advice?

hi, i am wondering if you could take a look at what i ate today and give me a bit of advice on how to improve. i'm currently recovering from eating disorders..

breakfast: apple, moroccan mint tea

lunch: two apples, a bosc pear, 2 oz. robusto cheese, five small slices of olive baguette, crystallised ginger, white pear tea

dinner: cup of steamed kabocha (japanese pumpkin) and 3/4 cup broccoli with bragg's liquid aminos, green tea, black coffee

i know it isn't very much but i am very content nonetheless. i feel so much healthier than i did, and for once i can eat things without feeling perpetually guilty.

so yes. advice is very much appreciated, thank you!

hi! are you a vegetarian (i don't know exactly the term but i was reffering to a meat not-eating person, as i have seen cheese there :) )? if not, add meat to your diet! i promiss it will keep you full better than other stuff, meat and bread - that's the recipe for not being hungry all the time - that's how i do it. chicken and turkey breast, veal/beef round, and surprize: pork sirloin trimmed to 0 fat (or ayt least try to trimm it to 0 fat). eat 100-150g of this if you can / day and you'll be okay, oh and anything up to 60-80g bread ( i limit my bread cause i love sweets and save cals for them) eat whenever you want whatevwer you want but stay in the cal limit. good luck!

advice on sweets: chocolate ice cream - it surely satisfies the sweet need :) and it seems to be more (quantity) and has less cals than chocolate or cookies - i eat 1 coated cone of chocolate ice cream (100g!! having 270cals) every day and i keep my weight where i want.

kisses

if by very content you mean full, then that's probably because you drink so much tea. it's an appetite suppressant (which you probably already knew) so you're going to feel less hungry. if you're having trouble or are scared of getting to 1200, do it gradually. but really you have got to get at least to there if you're serious about your recovery.

develinne: thank you for the advice, but i've been a vegetarian my entire life, so no meat is in my future :]

ewwxrolfzz: by very content i mean feeling like i don't need to eat anything else. which is crazy because eating an apple used to have me rolling on the floor in pain (my stomach shrunk completely). i'm trying to get to 1200, but apparently this was 750? what i am trying to remedy is the behavioural aspect of my diet, not necessarily gaining weight. i can't stand the feeling of needing to deprive myself/hurt myself and have been working on everything psychologically. but i am still very afraid to gain weight, especially when i am still in that mentality and especially when i am not emaciated.

thanks guys!

The fact that you are starting to restructure your diet and have 3 meals is definately a step in the right direction. Keep up the good work!

One area of your diet (besides increasing the calories) is to get enough fat. Nuts and peanut butter were what I ate to get enough fat, and I still include them in my everyday diet (now maintaining weight). Seeds, olives, olive oil, and avacado are also great sources of healthy fats. Try sprinkling some sesame seeds on veggies during meals, snacking on nuts during the day, etc.

You also lack protein, which will help rebuild your muscles. Eat more cheese, peanut butter, cottage cheese, milk, lentils, beans, etc. If you have any more questions or anything, feel free to message me. :)

What are your stats?

Cuz i was just reading an older post in the motivation forum and in november you had stated that you weighed 92 lbs and wanted to get down to 87. :-\

i am 5'1", i weigh around 95 now. my highest weight was about 109 and my lowest at this height was probably 92. i like the weight i am at but i'm working on toning moreso than losing. i don't think it would kill me to lose more though, but that's still something i'm working on..

i'm in the EXACT same place. luckily i think i've completely overcome my fear of food, but i'm afraid i'll never want to gain weight :/ i know i should but i just can't bring myself to try hard enough. i'm eating about 1600-1700 calories a day and maintaining though so it is possible for you to eventually be able to eat but not gain.

actually i'm kinda in the same position as both meyou and ewwxroflzz. I love food but I can't seem to eat enough to gain weight. I'm maintaining also but I'm pretty underweight and i can't bring myself to eat enough to gain. It's frustrating. But meyou...definetly try no to lose anymore...to at least maintain for now and ideally work to gain a little...its easier said than done i know.

I am a vegetarian too, not all my life, but for 16-17+ years (not exactly sure when I put my foot down and said "No, mum, I'm not eating fish any longer!")

And yes, there is something wrong with your diet. There isn't enough iron in there. Or protein. Log this stuff and see. I looked up what braggs liquid aminos was. Unless you are drenching your broccoli in the stuff, I don't think it is enough. And even if you are glugging the stuff down consider this:

I haven't had dinner yet. I'm at about 1000 calories today, and 37 grammes of that was protein (I'll have more protein in my evening meal). My sodium intake for the day has been about 900mg.

