Healthy eating/gardening/anxiety

[rainbowninja]

Is anyone interested in joining a thread about the impact of healthy eating on their mental health?

I've suffered from anxiety for years but it's been a lot worse since I became a mum.

With lockdown in the mix I just feel physically and emotionally depleted.

I've had some tests done and I know that I am low in certain vitamins etc. I've been recommended supplements to take and to 'eat the rainbow' (basically eat shed loads of veg). I want to give it a go for my own sake and my daughter because I know I'm not being the best mum to her. I'm anxious and irritable.

It feels quite overwhelming but I am quite interested in learning about nutrition, I also quite like the idea of having a go at growing some of my own veg as I've been enjoying being outside lately and I know it helps me.

I don't want to do it on my own though so I wondered if there were any other anxious mumsnetters out there that would be interested in learning/growing with me. No pressure to change anything overnight, maybe we could just cheer each other on for drinking an extra glass of water or something?

Good for you @Thisisworsethananticpated

I've just spent half an hour in the garden pottering and I'm going to try and do it every morning to get some sunlight. Good for the circadian rhythms apparently!

Well done Rainbow and thisisworsethananticpated. Hope the weather is nice this weekend, so I can get some gardening done. The pansies I planted last summer are doing well.

I made houmous this evening. It wasn't as good as store bought but I will try again at some point.

That's good news about the pansies @Lokikitty things like that give me a boost too. I've got some herb seeds to plant but I'm dithering a bit because I don't really know what I'm doing.

That's interesting about the houmus, I've been having it quite a bit recently. I tried to make it myself a while ago but was disappointed too, I think it needs a lot of seasoning!

I made a chickpea, carrot and yellow pepper curry last night which was tasty.

Your curry sounds nice Rainbow 😋. I looked at another recipe for hummus. It says to cook the tinned chickpeas for 20 minutes. I'll try that next time and use more seasoning.

Try this recipe (we double or triple the garlic) as it works really well and doesn't taste too bitter or crunchy.

Cooking your own chickpeas with bicarb is the best way. 200g dried is 400g when cooked and makes really soft hummous.

cookieandkate.com/best-hummus-recipe/?fbclid=IwAR1zUQNtYYaTlb6jqeAPqgp298ynTFgW6jCxWR2nAf4kOTdCcf9fxFVTF8E

Thanks for the recipe @Heronatemygoldfish

I think it's exactly that, have had restaurant humous that is amazing so clearly it can taste better than shop bought. Worth another go!

Thanks for the recipe Heronatemygoldfish.
I'll give it a go 🙂

How are you @Lokikitty?

I've been a bit anxious the last couple of days and I haven't taken my supplements which I'm a bit disappointed about because I'd been really consistent with them before. I've stuck with the the healthy eating though, did roasted vegetables tonight with refried beans, pulled pork and tortilla chips.

Hi Rainbow. I've got another cold. I must be a bit run down. I'm coughing, so will have to go for another covid test! I'm going back to doing the agency work that I do in the school holidays. I make sure that I have mondays off, which gives me a long weekend with my dd. It keeps me busy and means that I can afford to treat me and my dd with the extra money.

I had pizza for tea tonight. For lunch tomorrow, I'm making chicken pie and chips. So back to comfort food while I feel rubbish.

I find that when the weather is nicer and I'm going for walks, I'm more motivated to keep up the healthy eating. It's been grey, cold and rainy the past few days.

Hi @Lokikitty you do sound run down, fingers crossed it is just a cold and not covid. Chicken pie and chips sounds perfect in that situation!

I've got my in-laws staying this weekend which feels a bit much when I'm feeling anxious but will try and eat well.

Hope you have a nice weekend with your in-laws Rainbow. Are you cooking for them?

I'm pretty sure it's just a cold. Still stuck at home until I get the result. I had to walk to the test centre in the rain this morning. I'm looking forward to making my pie.

How are you feeling @Lokikitty did you get your test results?

I hope the pie went well. We had steak with the in-laws and I made a sweet potato salad and some cauliflower. It was a bit of a random mix but really glad I've stuck with the positive nutrition. It gave me something to talk to them about too which really helped.

I'm still feeling rubbish Rainbow. I got my test result last night. It was negative 🙂

The pie went really well. It was just what I needed. Well done for sticking to the healthy eating. Sweet potatoes are one of the few things that I don't like. I've carried on having white potatoes but just have them less often and don't add butter.

I've got art classes booked for me and my dd . It's a 3 hour class, which is too long for me but perfect for my dd, who is very artistic.

Good news about the test Loki but sorry to hear you are still feeling rubbish, you sound like you could do with a break.

Glad the pie worked out and good idea re. the white potatoes, I still have them now and then but I was a bit addicted to chips before (ok a lot 😂)

Ooh what sort of art are you and your daughter doing? Me and 6 yr old DD did an online exotic bird drawing class a few weeks ago which was an interesting experience!

We had leftover steak and sweet potato tonight and some celeriac. It was another slightly odd combination but we are certainly getting our veggies!

The exotic bird drawing class sounds great.
My dd draws her own characters. I like to draw something simple like flowers.

You're doing well with the veggies. I have to remind myself to add vegetables to meals. I love fruit but not a massive veggies fan.

Thanks @Lokikitty I'm doing quite well on the veg front but think I could do with more 'good' fats so always room for improvement!

We did meatballs tonight in a tomato sauce with rice. They were really nice, I've for some reason gone overboard on mince this week though - got another pack of lamb mince and one of steak mince in the fridge to make meals with for the rest of the week. Don't know what I'm going to do with them yet 🙄

My drawing that I did in art class.

So pretty @Lokikitty! Hope you and your daughter enjoyed the class.

We made homemade burgers last night and I made green harissa to go with them, got more mince tonight - haven't worked out what to do with it yet 🙈

Thanks Rainbow, we did enjoy the art class.

You're doing really well. I find meatballs and burgers tricky. Finally felt up to doing a food shop today, so I can get back to cooking. Hope you think of something nice to make for tea.

That's great @Lokikitty hopefully you'll be back to full strength before you know it.

I did a lamb ragu with the mince which was nice but I'm not sorry that that's the last of the mince. DH told me today that he's lost half a stone over the last few weeks because of the changes we've been
making. He needs to lose quite a bit more but felt like a good start!

Lamb Ragu sounds nice Rainbow. Wow your DH has done really well losing half a stone in a few weeks.

I'm still coughing a little bit but feeling miles better today. I've been for a carvery at a local pub for lunch with a friend.

The weather is nice and warm today. Done some gardening . Haven't started planting yet, just pulled out weeds and done some raking. Will buy some plants over the weekend.

The carvery sounds nice @Lokikitty

Hope you manage to get to the garden centre, I haven't been able to get to one for ages but always used to love a good mooch around a garden centre!

I love garden centres too Rainbow . Especially the big ones that pretty much sell everything.

I did agency work yesterday, which went really well. It was a nice nursery.

I cooked a massive portion of biryani Thursday night. It will last me 3 days. Which worked out well because I didn't have time to cook yesterday. I got home at 7.30pm and I was sooo tired 😴

Hope you had a nice bank holiday weekend @Lokikitty

The biryani sounds great, biryani was my first experience of a curry and the only one I would order for quite a while afterwards. Batch cooking is a great idea. I love having leftovers to reheat.

I've been making more green harissa over the weekend and have had a few visitors who have all loved it which has made me feel good.