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2,500+ Calories ONLY please! Weight Gainers, What did you eat today? - April 15th - April 30th
RULES:
- Do not post here if you are not reaching 2500+ calories (3000+ for adult men). We strongly recommend 3000+ to gain.
- Teens must reach 3000 a day minimum
- REMEMBER TO EITHER POST THE CALORIE TALLIES OR THE PORTION SIZES!
- Also remember I do not support you using alcohol as a calorie substitute. So if you reach 2500+ with alcohol in your diet, eat a little more to make up for it.
- If you are struggling to reach the necessary amount (and everyone has at some point) then please post a separate thread w/ questions.
- Do not post links to your personal blog.
- No partial meal plans. Only post complete daily intakes.
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This thread is for those of you looking to actively gain weight for whatever reason.
Requirements- If you are a male you need to eat at least 3000 calories, females must eat 2500-this is so that your body can begin to now only gain weight, but also for your internal organs to begin to recover, this takes fuel/calories.
It is NOT suggested that you excercise while underweight. Excercsie is often an addicition seen with those with eating disorders. Try to stop cold turkey, IF you excercise, 2500/3000 is NOT enough. You are only harming yourself+prolonging the illness by excercising.
If you are struggling to reach the necessary amount, and we all did, then please post a seperate thread w/ questions. It is harmful for ppl to see posts that are under the food reuirement amount. There are suggestions on this forum regarding higher calorie+denser foods that should be incorporated to aid in reaching calorie goals
So this is really dumb of me but i was so upset yesterday. My dad was driving me and I was going to school. I look down and see that the Passenger Airbag was ON. It was the first time since forever that it wasn't lit up orange, which means it's not on because there is not enough weight on it...Its so dumb and I should be glad right?! But I just stared at it and got this horrible feeling in my stomach. Then I metioned it to my dad, and he said "Yeah you use to not turn it on, you WERE as light as a feather." And i know for a fact he wasnt calling me fat, because right after he goes, "But you still have a ways to go, your mom and I think you look thinner after we got back." I just couldnt get it out of my mind and restricted (definetly not making 2000 even) and was stupid and just UGH!!
But today I feel better and didnt restrict so I can post to you guys!
singingintherain- sorry to hear about comparrison struggles, i do this with my sisters and friends mostly : / I say to myself, if they have that then i can have this! Which is ridiculous because THEYRE not trying to gain weight. Its even worse for one friend because she's very athletic and slim and restricts her eating(not ed though, just body concious)..shes shorter though only by an inch. It just bugs me to no end! I know its dumb but i cant even explain how i feel. Mostly its just like: Why do i have to do this? She doesnt! And it also bugs me when people go "Oh im so hungry..I didn't have anything all day/ breakfast/ lunch! Im like "Ugh! Im not too hungry either because Ive had so much at every meal! Or i feel guilty when I am hungry : / I try to remind myself that ALL bodies are different and our bodies keep us living! Keep your head up!
llama- loved reading about the photo shoot! So good to read, made me smile : ) Just curious.. do you have a goal? are you there? what is it? And yes, yes indeed you are right: skinny jeans are just plain dumb!
B- large bowl (about 3 cups) of Rasin bran, with 2 % milk, mango slices, 2x ww toast with butter and apricot jam, 3 sausage links, glass of chocolate semiskim milk
S- ensure coffee lattee shake(blended with ice, chocolate syrup a little milk and water, brown sugar, and whipped cream)
L- Peanutbutter banana sandwhich on multigrain bread, bag of dark chocolate peanut flavored almonds, 9 baby carrots, 1 apple w/ PB, mini chocolate muffin packet
S- 2 brownsugar poptarts, T with sugar, banana with honey
S- Oreo (6) packet, ensure + chocolate ...dunked em : )
D- cheese and chicken quesadia, homeade ham soup, brussel spounts and baby carrots sautated in olive oil, english muffin with butter
browneyedcolly; I know it can be hard when you see physical signs of your weight gain. But it struck me just how symbolic that was; anorexia was putting you in grave danger of death both in terms of heart failure, etc but also if the car crashed the airbag wouldn’t have gone off! By recovering you are putting your health first, and trying to prevent an untimely death. Sorry if that seemed a little convoluted…but it just seemed like such a ‘sign’
Spiritriser; Sorry about the weigh in, well done for picking it up afterwards rather than letting it trigger you though. Was the Cookie a Nana’s one by any chance?
