Avoid crash dieting or over-restrictive eating habits
Along with increased exercise, the healthy eating patterns described above could help with weight regulation as well as depression. Crash dieting sets up its own downward spiral contributing to the depression habit spiral:
Self-denial and obsessive dieting → low mood, depression, worry etc → binge/comfort eating → guilt, upset, self-hate → self-denial/obsessive dieting… and so on.
Be aware of medication side effects
Check with your doctor about how any medication might affect your appetite or food choices. Some anti-depressants react with certain foods, some increase appetite and some reduce it. Be extra vigilant about all the above strategies when on medication.
Check for any depressed thinking habits
Unrealistic perfectionism about body image and all-or-nothing approaches to eating are very common in first-world consumer cultures. Use the strategies for challenging depressed thinking to make sure such habits aren’t contributing to depression-inducing eating habits. Making sure you do enough physical activity and exercise is a healthier and more effective way to address body issues than being rigid with food.
Foods that fight stress
Perhaps you are someone who collapses in a tearful heap. Or maybe you fret over endless lists, while others go down with every passing cough and cold.
Not only does feeling stressed and tired cause us to look for an instant energy fix (often found in high-calorie or high carbohydrate foods) but it also makes any excess weight we are carrying harder to lose.
Excess stress hormones in the body encourage fat storage, especially that hard-to-shift type around the middle.
Eating and lifestyle changes can tackle how you react to stress.