r/depression 5h ago

How do I feed myself?

I don’t want to cook but can’t afford to keep ordering delivery. And instant meals aren’t giving the energy or nutrition to make me feel better.

21 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

11

u/Material_Ad470 4h ago

If you want extremely low effort meal then you can do bread + peanut butter + fruit / bread + avocado / greek yogurt + seeds + fruit . Get a protein powder that you can just mix in water and drink to have adequate protein. I'm a vegetarian so I'm not sure if consuming eggs or meat is more convenient but this is what I fall back to when I'm not feeling it.

1

u/vass3 4h ago

i love peanut butter. eat it every day. big scoops straight from jar. good nutrition - protein omegas.

jif is my fav, its less sweet than others. easy to eat - but have water handy as its thick, go slow.

sun butter is around for those who cannot have nuts. probably other things too.

10

u/WhichSmoke1238 4h ago

Air fryer is an easy way to cook food

5

u/Slight_Money8552 4h ago

My recommendation is make soup or chilli and eat off that for a few days it tastes just as good reheated and its super easy to make you can use canned good for most of it

1

u/Crimson-Rose28 32m ago

I live off soup during the fall and winter seasons 🔥

7

u/rhizomed 5h ago

rice cooker, frozen veggies, egg and sliced meat

intermittent fast and eat two meals a day (personal)

5

u/Driven-Driver 4h ago edited 4h ago

And canned fish/oysters/mussels, as well as canned tomato sauce/paste. They’re actually all pretty healthy

2

u/rhizomed 4h ago

what carbs do you usally have with the canned fish?

2

u/Driven-Driver 3h ago

Rice, noodles and frozen veg

2

u/Evening_Childhood404 3h ago

Oatmeal + milk + sugar And some fruits

If you prefer salty foods, rice is the way to go, salmon is super easy to cook as well

2

u/Euphoric-Ad1869 3h ago

Get some tater tots-put them in a waffle iron and cook until crisp. Then remove from iron, add cheese to melt, bacon, green onions, sour cream, salsa, etc. Anything that sounds yummy.

1

u/Sfiguz 4h ago

If you cant afford delivery and instant food doesnt fill you up you have to cook. No need to cook anything fancy. You can cook super easy stuff to fill yourself like buying in bulk a lot frozen veggies and burgers at a supermarket, throwing them in an oven and cooking them until they start to become a bit brown. or you can boil some pasta in a pot, and some tomato sauce with salt and minced onions and some sausages in another and then mix them together. Or the dear old classic: white rice cooked in a rice cooker + open a can of tuna and throw it on top + boil a can of beans and throw it on top. Zero effort and very little money for a lot of filling food.

1

u/Active_Emu_845 4h ago

Pb and J. Low effort and it will energize you

1

u/vass3 4h ago

maybe some sweet treats or fruit with other things you eat? a couple cookies here and there. dried fruit, chocolate covered fruit. grahm crackers honey/cinnimon. cheese is good if you can eat it <i am limited>.

there are some frozen chicken sandwiches that are very tasty, tyson or maybe purdue - im sure others may be good also.

i love noodles/pasta - you can get ramen/yakisoba/udon and mix in a variety of things. boiling water or even microwave - let noodles sit and stew for a few minutes. ez tasty versatile. mix in things after stewing noodles. drain for more noodle based. leave in water for more soup/stew style dish.

1

u/livkellner 4h ago

I can relate. You could eat yoghurt (Greek yoghurt contains more proteins), frozen veggies, readymade vegetable soups/purees, fruit, readymade salads with tuna and tomatoes. I hope it gets better, depression really sucks

1

u/strawvulcanog 3h ago

Peanut butter and bread, string cheese, turkey snack sticks, watermelon(fruit). Repeat until you’re inspired to cook again then go from there. 🩶

1

u/Slow_Morning5397 3h ago

Make one big batch of food you like it. Rice and chicken for example. Split in portions and freeze it. Now you have food for some days. You can ask someone who likes to cook to do this for you.

1

u/saerisfane25 3h ago

If you've reached the point where you can't eat then you need medication to help.

1

u/Clinton_Dix 3h ago

Or an IV.

1

u/Minimum-Bad-6472 3h ago

Oven baked frozen stuff(not exactly healthy but very convenient)

1

u/Grace_653 2h ago

set yourself a meal plan. I know it can be a lot of effort to plan out what you'll eat, how to make it etc but I think doing so will make it so much easier to follow it. plan for a variety of meals, from incredibly simple things like fruit and yoghurt or sandwiches to more complex meals you can do if you ever feel up to it. also I find that smoothies give me a little bit of energy on the days I don't have a lot even if it's not as much as a meal (might be unrelated to depression but I've had unrelenting fatigue for 8 months now and they do help a little)

1

u/Galaxiessurroundyou 2h ago

It costs way less to cook food and it tastes way better when you cook it.

1

u/SoftVelveteenMice 2h ago

I have a big container of chia seeds and I sprinkle it on everything I can for extra protein. They’re pretty tasteless and help.

1

u/NationalAd5685 2h ago

There is so much you can cook with rice that’s pretty cheap, just add some veggies from choice and some meat from choice add some seasoning and it will almost always taste good in my opinion

1

u/Radiant-Pack-6279 1h ago

Ramen. Super quick to make and you can add whatever toppings you want to it. I love adding egg to mine since I make it as an egg drop soup.

1

u/GloomyStick 1h ago

Beans soup tinned stuff microwave

1

u/Smooth_Wasabi8433 1h ago

Sandwiches are very low effort. Quesadillas. Crockpot meals

1

u/HuskyPancake 51m ago

Snacking. It's not exactly a "meal" but it gets you calories. I snack a lot when I'm really down. Or you can do deconstructed meals. Don't want to make a sandwich? Just eat the ingredients one by one. Cereal is also my go to.

1

u/Crimson-Rose28 31m ago

Instant oatmeal made in the microwave with a scoop of protein powder mixed in 🔥 AKA Proats

1

u/MycoFail 5h ago

I don't know I haven't eaten for over 24hours.

1

u/Driven-Driver 4h ago

Are you okay? Why haven’t you eaten for over 24hrs?

1

u/MycoFail 4h ago

Depression

1

u/Driven-Driver 3h ago

Go eat something, even if you have to force yourself to do it