baybeehannahx: most people’s weight fluctuated by well over 1kg during the day, that’s why regular weigh ins are important to make sure there is a definite upwards trend. TBH, I hate it when I am trying not to gain, and then do, it terrifies me. Though I also find it’s helpful as it reminds me that starvation mode and restricting really, really isn’t worth it. If I’m going to gain I don’t want to do it in starvation mode eating not much of things I don’t particularly like, I’m going to do it eating what I want, when I want, and rediscovering a healthy relationship with food 
singingintherain7; Haha, I remember first discovering what a light weight I now am too. Though it started for me near the depths of ED, so it was actually quite bad… Though I do credit a very, very nice bottle of white Chateauxneuf Du Pape following a lovely Rose Champagne flute at my Birthday Lunch with causing the breakdown which finally persuaded me and my Parent’s that there was something very wrong. Good times…
8, In Bed; Strawberry Benecol, T
9/10, In Lectures; 2x T, v.large, milky 4% & required
12:30 Brunch; 240g Tub Rice, Lentils and Roast Aubergine with Garlic Oil Dressing, ½ pack of Shredded Chicken, 2 person Side Salad w/ Vinaigrette, T
2:30 Snack; Oatcake w/ Flora and lots of Honey, 2 piece of Hazelnut Chocolate (I did it, I had chocolate in the afternoon rather than just before bed!)
4, Mum visited; 250ml Apple & Raspberry Juice, pot of T, ½ Hot Cross Bun w/ Jam
6, Snack: Marmite Cracker w/ Flora and Marmite, 2 Garlic Clove stuffed Olives
8, Dinner; Spanish Chicken and Potato Oven Bake (this was horribly oily, I had to force myself to eat it, as there was nothing else, but it was so, so difficult)
11/12, Pre-Bed Snackett; 30g Coco Pops w/ SS Milk, 4 piece of Hazelnut Chocolate, Hot Chocolate, 2 Oatcakes w/ Honey (why do I leave so much for the night? I hate it when this happens; it feels wrong to eat so much then just go to bed. I know if I allowed myself more early in the day I would have more energy and focus better. Still much to learn I guess…)
llamapow: Then I guess we're even, because your meals always have me going all misty-eyed and drooley. ;) I definitely need to pick up some haloumi ASAP, so I can try it for myself! :D Your description actually makes me think of this cheese appetizer I always used to order at Greek restaurants before ED. Can't remember the name, but it was a blend of cheeses that were flambeed at the table with ouzo... SO. GOOD.
mandieee: Do it! Taco nights = awesomesauce. Especially if you can share it with friends/family. Sloppy, drippy finger-foods just have a special kind of charm, and it's even better when you have someone to laugh with over the mess you make. ;p
Browneyedcolly: It's funny how the strangest little things can be so upsetting or triggering... Good for you for getting right back on track today; in the end, that's what really matters most. I think it's good for all of us to have days like that sometimes, to remind us of why we're doing what we're doing and of how far we've really come. :D
B: Toasted muesli bagel with 2T almond butter, one side with jam and the other with honey; 55g granola, 1/3c plain yoghurt, 1/2 banana; carrot cake Clif bar.
L: Sandwich with 2x big slices of rye, 1T butter, ham, cheddar cheese, and honey mustard. Terra veggie chips on the side (These are amaaazing. If you can find them, get 'em! Especially for you salty/sweet types.)
S: Cheese curds, 1c berry smoothie.
D: 1 and 1/2 italian sausages, red gem potatoes, spinach, 1c lemonade.
S: Pear w/ 2T almond butter. (I can't remember who it was whose meal plan I kept seeing this on... but thank you for the inspiration; I'd always this combo might be weird, until now, but I think I actually like it better than my old apple + AB! Yumm.)