I'm not suggesting that you are trying to prop up your protein intake with a condiment, but just in case you are: Braggs liquid aminos boasts 110mg sodium for every measly 290mg protein. You cannot get your protein from it. If you were to aim for the same amount of protein as I've had so far today, you'd be looking at a whopping 14034mg of sodium. And somehow, I don't think you're glugging down 2.5 litres of the stuff! So, again, liquid aminos is not a good source of protein. Do not be taken in by the "amino" in the label.

I'm not suggesting that there is no protein in the other stuff you're eating, the cheese may contribute about 16gr, for example , but you're not eating any pulses or nuts.

On the subject of iron: you are getting too little, I suspect. Heck, I get too little if I don't watch what I eat. The tea and coffee will inhibit the absorption of the iron you are eating. Do not have tea or coffee with meals (yes, even green tea, but your mint tea should be OK). The presence of vitamin C helps absorption of iron, which would be good (if you were getting enough in the first place!)

Calcium: ditto. I don't think you'll be getting enough. 

 I'm no expert  on ED, but I suspect that you need to make every bite count. Try adding some nuts to your diet. Lentils, beans too. They should be present at almost every meal.

Ask for help from a nutritionist if you need to. Ask for help from friends and family, people who want to see you getting better. 

 

Years ago, I became a vegetarian for ethical reasons. I wanted cruelty to animals to stop. The corollary of this is that I can't be cruel to myself either. I hope you feel the same way.

linden- thank you so much for the reply. in response to the last part of your message, you mention not being cruel to myself in addition to not being cruel to animals. i agree with this 100%. it has taken me a very long time, but i am working my way back to being happy and wanting to help myself. i truly love who i am after many years of self-loathing, and that is significantly contributing to my focus.

regarding protein, i know i'm not getting enough.. working my way up. i add bragg's liquid aminos to veggies not for protein, just as a condiment. it's less sodium-laden than soy sauce, and i don't use very much. if i do get any protein from it, it's inadvertent. as for calcium/iron, i do take supplements, but i'm trying to find vegan/vegetarian sources. do you have any suggestions in that area?

No, I didn't think you used it to get protein, but just wondered if the word "amino" was giving you a false sense of security.

I don't think that adding protein is too difficult in a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. Iron and calcium are a bit more of a problem. I'm glad you are taking supplements. I have to, as well, simply because I don't know how well we absorb it (absorbing iron from plant sources is harder, but the presence of vitamin C is a help there, for vegetarians). 

 

The broccoli is good, it has both iron and vitC. I'd add some dark green vegetables in there. If you can manage it, a free-range egg, poached, on top of the green veg of your choice would not go amiss. You're having fruit, which is great, but I think you need more vegetable varieties. 

 

If you are unable to add more fat to your diet, I'd urge you to eat the cheese with your veggies. Some nutrients will become more available in the presence of fat. Make a carrot and spinach salad, for example, and eat with the cheese, or drizzle a bit of olive oil and lemon juice.

 

 Look up some Mediterranean recipes for beans in tomato sauce, and have it with a bit of rice. The tomato will provide the vitC, and beans and rice together will provide a good range of amino acids.

Try a bit of tofu prepared with calcium sulfate for the calcium. I'd also suggest tahini (made from crushed sesame seeds). I mix tahini and grape molasses together to get both iron and calcium.

 

An excellent resource for information:

Vegetarian Resource group 

and not all vegetarian, but practically so:

 World's Healthiest Foods

I appreciate the difficulties you must be experiencing. Forgive me if I was unduly harsh or rude in the previous post. You seem to be a sensitive and intelligent person. I wish you the best of luck with your recovery.

Beans and grains make a complete protein when eaten together.  I don't like canned beans much, but if you take the time to make them yourself they're pretty darn good.

linden- thank you so much for the advice once again! first and foremost i would like to let you know that in no way did your response come off as rude or harsh, and i appreciate the information you have turned me onto. thank you very much for the well wishes, i seem to be succeeding :]

i have been analysing the amount of protein i am getting, and started eating breakfast. in the past two days i have averaged 45g protein, which is a huge improvement for me. apparently 50g is ideal for someone my age/height/weight, but correct me if i am wrong. i am trying to have steamed veggies with miso and barley for dinner, apparently a good protein combo and macrobiotic (?). i am also drinking (full fat) vanilla soy milk, which i think has been helping. it seems the more i figure this out, the better i feel physically as well as mentally.

thanks once again, have a lovely day.