Recovering anorexia and peanut butter
I am recovering from anorexia and yesterday ate 2 servings of peanut butter. It was the first time I had eaten more than a lick of pb in over a year and a half. I was very pround of myself because that was a major forbidden food!! My problem is that after I ate it my stomach started cramping and I got chills and felt very sick. Could It have been the fat? I really need more fat in my diet because I just found a bald spot on my head, so I figured I would take baby steps and that didn't go so well. Any suggestions!?
your response may have been due to the stress of eating the "forbidden food" ... i wouldn't think that two tablespoons would make anyone sick unless they were sick anyway or you had an allergy.
i wouldn't give up on pb just yet! next time, just have a teaspoon and wait for a reaction.
keep up the good work!
btw, raw almonds are also very yummy and a wonderful source of fat.
im in recovery too and i dont know what id do without it!! but the above posts are right...it is rich and that could be why you felt funny!
head over to the weight gain forum and check out the hi-cal foods list its really useful and will prob give u some great ideas and the people are very supportive!
good luck and well done on taking the biggest step xxx
If it turns out that you can't get over the reaction to peanut butter, there's still almond butter, pumpkin butter, etc.
smwhipple: where do you get pumpkin butter? That sounds so good!
I don't know what I would do without peanut butter, it's been a life saver for my recovery!
I agree that it may have been the stress of eating something you were afraid to eat, my stomach will hurt when I get too nervous about eating something. I also had trouble eating the denser foods for a while too and pb will still really fill me up so just keep trying it in small increments. Eat it on toast or apples, and try the other high cal thigns too.
congrats on trying new foods again! That's a big step! :)
if you like cashews, try cashew butter and wow im in love haha
However, remember that your goal is not only to achieve a healthy weight goal, but to learn about healthy and normal eating as you get to that weight goal. Sure, you could get to your weight goal by shoveling down cookies and cakes, but that will only create more problems later down the road.
Try always having peanut butter with something. Apple slices, celery, carrots, bananas, on toast, in a tortilla, strawberries (yum!), etc. Peanut butter is a great addition to every diet, however, too much of it may replace other foods that are important to your health and recovery. Keep up the great work and please let us know how you're doing! :)
Thank you for all your tips! I love cashews so I might just stick to regular nuts for now.
I think what helped me ease into eating more fat(I had bad skin and no period) was eating foods that had a decent amount of fat in them but still not super high in calories to give your body time to adjust. Your probably coming from a virtually fat free diet so the adjustment is tough and you need to start small and build your tolerance up.
Great products included almond milk, avocado, raw nuts, Dannon carb control yogurt (3grams per cup) and regular eggs these are very nutritious foods and will provide your body healthy fats and vital nutrients.
i was anorexic and bulimic for many years. when you program yourself emotionally toward certain foods your body may have a violent reaction to them. bear in mind that it takes longer for the body to unlearn emotions than it does for our brains. you have traumatized your body. you are in a healing period. be patient with your body. it will heal, given persistence and diligence. my suggestion is to take the time to talk to your body. yes, really. go somewhere alone and talk to your body as though it were a small child in your care. be loving and encouraging. tell it how much you love it. tell it how important it is to you. if you can't tell it how much you appreciate it's beauty yet, just appreciating it for carrying you through the day will do for now. tell it how much it needs the fat in the peanut butter and that it is good for it, and you. smell the food while you talk to your body about how good it is for you. let it know that by eating this good food you are loving your body. i find that thinking of food as 'good medicine' helps. if we regard our food as a healing thing, rather than a forbidden thing or a reward of some kind, we remove all those negative associations and are clearer to make healthy food choices.
love your body. its the only one you get. it is surprisingly resilient, given the love and attention it needs and deserves. be well!
Thank you, I really needed to hear that. I need to start thanking my body instead of cursing at it. I am actually starting to like how I look again, I still have my "fat" days (like yesterday) but I need to push past that and realize that women have curves and to be honest guys like them!!