S: A few gingersnaps.
breakfast- cottage cheese w/ granola, mini banana muffins
snack- ensure
lunch- 2 slices ww, 2 T honey almond butter, apple
snack- trail mix, ensure
dinner- ww wrap w/ chicken and hummus, veggies w/ pesto, lemon bar
snack- apple, cottage cheese w/ granola and raisins
snack- 3 chocolate nuggets
2730
mandieeee: Wanna switch metabolisms? It's funny how we want what we don't have. Like people with straight hair wanting curly & vice versa. Thanks for the encouragement :) I'm very happy to hear you are loving life and your hot new bod, too! There's no such thing as too much sugar. I have something sweet, even if it's just juice, at every single meal. Makes you a sweeter person? lol.
baybeehannahx: Congrats on the weight gain. Keep it up!
browneyedcolly: I'm sorry to hear about your day yesterday. It's so annoying how the smallest things can be triggering. Glad to see you are back on the bandwagon with your eats today though. Way to go! I get so frustrated whenever someone skips a meal because they are "not hungry" or "forgot". One of my best friend's used to skip breakfast cuz she woke up late, then didn't have time to make lunch so she would just grab an apple, and then we would have rugby practice after school until 5. So she'd go from the time she woke up (prob close to 8) until 5:30 or 6pm when she got home ON A SINGLE APPLE. And she maintained her weight! Sooo not fair! I'm trying to remind myself that my parents are older than I am and therefore have slower metabolisms. And tbh, they are less active too. Thank you for the encouragement! I'm looking forward to the day when I can listen to my body in order to properly nourish it. Still have no hunger cues :(
thebiggerpicture: That's actually how I ended up admitting myself to the hospital once. I got sooo trashed at new year's this past year and my mom asked me why and I told her that "it made me forget". I'm thinking it was that I forgot about my ED. I actually felt free and social and was not constantly calculating cals. So then the next day, I walked into the hospital, with a pretty bad hangover, too! Haha. I guess it was my final Christmas present to my parents. They really wanted to take me in earlier, but they knew that they would have to physically drag me in. The last time I was hospitalized because of their decision, I didn't talk to them for a while. So I'm a *****! Congrats on having chocolate in the afternoon! I'm the same way about treat-like foods. I save them up for before bed when I feel like it's ok to eat them. As in tonight.. lol. I love how you UKers said aubergine instead of eggplant. It sounds more elegant. And your bed-time snack looks pretty tinsy in comparison. Just saying. Don't feel badly. It's just important that you get the cals in, which you are!
emsaurus: I have a pear + almond butter a lot at lunch and it's yummm! Glad you tried it out :)
B: slice multigrain toast + 1 tbsp almond butter, 200 ml vanilla yoghurt + 1 c mixed berries + 2/3 c Good For You Muesli, 1 1/2 c soy milk, 1 c OJ
S: 2 ensure
L: big bowl of brown rice + 2/3 c ground soy + broccoli/cucumber/chopped tomato/snap peas, 1 1/2 c soy milk, 1 c juice, homemade apricot-almond Larabar
S: 2 ensure
D: grilled chicken breast, large baked potato, sauteed bok choy/purple onion/garlic/green pepper (we have a alot of fresh green veggies in my house right now.. aha) w evoo, 1 1/2 c soy milk, 1 c juice
S: serving spicy lentil chips, 1/2 c cottage cheese, 1 pear, 4 dark chocolate covered almonds, 1 1/2 c soy milk, 1 c juice
Part of me feels like I should be eating more.. I am going two weeks without a weigh-in because my Dr is on vacation, and am afraid that I may lose and if I do will therefore set myself back even further! Argh..
Soo in addition, while I was typing this..
S: (ish?) another ensure. It may not be food, but it's got cals. Oh gosh, I kinda can't believe I just did that. Oh well ;)
And I was being really creeper ish last night and was looking at the older weight-gain forums, and came across someone who was eating 8000 - 9000 cals a day because she had a problem absorbing nutrients and wanted to gain weight. It was REALLY inspirational to see what she was eating.. Like 1/2 c peanut butter, whole tubs of Ben & Jerry's, chocolate chips in her yoghurt, 3 cups of pasta and 1/2 c parmesan cheese for dinner... It was like, wow, this girl is doing everything she can in order to get healthy again. Can you say that you are doing that? And honestly, I don't know if I am. I should be constantly eating and pushing myself to have more and more at every meal. Who cares if I go above my meal plan? It will only make things faster! I've never had an issue with binging and/or purging (knock on wood!) and hope to have the courage one day to just EAT and eat like a football player. My doctor keeps telling me to look up Michael Phelp's diet (12000 cals a day, I believe) but I always point out that he gets to do more activity than I do.. and he should be able to! She also told me to eat Ben & Jerry's. How many people can say that their doctors have told them THAT? Haha. Then again, how many people wouldn't eat the B&J's if their doctor told them to? not many, I bet!
