Off my trolley and on the carbs!

[skal]

Oh I am so screwed and in a need of a rant! Massive financial troubles mean I am eating loads of carbs as bulking up ingredients and instead of protein sources. Motivation is gone and depression and anxiety mean that I can't be bothered but am feeling rather rubbish about that. I'm still cooking and avoiding processed food, mostly anyway, but have to stretch the protein to last and am so fed up of veggies. Delaying blood tests as I know my nurse will put me on more meds. Stopped testing as well, as denial is bliss.
Oh how is life so awful sometimes? But now, rant over... onwards and upwards I suppose... now, where are the potatoes *whispering to oneself as rummaging the cupboards*.

 

[Chook]

Don't do it - step away from the potatoes!!!

(They'll only make you feel horrible)

How about cheaper proteins - like eggs, pork, that kind of thing. There are quite a few threads on this forum about low carbing on a budget and I've had some really good ideas from them.

* In my life I've had a time or two when I've been really skint and its really, really horrible - so a big hug is coming your way *

 

[skal]

Yep have eggs, turkey, ham etc that I can get for a few pennies. Just need to find the old motivation somewhere again. If you see it, send it my way please...

 

[mist]

Oh I am so screwed and in a need of a rant! Massive financial troubles mean I am eating loads of carbs as bulking up ingredients and instead of protein sources. Motivation is gone and depression and anxiety mean that I can't be bothered but am feeling rather rubbish about that. I'm still cooking and avoiding processed food, mostly anyway, but have to stretch the protein to last and am so fed up of veggies. Delaying blood tests as I know my nurse will put me on more meds. Stopped testing as well, as denial is bliss.
Oh how is life so awful sometimes? But now, rant over... onwards and upwards I suppose... now, where are the potatoes *whispering to oneself as rummaging the cupboards*.

It's possible to eat healthily on a low budget. Take a look at some of the recipies on the forum as a guide, I eat a lot of salads with different toppings and it costs pennies.

I'm sure you can get back on track, it's not as bad as it seems.

 

[skal]

Thanks, at the moment I see no light at the end of the tunnel which is the main reason for my mess... I know exactly what I need to do, but am just not doing it... I'm browsing the internet for inspiration and hoping for the best.

 

[mist]

Thanks, at the moment I see no light at the end of the tunnel which is the main reason for my mess... I know exactly what I need to do, but am just not doing it... I'm browsing the internet for inspiration and hoping for the best.

Well, as I said to someone else recently. Set yourself a realistic goal and visualise yourself achieving that goal, it can be anything, something big or something small, it really doesn't matter.

You are only feeling this way because you are thinking in negative ways. Positive affirmations might help you, reading success stories, remembering that it could be a lot worse.

Even on the cloudiest of days, the sun is still up there, you just can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there though.

The way you feel now is only temporary, remember that, everything is temporary unless WE CHOOSE to make it permanent, there are exceptions of course, but in regards to emotional states and states of mind, these are completely temporary.

Don't be too hard on yourself for feeling this way, it's perfectly fine to feel like this, sometimes we all feel this way.

Find something to latch onto, reach for something and grab it with both hands, like I say, it can be anything.

I have faith in you because I know that just like many others here, you have an inner strength just waiting to be tapped into. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and go and live life! The world is better with you in it

 

[Goonergal]

Thanks, at the moment I see no light at the end of the tunnel which is the main reason for my mess... I know exactly what I need to do, but am just not doing it... I'm browsing the internet for inspiration and hoping for the best.

Well posting here shows you are trying to sort things out. Hope all goes well for you.

 

[Resurgam]

You'll feel far worse if you begin to jack up your sugars - just look upon carbs as wasted money and haunt the marked down cabinet for meat and fish at modest prices - if you have a freezer take stock of what is in there, sometimes something found at the bottom of a freezer can be really useful.
I've been through intervals of financial difficulty from time to time, and not facing up to them was never an option I considered.
I took on extra work, reduced my outgoings, spoke to my bank manager - never have an unarranged overdraft, it is just so expensive and they don't like it at all. Have you anything you can sell using the internet? I opened up a whole new career by offering to teach someone how to use the machine I had just sold her.