You are very welcome. My guy told me a couple of days ago that men almost always prefer a little 'tummy' on a woman, he says it's sexy, feminine. But really, I know that all the compliments in the world don't matter if you aren't pleased with yourself. It's interesting how our society praises "hard-work". It's reasonable considering that it's a male-dominated society. I'm not making a cutting feminist remark, but merely stating that the feminine way is softer, gentler, and terribly undervalued in our world. So we pride ourselves for being hard and fat-free, working out too much and being dangerously hard-edged in our lifestyles. The fact is that estrogen stores in fat. Once you drop below about 10% body fat you start to lose estrogen. Your body thinks you're starving and goes into a catabolic state where it cannot defend itself from bacteria and viruses. It's fighting to survive, so it stops ovulating and focuses on survival, not reproduction and development. It's natural under strenuous circumstances, but we cannot live like that for any length of time, and certainly not intentionally. Fat is feminine. Too much is unhealthy, but fat is good in the right amounts. Softness and gentleness, compassion, love, nurturing.. these are all things we need, for ourselves. My body is the thing that contains me. I am not my body. This has been a very important tenant for me in my recovery from bulimia. If I identify myself with my body I become obsessed with changing it for that sense of 'control.' My body is the vehicle within which I live my life. It needs to be properly cared for. Also, it is designed specifically for what I am best at. It is made to do the things that I, the person inside my body, love to do the most. If I am unsure of what exactly it is that I love to do the most, I can always look to my physique and get the answers. I ask my body what it likes, what it enjoys, and I do those things. When I do, it feeds me, my spirit. That is total health. Be well!
My body is the thing that contains me. I am not my body. This has been a very important tenant for me in my recovery from bulimia. If I identify myself with my body I become obsessed with changing it for that sense of 'control.' My body is the vehicle within which I live my life. It needs to be properly cared for. Also, it is designed specifically for what I am best at. It is made to do the things that I, the person inside my body, love to do the most. If I am unsure of what exactly it is that I love to do the most, I can always look to my physique and get the answers. I ask my body what it likes, what it enjoys, and I do those things. When I do, it feeds me, my spirit. That is total health.
Thank you mspw! I think that's exactly what we all needed to hear! That's something I've really been working on, though it's easier said than done. I'm going to steal your quote and put it somewhere I can see it to keep reminding myself of what really matters. We want to be healthy in all parts of our life, I feel that if I can be emotionally healthy and happy, my body will naturally follow as I learn to take care of it.
Just out of curiosity mspw, did your man say anything about hips because that is the biggest hurdle I am trying to overcome right now. I mainly gained all of my weight back in my hips and thighs and I can't stand it!! I feel like I have saddle bags. Sorry to complaine I was just wondering how guys feel about hips.
Also, I would love to hear your story
Firstly, gibbet, thank you! Reading your response makes all the suffering I have been through with bulimia worthwhile, really. In my darkest times I may feel as if (irrationally) that I am not valuable, but I can always remember the times when my words helped someone else and it gives me the strength to persevere. So thank you for letting me know how my sharing helps you. I need that.
zsazsa90, on 'saddlebags'... what an horrific term! I remember an old BF from back in my teens telling me I had them! How awful I felt. And to think how badly I wanted to please him and how inadequate that made me feel. When I was a kid, the other kids used to tease me and call me Thunder Thighs. I think a lot of us know all too well what it's like to feel bad for holding onto fat in our thighs. You know, it's interesting that we women are so self-conscious about that, when indeed, it's part of our greatest physical strength. Since men's strength is mainly in their upper body, and ours is in our lower body, our center of gravity is somewhat lower than that of men's, which gives us a greater sense of balance, grounding. The reason I carry weight in my thighs is because my body is protecting that area. It's important to my body or else it wouldn't create a protective barrier around it. It's completely natural and feminine, the hourglass shape, or the pear shape. I actually have rather narrow hips, but my thighs are wider than my hips. I have a rather large waist to hip ratio. I will not demean myself before anyone in an effort to make them feel better, nor should you, but rather I advise you to revel in your womanliness. If you doubt how attractive, sexy wide hips are take a look at some old pics of Marilyn Monroe or Jayne Mansfield. And by the way, I asked my guy about what men think of curvy hips and his reply was this, "A woman who feels sexy is sexy. It doesn't matter what she looks like, or what kind of body she has, it's how she expresses herself sexually that's sexy." We are all so different and the myriad of ways we express ourselves are as varied as how our bodies are shaped. So, despite the objectivity media and most men would have us believe men want in women, they find sexy the same things we do, primarily, confidence and a sexy attitude. And by the way, any man who has any negative comments about your physique, as in my past experience, regardless of how thin or heavy you are, doesn't deserve you. It's all too easy for someone to criticize than it is to be honest about themselves. Don't you put up with it. Your body is a direct manifestation of your spirit's desire made into flesh. Revel in it. You only get this one once.
If you want to know more about my story, I'll be happy to share it with you. I'd love to hear yours too. I just don't know that this forum is the best way to do it. I've added you to my buddy list. I'll send you a message via your home page when I can get something typed up for you. Likewise, feel free to message me via my home page. Tell me how you became anorexic, hit bottom and found recovery. Thanks!
