food rut?

Hi guys - I am sure this topic would have been posted on previously but i did a quick search and couldn't find anything so have posted a new topic.

I am doing ok in the recovery process and am addressing my challenge/fear foods  as part of the process but I am also finding that I am stuck in a bit of a food rut - particularly in relation to breakfast and my snacks.

I had a discussion with my dietician on this when I saw her a few days ago and she has set me a challenge to mix up my breakfast (I have oats with sultanas & honey every day) and look at eating things like toast & cereal, toast & yoghurt, muesli & yoghurt & fruit, bagels etc. She has also challenged me to mix up my afternoon snack of a choc chip muesli bar & apple and try something like a brunch bar or other things.

I dont' think I have a problem coming up with different options for my snacks as there are a lot of things I would like and that are challenge foods for me (e.g. cheese and crackers, muffins, cake, chocolate bar, nuts, milkshake/milk drinks or even just having more of my 'safe foods' as one snack e.g. have fruit & yoghurt & muesli bar rather than just fruit & muesli bar) but I think my challenge is around the whole permission to eat something outside my comfort zone.... On the days I do eat a challenge food it is a massive exception to my daily routine and as such I can only bring myself to do it once or twice a week. I am really wanting to increase my flexibility and spontenaiety around food rather than being in a run/planned food plan forever..

Anyone else had/have this problem and have helpful tips???

Well...the best advice I can give you is to not accept the "food rut" plain and simple. Make the challenge to yourself that you will eat something new every single day...every day! Make it a routine. Something that you know is coming. These patterns of eating the same thing kps us in the throws of our ED and its normal for someone recovering but not healthy.

You can do it more than once or twice a week but you've accepted less than that. So stop accepting it. Yest its hard and uncomfortable buts it's so worth it and necessary!

erin if you remember my posts from a few weeks ago my breakfast always looked the same. oatmeal (apple, walnuts, soy milk, dried fruits and oats) i have only had that once this week, its a comfort food and safe food for me but i love experimenting now.... and have a slight obsession with coconut now (lol).

if you want muffins you could always make your own, that way anxiety about not knowing the calories or ingredients won't be so extreme. and if its variety you want make a simple batter and top and fill each muffin with different combinations. apple and cinnamon, jam  and peanutbutter, raspberries and white chocolate, zucchini and dark chocolate, carrot and walnuts, spinach and fetta....  really that could be fun to do and it could also give you ideas on other ways to top your cereal, yoghurt or toast.

i eat my peanutbutter with pretzels and have been meaning to coat the pretzels in chocolate first.... just darn lazy. ill get there ventually.

you could always do chocolate or cheese fondu... messy but fun. or just coat fruit in chocolate and nuts... yummy. seriously im drooling right now

how about making smoothies. you can add anything in those and anything on top. Spinach in a smoothie will not harm you... trust me it makes it awesome and green! so basically blend your yoghurt with fruit and milk top it with your muesli bar and wow you have the same meal just all in a glass!

good luck with becoming more spontaneous. and rememember many of us get stuck in food ruts, you just gotta get yourself out of them as much as you want to get out of Ed and weight gain....  oh and why not buy a cookbook, donna hay can do marvelous things with food.

hey guys - thanks for the responses.

chrissy - you are very right - I don't need to seek permission to eat my challenge foods - if I want something I should just eat it! The only way I will get over this hurdle is to take myself out of my comfort zone. I think if I try to plan a new challenge food each day as you say (I have a list I am ticking off thanks to some advice a month or two ago from blueberrylips) then that will help.

liney - excellent and very helpful advice as always and I will take a leaf out of your book and try to mix it up. I will take a look back over your 'what did you eat today' posts to get some more inspiration! :) I will also take up your idea of cooking some of my own foods as I do like cooking and baking and will probably feel more comfortable about eating that. Plus it will also save me money!!! If you have any good muffin recipes I would love it if you could e-mail them to me! I have a good cheese and spinach recipe but not really any sweet ones. For some reason I have a real phobia of smoothies and milkshakes/thickshakes - I cannot even bring myself to have a glass of sustagen with breakfast or with supper - how do I get over this???!!!

I will definitely drag out my cookbooks and rather than just looking through them as I used to - I will make stuff from them and eat it! :)

im not sure that i understand ur q but lets see, what r some meals that ud love to have, used to love to have, see others having or something on tv that just makes u think damn, i want that!  write them down, make a list, plan that ull have them.  the calories could even be equivelant to what ur currently having, just have something diff.

i hate cooking+looking at recipes, everything i have is mostly from a box or frozen but its good stuff, buy foods u like.

my freezer is full of pasta, pizza, bagels, muffins, everything i could w ant so that when i want it, its there.

hey agru - it is the breakfasts and snacks i seem to be having troubles with but the list of things i love and working my way through that is definitely the way to go i think and also having the courage to just go buy some cake or something if i happen to feel like it!

so trouble in what way?  thinking of diff foods?  i dont think u had oatmeal every day of ur life for bfast b4 this??  i would never find just a bowl of cereal to be enough now or ever anyways!  wheres the protein?  have a yogurt at least w it.  have a slice of toast w it! 

cake can be frozen, cookies, anything so that its available for when u do want it!  anything can be a snack too,  sometimes ill have a veggie burger on bread and a fruit, as a snack, it doesnt have to be a yogurt or treat.  THINK what u like(d).  buy the stuff so its there.

make sure not to compensate by eating less tho bc u think u challenged urself into eating something diff from normal, u still need the food, the challenge is eating something diff AND eating more.

not thinking of diff foods - just allowing myself to eat them every day if i want to - just the same old mindset change thing... I think if i plan it for a week or two with a different challenge food each day then that will help me realise it is fine to eat them each day and hopefully after that it will just feel normal.

you are right re: breakfast - used to eat cereal, toast etc so will try different combinations and making sure they are a decent size.

being prepared is always key as you say so will make sure I have things on hand so i cannot resort to the excuse of 'oh i don't have it so i can't eat it'.

I am pretty ok with not compensating these days - even if i have eating something challenging - i still continue my day and meal plan as per normal

wow erin the only muffins i ever cooked and turned out right were spinach and fetta ones. unfortunatley im good on the stove just not in the oven. attempted quite a number of muffins and all kinda failed..... soggy, burnt and plain messy or i just ended up eating the batter and none managed getting into the oven. if you want good batter type up banana doughnuts on the web... that was delicious. you could always make pancakes or french toast for breakfast too, or do savoury and go baked beans on toast.... if your stomach can handle it.

make a list of different snacks and swop them each day . think how pleased you will be if you do this. it will be hard but it will get easier you can do this h x