I'm assuming that means $0.35. And I guess I usually do eat the same thing but it's almost always 'unhealthy.' Ideally I'd like be able to wake up earlier in the day and at least eat some form of breakfast/lunch, and then eat one time later on. From everything I've ever heard though, it's never really a good idea to eat a meal before you go to bed, right? I'd imagine I could adjust as my body gets used to it, it's just another one of those things that seemingly difficult for me to get the ball rolling on, although to be fair I haven't even tried yet. If you stress it's importance that much, I guess it wouldn't hurt to at least make it a goal to focus on that while I try to figure out what else I can do, and what this psychiatrist will end up saying/doing. So what do you suggest? And by the way thank you for your responses thus far.
I'm not sure if you're talking to me or Zanick, but we could both probably offer some advice in this vein. Hmm never sure how to format these posts...
For me, I experience a drastic change in mood when I eat well. It's really difficult to stay with though, and currently I'm back to being a junkfood vegetarian (and yeah pretty depressed atm). To start, this was my diet when I was kicking ass at life:
Locally sourced organic, blah blah eggs. From the type of place that is run by a sweet old couple who invite people over to check out the living conditions of their hens. I ate 4 dozen every single week, which came out to $20/week. It's unfortunately getting into the cold months now so these will be harder to find, but check craigslist and
http://www.localharvest.org/If you can't find fancy eggs like that, store bought is still a much better option than junk food. Pastured and organic are good words to look for, but they don't always mean what they should.
Various organic vegetables. It's getting cold again so the options are somewhat limited, but I was regularly eating tons of zucchini, carrots, yellow squash, bell peppers, kale and other leafy greens, onions, and tons of other things. Do you have a fancy hippy grocery store? That's where I do all my shopping (not counting farmer's markets and local farms) when I'm eating well, and while it is more expensive they had regular sales of food on the verge of going bad that evened things out a bit. Like they'd put various combinations of food in plastic bags and sell each one for $1 and I'd buy them all and eat them asap. Same with bananas they got down to where you could buy 6 lovely organic bananas for like $1.
Again, here you can go the cheaper route if you must and get non-organic and/or frozen. Stuff your face with veggies every meal, always.
Various organic fruits. Here you're going to be very limited in the cold months, especially if you're poor. Bananas and apples are pretty much all I buy until it starts to warm up. Not as important as vegetables imo, but still good for you. Bananas are super cheap, and you should be able to afford organic.
Healthy starches (yeah a weird list. did not think this out). Bananas, all kinds of potatoes, rice. Rice is also a grain and grains are generally bad but rice is mostly benign as far as I can tell. I don't eat it at all anymore unless eating out, because it results in insulin spike and that makes for a sleepy me.
Legumes and stuff. Various beans, lentils, whatever. If you eat these it's recommended you soak and sprout them properly; I only included them because vegetarian. Generally high in antinutrients but no food is perfect.
Quality dairy. Plain organic, grassfed butter (
http://kerrygoldusa.com/products/butter/unsalted-butter/ ); plain organic, grassfed kefir; plain organic, grassfed greek yogurt; sometimes quality organic cheese. Goat's cheese is best if you're like me and have some digestive issues with dairy.
Other quality fats, mostly used in cooking. Organic coconut oil, organic olive oil.
Sweeteners: only organic honey, and never too much.
Those are basically the only foods I ate. I could get more into the whys if you'd like, but this is already so long. Just lemme know.
Foods to avoid: anything processed, anything with added sugars, grains, most starches, foods high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (like peanut butter), artificial sweeteners.
Since you probably eat meat, consider purchasing some of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Collagen-Hydrolysate-beef-kosher-unflavored/dp/B005KG7EDU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413348229&sr=8-1&keywords=great+lakes+gelatin+collagenand eating it regularly. My friend makes kefir smoothies with tons of that^, kefir and frozen bananas. Highly recommended, excellent source of quality protein. When buying non-organic, non-grassfed etc. meat always go with the leanest cuts possible. The fat itself isn't bad, but that's where the nasty antibiotics, hormones and stuff end up. Seafood should be fine. Don't worry about mercury content if you're poor imo. One of the healthiest cheap things you can buy is canned sardines.
If you can, track your nutrient intake. It can be a bitch when you're depressed I know. Here's a thing:
https://cronometer.com/At least try to track your protein intake. Meals should be based around protein first and foremost, and always accompanied by yummy plant matter.