Anyways, I just hope that I can wake up tomorrow and PUSH harder than ever before. Why do I care about how much fats/carbs/protein I am eating? I NEED to gain weight. We all do. All of those nutrients are our medicine. Keep it up everyone :)
I was feeling really unmotivated but reading your post, singingintherain7, made me look forward to pushing myself harder tomorrow
B: C oats soaked overnight in C yogurt (so thick!), grated apple
L: wrap with 2T PB, hot sauce, tofu, mixed greens; grapes
S: 1/2C cranberry/peanut/almond/chocolatechip/sesame seed trail mix
D: fried rice with string beans and egg; oatmeal chocolate chip cookie
S: greek yogurt with almonds and chocolate covered raisins
Today’s Eats:
B: 2x Quaker Instant Oatmeal, 1c Soy Milk, 1c Orange-Juice
S: Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar
L: 2x Crystal Farms Mozzarella String Cheese, 1oz Kashi TLC 7 Grain Crackers, 3oz Baby Carrots, Fresh Fruit: Mango, Kiwi, and Strawberries
S: 2x High-Fiber Strawberry Frosted Pop-Tarts
D: 1c Whole-Wheat Penne Pasta, 1c Boca Crumbles & Petite Diced Tomatoes, 1TBS Parmesan Cheese, 1c Soy Milk
S: 2x Mixed Berry Nutrigrain Bars, 1/2c Monster Trail Mix (Peanuts, Raisins, M&Ms, and Peanut-Butter and Chocolate Chips)
Total: 3200cal :)
spiritriser- ooh I think I'll have to make a visit to John Lewis soon then! Do they have lots of flavours? :) I'm sorry your weigh-in didn't go so well- hopefully that will inspire you to increase you food especially if you arent counting!
browneyedcolly- I totally agree, sometimes the smallest things can really upset us, but I'm very proud of you for pushing on today! I always find your eats really inspiring, you must have an amazing metabolism :D
thebiggerpicture- yeah, I am glad that it went up, even just a little bit as I have been given a goal weight for June so I am allowed to take part in a school trip which will involve a lot of activity- walking etc... just means I'm one step closer to that! However it is one of the smaller gains I have had so I'm thinking that was either due to eating less or maybe increased activity too! I will say it again, I love lots of random snacking throughout the day on your mp!
Singingintherain7- your post made me feel a whole lot better after a tough day.
my fisrt post in this forum...
B: 4 weetabix, 300ml milk, thick toast, 2 boxes raisins
S: 50g mixed seeds
L: 2 slices ww thick bread, chicken breast, mayo, salad. A big banana and an apple
S: Myoplex milkshake
D: 75g (dry weight) pasta, salmon fillet, peas, sweetcorn, cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt + honey
S: Milk
total = about 2550
biggerpicture: no it wasnt a nanas cookie, it was just a random and massive coconut cookie covered in chocolate (no wrappers, so no calories!!) i found it in my boyfriends house, what a great find; so yummy. Your eats look nice and snacky.. how i like =) keep it up, how is it being back at uni?
babyhannahx im not sure if all JOhn Lewis' have the amazing foodhall that the one in oxford street has... but hopefully, my mum got a chocolate one that was nice too. Yeah, this weigh-in gave me the confidence to eat more, without being scared of gaining too quickly.
pre-breakfast: carton of orange juice
breakfast: milky tea, hug wholemeal multiseed bagel, toasted, half with butter and marmite and half with butter and jam
lunch: tuna, mayo and sweetcorn sandwich, pack of lightly salted kettle chips
snack: milky tea, apple, chocolate egg from m&s filled with butterscotch (omg this was so good, my brother rejected it! exactly like a creme egg but filled with soft butterscotch instead of the creamy bit... im going to have to go and see if they have anymore)
snack: last two raspberry poptarts
dinner: morrocan chickpea burger and stir-fried white rice, cuorgette, peppers and onions in evoo and soy sauce
dessert: (surprise, surprise) strawberry cornetto
snack: 75g of honey-tropical granola (so good!) and apple juice
Todays Eats
B- Bran flakes (45g?) with a big handful of sultanas and semi-skimmed milk (120ml?)
