the list of ingredients.  What that tells me is that I am getting natural sugar in this choice of drink.  I very rarely consume carbonated drinks like Pepsi or Coke, and consume very little caffiene.  I also try to avoid soy products.  Where I have problems with my diet is fat and saturated fats and maybe sugar.  I have to watch my diet in that regard.
Does that sound like an Aspie to you?  Maybe neurotypical thinkers can relate to this as well.  A lot of people have their own guilty pleasures.  Let me know what problems you have with your eating habits


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