Hey i could use some help please.

Lunarstar

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I'm from the UK.

I've been trying to go Vegan for a good 4 years now, back in the days when Freelee was chill surprisingly as that's how I found out about it, of course she's not worth following anymore because she's damaged due to Durianriders narcissistic abuse.

Anyway, I have bipolar disorder so I keep falling off the bandwagon and sabotaging myself with Greggs (food chain in the UK that's unhealthy af) because I have a serious mental illness that does not make anything in my life easy to get on with. I need ideas for simple recipes for when I'm in a really depressive manic state I can just whip up very quickly with little effort.

I don't really drink milk as it is and I actually don't eat any meat - it's just the dairy, like pizzas and cheese veggie bakes. Quick microwave crap tends to be my go to when I'm not feeling it and I feel like complete **** most of the time just because I can't work up the motivation so it's just a bad cycle.

I'm a bit of a picky eater as well, I'm really not into bitter foods or anything with a sharp taste, I don't mind savoury like hummous but I think that's bad for weight loss right?

When I was a kid I wouldn't eat anything that wasn't just chicken because it was plain. I've always been quite picky but the good thing is I do absolutely love most veg but I hate mushrooms because the texture is grim.

It's like a never ending battle between picky eating and massive lack of motivation thanks to the bipolar.

I'm like just never gonna lose weight like this and I need some kind of pointing in the right direction which is why I'm asking on vegan communities like this.

If anyone can offer any kind of insight or help then I'll appreciate it so much. Thanks for your time.
 
My best friend is bipolar, so though I don't have any personal experience with it I have witnessed her giving up on things she cares about many times before, as she's been going through the different highs and lows the disorder brings with it. I realise you may have a thousand reasons for not, if you're not - but are you treating your disorder with any kind of medication? I've stuck with my friend through periods of being off her meds, and of course also with her being on them and I have always respected her decision to come off them when that has been her choice but for the past 5 years she's continued to successfully treat it and the difference in her life is just remarkable. Now she's really found her career path, she's bought a house, managed to rebuild her relationship with her mother and is getting married this summer. I'm not trying to say all of that magically happened because of some pills, but the pills gave her the mental stability to focus and not give up on her goals and the people she cares about through depressive manic periods anymore.

Having said all of that I totally believe you can do this either way and it's probably a great idea, to as you say, prepare for those periods by getting a little list of easy meals you know can be your go to when you don't have the mental energy to do anything else. I would say you need to sit down with yourself and really find your WHY as well though. Why would you like to go vegan? Is it only weight loss that's motivating you? Because if that's the case I think anyone would struggle, with or without the disorder because you're coming from a mental place of wanting to change yourself, because you're not happy with your body/weight. You're measuring your success against what the scale says then and if you don't see improvement there you will lose your motivation... I think that's totally understandable. Maybe if you thought about it the other way around and said to yourself that yeah, I have a bit of Greggs when I'm going through lows, but I'm going to fight for me and my health every single day by adding the vegetables I like, into my diet and I'm going to add some sort of exercise that I enjoy. Swimming is nice if you want to try that? Or go for walks? Venture into the gym if you want on days when you feel up for it. I think that if you add exercise and fill any meals when you're not in Greggs with healthy (vegan) options that you enjoy, that's going to help with the weightloss anyway, but also you're eventually not going to really feel like you need the Greggs as much.

(also, maybe look up properly what goes into greggs sausage rolls etc. because that may put you off as well)

I don't know if that helps at all? As for meals themselves I would say sit down and list things you do like, skip the mushrooms and stuff you don't like and don't worry about introducing a bunch of things you don't know if you like or not at this stage. List what you DO like and then put them together - like if you enjoy toast and you happen to like avocado, great, have avocado on toast one morning and don't worry about the rest. Do you like pasta? Quinoa? Rice? Chickpeas? All of those things can literally be mixed up in a pan with all your favourite vegetables and then pour tomato sauce on top and you're all good.
 
I'm bipolar as well. Diagnosed as type one with rapid cycling and psychosis. It used to be really bad to where I wasn't really functioning and have been in and out of mental hospitals and have been on lots of different medications ranging from antidepression pills to antipsychotics. I've had my cycles of taking and not taking medication but I found the only thing that actually really did any good was going vegan. I've had a few medications nearly kill me. One made my resting heart rate go up to 180 (yes, I'm serious) and the last antipsychotic I was on almost gave me a heart attack to which I had to take heart medication for at 27 years old. I put a stop to all the madness. I was tired of being pumped full of medication and I wanted a better way.

I originally chose to go vegan for my husband who had a cholesterol level of over 300, heart attack range. The cheese took the longest to get out of my system. Cheese was my all time favorite food. After about a month of not eating any dairy I started not craving it anymore. It really is addictive. Once I stopped eating meat and cheese I felt so much better. As soon as two months of going vegan I stopped having constant panic attacks and had a more level mood. I've had a few bumps in the road (I'm looking at you taco bell) but have now been completely vegan since November with no off the wagon food so to speak. I don't need medication anymore and while I do still have some manic and depressive episodes they are no where near as extreme as they used to be. I feel better mentally now than I have in most of my life.

Things that help me with cooking is my slow cooker, meal planning and prep beforehand. I use my slow cooker mostly for days that I work since I work a ten hour job. I mostly make soup with it. My favorite is navy beans, no chicken base, rice and veggies. It turns kind of into a porridge and is really good. I made lemon orzo last time but I had my husband help with it since the lentil and orzo since they couldn't be cooked as long.

There are also pre made vegan items that just need to be heated up that you could also buy like gardein, quorn, boca and morningstar to name a few. Do be advised that some of the brands excluding gardein have some items that are not vegan.