S- Quaker Oats So Simple maple syrup porridge express pot.
L- M&S super soft white roll with 1/3 pack of chicken breast slices.
S- Bran flakes (40g?) with yeo-valley natural yogurt (100g?) and a handful of sultanas. Cadbirys white chocolate finger.
T- Bacon, mushroom, tomato & mozzarella pasta bake (75g dry-weight pasta with lots of sauce and covered in mozzarella cheese.) with steamed tenderstem broccoli.
S- Hot chocolate (made with 200ml semi-skimmed milk and 4 tsp. whittards hot chocolate powder) with a handful of mini marshmallows. Ginger nut biscuit and 1/4 mini egg easter egg!
ramble and replies later, off to uni now (urgh. damn you 8:30am class. damn you.)
But i'll post yesterday's eats... soooooo random and lacking nutrition and my tummy's paying for it in all sorts today but I don't feel the LEAST BIT GUILTY. I feel like I used to before I knew anything about anything, just like someone who ate crummy. Hooray!
B: 1/2 c oats, 1 c milk, handful sunflower seeds + pepitas. 1/2 c greek yoghurt.
S: an apple
L: (at 3pm) ENTIRE 'small' pizza plus two extra slices. Phwoar, whatta pig! :P
S: (at 9pm) Pork dumpling. A couple hot chips dipped in garlic sauce.
'D': (at midnight) 2/3 c hot soy milk, 2 mini ricotta pancakes w/ tsp plum jam on each, 3 mini easter eggs and several spoonfuls peanut butter (lost count)
Drinks: 1 shot jaeger (vale Stuey!) and 1 pint glass of cider.
I'm not counting but the pizza and pb's have got to have done their part!
Oedipamass; Yay; overnight oats! Haven't seen them in a while; mini crave going on now. ;-)
Baybeehannahx; That's a really nice goal to have; something you need to be both physically and socially prepared for. It could also bs that your metabolism has sped up, and so you need to increase your cals. I don't know if you count or how much exercise you've started doing though. Anyway, best of luck! I like the snacking too; so much more energy!
Spiriteiser; Hmmm...I won't ask where on his house you found it. Sounds decidedly dodgy ;-P Taking a leaf out of your book with the snacks, I hope you note that sweet things and chocolate intake have also increased. Liking the Pre-Bed, btw! Uni is going so, so much better than I ever anticipated. Genuinely a little surprised with how well I've been doing. Still ED thought of being a failure if I'm tired and stay in rather than clubbing, but now I know they're ED thought, and so it's easier simply to ignore them. Also my friends are so wonderfully supportive and understanding. We'll see how it goes as exhaustion sets in, but so far, extremely positive!
Anyway, sorry to go on, today's random compilation of Eats;
8:15; T, Strawberry Benecol
8:30, en route to lectures; Worlds largest Banana (well, if it's 18p per banana I'm obviously going to choose the biggest one I can find!)
10, in lectures; T, Chocolate Biscuit
11, in break; 200g Classic Fruit Salad, 2 polos
Had 12-1 lecture, 1-2 Tute...
2:15, grabbed; Oatcake with Lots of Honey (drippy, sticky fingers; lovely)
3, waiting for train at station, Lunch: Tuna Mayo Pasta Salad, (didn't know of I'd enjoy this, as I'd had one before with raw onion and Hated it. It was actually really rather nice, and the Mayo was refreshing not cloying :-D) tub of Marinated Calamari rings in Chilli Oil
5, Snack; 2 chunks of M&S Chocolate (more chocolate in the day time! Love it :-) I absolutely will keep this up!), Can of Fanta
9, 'Sninner' after Group; Wrap w/ 3-4tbsp Phili Cream Cheese & 2-3tbsp Blueberry Jam (too much, but wanted to finish the jar) Toffee & Banana Muller Rice
10:45, Pre Bed Snackett; Milky Decaff, slice of Summer Berry Cheesecake!!!!