 

[skal]

Well, as I said to someone else recently. Set yourself a realistic goal and visualise yourself achieving that goal, it can be anything, something big or something small, it really doesn't matter.

You are only feeling this way because you are thinking in negative ways. Positive affirmations might help you, reading success stories, remembering that it could be a lot worse.

Even on the cloudiest of days, the sun is still up there, you just can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there though.

The way you feel now is only temporary, remember that, everything is temporary unless WE CHOOSE to make it permanent, there are exceptions of course, but in regards to emotional states and states of mind, these are completely temporary.

Don't be too hard on yourself for feeling this way, it's perfectly fine to feel like this, sometimes we all feel this way.

Find something to latch onto, reach for something and grab it with both hands, like I say, it can be anything.

I have faith in you because I know that just like many others here, you have an inner strength just waiting to be tapped into. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and go and live life! The world is better with you in it

Very encouraging and deep words, thank you for them! I'm struggling with clinical depression and anxiety which means that mind over matter doesn't always work. It's like not wanting to ever get out of bed and at the same time feeling horrible for not getting out of bed. I will get over it and back on track eventually and as I said, just needed to rant... but, as a carboholic, those little carbs are like my heroin. Knowing they are bad and evil makes no difference while on a high. Hmmm, carbohydrate rehab is what I need!

 

[mist]

I have been suffering for years myself and cannot get prescribed medication for understandable reasons. The trick, is realising that yes YOU WILL get over it and you will do it with very little effort. Realising that the way you feel is directly linked to what you are thinking can sometimes be the driving force people need to better understand themselves, I'm not saying you don't understand yourself, I'm sure you do, but sometimes we are all guilty of being a bit nonchalant with our thoughts.

Try to observe your thoughts, you don't have to engage with them, unless you choose to do so of course, but just try and notice what kind of thoughts are in your mind and observe what feelings and emotions are attributed to them. I'm pretty certain you will notice that you are thinking negatively.

There is nothing inherently wrong with thinking negatively, sometimes that helps us to identify problems and come up with soloutions, but for the most part, these kinds of thoughts don't serve us well.

You don't need to change your thoughts either or try and stop them or attempt to think about something else, you just need to observe your thoughts, acknowledge them, and let them pass on by.

You have thousands of thoughts every day, so why choose to focus on the negative ones?

Maybe you could start a new hobby? Or pick up an old one? Maybe you've had a goal in mind for a while but are yet to achieve it? Now would be the perfect time.

Do things that make you smile, whatever it is, smiling and laughter can lift you out of even the darkest mindsets.

Maybe you could post your experiences and concerns in the mental health forum on here?

Talking, while not for everyone, is a good way to find a release.

I'm usually hanging around in there somewhere.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Resurgam]

There is a hypotheses that having pessimistic thoughts is more likely to have positive outcomes than the supreme optimist who thinks that everything will turn out alright even they don't put in the effort.
The difference is doing something to encourage a good outcome. Without it we would all be doomed.

 

[Japes]

Oh, I've so been there both on the finances and filling up with carbs! .

On a bit of a tangent - I'm currently staying somewhere where it's a permanent major carb fest and I've had to go out for a long walk every day to resist the permanently available cakes and biscuits, bread and cereals as well as to get myself some good fats and more salad to fill up on. (Small tub of clotted cream every day has probably saved me from succumbing more just the one cake today. A 15 mile walk helped there....) Explaining it all at the beginning just brought blank looks. But, I have just about got through in one piece.

I won't give you any of my ideas unless you ask for them because I so hated people telling me how I should be handling my money when it was tight and I didn't know when that was going to end. Just know I'm right behind you with loads of sympathy

 

[Phoenix55]

Some of us have been where you are now, but that does not help. Take one day at a time, if you can't see to the end of the day then take a meal at a time and step away from those carbs! Eggs and cheese are relatively cheap, can be served in a variety of ways and although full of protein also have other essentials for a healthy diet. Local markets are good sources of vege and salad ingredients so that every meal is different, some will be more successful than others but ingredients are adaptable to your own tastes and limited only by your imagination. Then, when you feel a bit better, get back into a testing routine, just once a day to show how well you are doing and if you need to tweek anything.

 

[Alison Campbell]

If you can, please search the forum for the excellent recent threads "low carb on a budget"