Nice to post properly for once and for all - I'm joining the gainers!
Long time reader and admirer, very infrequent poster! Been underweight for 15 months and 'trying to gain' since the beginning of the year.. over Easter hols (I'm at uni) I was eating three meals and three snacks every day and proper family meals, but I was still worried all the time about what I was eating next and how to best balance my day and whether I had too much fat / carbs / protein and that I shouldn't eat too much in case I wasn't hungry for the next meal... I ended up maintaining for the first time, for four months, but even so maintenance at 5'6, 102lbs still isn't good!
It's kinda sad that I now realise, but my health, my parents worrying, my social life - all these things mattered but somehow never QUITE enough to help me eat enough to GAIN. I got over lots of my fear foods and improved my relationship with food in general and started eating normally, but I couldn't bring myself to have more than my family or eat when I wasn't hungry.
Then suddenly I got cast in a show that's going to tour publically all summer. It's high intensity, dance, singing, acting and it's going to take a lot of work. I'm going to be seen on stage by thousands of people (yay! it's not an exaggeration, it's so exciting!) and I don't want to look underweight and out of place in a fit and healthy cast! I don't want to be too weak to get through a dance routine, or be too worried to join in when the cast order pizza after the show. I owe it to the director who gave me the opportunity to be healthy enough to perform!
And suddenly, it was like being given a push. I think one reason I was afraid of gaining was that I felt I couldn't justify it.. like I shouldn't eat more than everyone else - I didn't deserve to, or that it was greedy to. But now I have a reason and something to look forward to and I'm ready to go! I'm excited! I feel like I can do anything and eat anything, I conquered some fears already today! (especially night time eating!).. it's liberating!
So my initial plan (see how it goes) is 10lbs in 10 weeks. And I've got loads of good ideas thanks to you guys and how long I've read the thread~ so here goes!
Breakfast -
3 handfuls oats soaked in skimmed milk, topped with 2 heaped tablespoons full-fat greek yoghurt w/honey, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries and 1 medium banana
1 slice toast w/ butter, thick spread strawberry jam
Hazelnut coffee with 1 tsp sugar and skim milk
Snack -
Kitkat (haven't had in a year!), clementine, small apple
Lunch - (must take more with me to class, was still hungry!)
Beef sandwich - 2 slices thick white bread w/butter, caramelised onion chutney, 2 slices beef topside, lettuce and orange pepper.
200mls milk.
Snack -
2 homemade fruit and nut oat cookies with tea
Handful trailmix.
Dinner -
2 handfuls (dry weight) pasta with lots of grated cheese, 4 sundried tomatoes, diced fresh tomato, 1/2 avocado, spinach, sweetcorn, pepper, all coated in EVOO =D (delicious. would never have made this for myself before!).
Few salted crisps (I'm UK!)
2 Chinese vegetable wontons
Individual tub Honey and Ginger Ice cream
Snack -
(big challenge) toast with butter and thick spread PB.
Mug of skimmed milk.
Looking at it now, it doesn't even seem a huge amount and I'm excited to increase! Some things, like having 2 kinds of biscuits in one day, having full fat yoghurt and ice cream in one day, having peanut butter and avocado in one day... wait having ALL those things in one day, seemed pretty big at the time~ and I'm so glad I've got somewhere to write all this, because it's a pretty lonely feeling to psyche yourself for a slice of toast at night, make it, eat it, feel hugely proud and then realise that it's no big deal for anyone else! : (
So, pleased to meet you and sorry it was SUCH a long post!
good work all...too tired to reply individually. oh and....i got a job today! full time kinesiologist at a hospital, so excited...so nervous.start on monday.
today:
B- big bowl honey nut cheerios+banana+pb+blackberries+1cmilk
s-orange+coffee
L-1c chocolate soy milk, 2x black forest bread+ 1/2can salmon with mayo and swiss cheese and fresh chives, 4c field greens salad(gr+red peppers,mushrooms+cucumber+italian dressing
S-largest crispin apple ever! bigger than my hand..literally!
D-1c chocolate soymilk, 2xchicken breast,2c ww pasta, pesto sauce, 3c frozen veg-broccoli+gr.beans+peas, 12baby carrot + italian dressing
S-activia peach yogurt +pb
peachpea- welcome! its so refreshing to see how excited and motivated you are for gaining :) its very inspiring
kbryson- congrats on the job!!!! yummy looking bfast too
Singingintherain: Man, that really helps put things in perspective... Just goes to show what you can do when you really dedicate yourself to your goal. Makes me wonder if a lot of the things that bother me/hold me back on a daily basis are really such a big deal, or if more of it is in my head than I realize. ;)
Also makes me thankful that I'm not dealing with a physical condition like an malabsorption. I'm lucky enough to have a (mostly) healthy, strong body, and it's up to me to give it the fuel it deserves!
Today's eats:
B: 2x fried eggs, 2x bacon, toasted muesli bagel w/ butter and jam, side of homefries (Do they really count as "home"fries when they're from frozen? ;p). (~700)
Second breakfast: (Finding it really annoying to have a morning snack during classes, so I've been moving more towards huge breakfasts and/or having a snack an hour or two after breakfast, just before leaving.) Granola bar, medium banana. (260)
L: Sandwich with 2x rye bread slices, jam, 2 oz. cheddar, tomatoes, and lettuce. Side of veggie chips. (700)
S: 5x gingersnaps, 40g raisins, glass of lemonade (360)
D: Roasted veggie ravioli, mushroom ravioli in tomato sauce with steamed broccoli on the side, all topped with parm. (???)
S: 1c hot apple cider, 2x giant almond biscotti. (Don't think I'm going to do that again... the biscotti on their own were quite sweet, and would probably taste far better with tea/something unsweetened.) (310)
For any of you gainers still living at home: how do you handle family meals? I really want to be able to enjoy meals with my parents, but at the same time I know I tend to underestimate how much I need to eat when I'm not measuring/counting. Thing is, that isn't always practical for the kinds of communal meals we eat, and even when it is, I'd rather spend that time enjoying the company of my dinnermates than freaking out trying to figure out how to get enough cals in my meal. Do you just accept that some days you may get less than usual, but that on other days you'll meet or go over cals, and it'll all balance out in the end? Or trust your appetite to tell you later on if you haven't had enough at dinner?
Today’s Eats:
B: 2x Quaker Instant Oatmeal, 1c Soy Milk, 1c Orange-Juice
S: Vanilla Almond Luna Bar
L: 2x Crystal Farms Mozzarella String Cheese, 1oz Kashi TLC 7-Grain Crackers, Quaker Chocolate Chip Chewy Bar, 1c Applesauce
S: 2oz (1/2c) Raw Unsalted Almonds, 16oz (2c) Snapple Cranberry Raspberry Juice
D: All American Grilled Boca Burger on Wheat Bun, 3oz Baby Carrots, 1c Soy Milk
S: Mixed Berry Nutrigrain Bar, 1 Crystal Farms Mozzarella String Cheese, 1/2c Trail Mix (Peanuts, Raisins, M&Ms, Peanut-Butter Chocolate Chips)
Total: 3200cal :)
emsaurus That's a very good point! I may just bring the idea up to my parents :)
singingintherain That's very true, I may feel differently if I was in your position :P You are doing extremely well dealing with that, your post really inspired me! Haha yes I love that you say it makes you a sweeter person, i'll have to keep on eating lots then :)
peachpea Welcome! I love your attitude toward getting healthy. Congrats on the chocolate bar. You're doing great, keep it up! :)
B: Everything bagel with 2tbsp cream cheese and 3/4 cup Strawberry greek yogurt with 1tbsp peanut butter, sliced banana and strawberries mixed in
L: 2 cups fruit and yogurt special K (used to eat this cereal at least twice a day, glad to have it back!) with 1 cup almond milk and lots of cinnamon
S: Ginormous orange, red delicious apple with 2tbsp peanut butter
D: Beef burger on a whole wheat bun, corn on the cob and honey mustard pretzels
S: Vanilla almond luna bar, jelly belly's
S: 2 S'mores pop tarts, whopper egg candies
:)
oepidamaas: Glad to hear you are more motivated! You CAN do this. You ARE doing it! Yummy sounding trail mix, btw. Did you come up with the concoction yourself? I always find prepackaged trail mixes scary, because my ED doesn't trust the nutritional information as there is never an equal number of each item per serving. Soo stupid. New challenge for me - watch for it in an upcoming mp, hopefully ;)
obbybobby: Those days will come and go, and you made it through! I loved little raisin boxes when I was a kid. My mom would pack them in my lunch every day. Always were so hard to get out though. Haha. Oh, and welcome to the forum :)
llamapow: Congrats on no counting AND not feeling guilty. That must feel AMAZING! Jaegerbombs, anyone? ;)
thebiggerpicture: I really don't like drinking when my stomach is full & bloated to begin with. And no, hangovers do not mix well with having to have a big brekky the next day either. I hope to finally get started on the rest of my weight gain (seems I have plateaued) so that I can go to Uni in the fall and fully enjoy the experience, especially since I will be legal drinking age when the rest of the students in my dorm won't be. Haha. The new year's day hospital admission was a huge decision. I talked to my parents about it for a loooong time, then my brothers - one of which is a huge help right now! - and also my five best friends. Everyone said I should do it, and offered to come with me & visit whenever they could. I have been hospitalized twice before at the same place so I knew exactly what to expect. Needless to say, although I was a "good girl" (funny how that environment shows ED who is boss!) the nurses were not too happy to see me again. When I was discharged I promised them I would never come back. Now I'm too old to go back to the paeds floor, but that is besides the point. I don't want to have to be hospitalized for this **** ever again. I don't want anyone to! Thanks for the encouragement wth the extra ensure. It is relieving to hear things like that, as it makes me feel like it was the right thing to do. I'm so happy that you were able to get the cals in and not care where they came from! And chocolate in the day time again? Soo amazing! The eats look great - I am looking forward to tomorrow's as well :)
peachpea: Welcome :) You sound so motivated and excited for your recovery.. it put a smile on my face. Your eats look fantastic, and I'm amazed you managed to conquer so many fears in one day. That takes strength and determination, and it will only get easier to face your challenges from here. Looking forward to seeing you post more!!
emsaurus: I love how you have acknowledged your body as strong & healthy, and know that it needs proper nutrition to fuel itself. Your breakfast looks amazing, as does the rest of your mp actually. Lol. I live at home, and basically am doing my own mp for each day. This means I talk to my mom about what we will be having for dinner, and then work it into my meal plan. She always makes the meals and serves me, but I have some input as to what it is and how much I am having. Sometimes her portions are bigger than I expected, and I have freaked out at the table before, or set stuff aside only to end up feeling guilty afterwards and eating it because I know I should have in the first place, or even getting my dad (a third party in this case) to check my mom's portion sizes. Anndd she's usually right on the ball. Funny how things can look so much bigger on your plate than they are in reality. It's also good to get into the mindset that some days you will have more or less cals than other days. That's more of "normal" eating. For example, there are days where my mom will have under 2000 cals, but others where she will have over 3000 cals. And she maintains a constant weight. My therapist says that over time durning recovery, I will not learn to look at things on such short term, meaning a one-day time frame. If you are a bit under one day and over the next, I don't think it will make much of a difference for your weight gain. Better to be over though ;)
kbryson: Congrats on the job! I'm sure you will do realllyy well.
So I decided to up the cals a bit today.. notice the monster huge nighttime snack. So. Full. It's annoying how earlier on in the day I am less flexible with having extras, yet at night it's ok. It's almost like I am waiting until the end of the day to know that I survived it without any huge ED outbursts. Or I feel guilty for not eating enough as I know I should be eating a lot more in order to have a significant gain. Either way, it makes for one full tummy going to bed. Tomorrow, I plan on having more food during the day and less at night. Do you guys eat at consitent times each day, or wherever it fits best?
B: 2 ww waffles topped with 1/2 c cottage cheese + lots of fresh strawberries (still have yet to conquer the forbidden maple syrup...), 200 ml vanilla yoghurt + 1 c mixed berries + ~1/2 c Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal (first time, and yummy! I love Kashi!), 1 1/2 c soy milk, 1 c OJ
S: 2 ensure
L: ~3/4 c brown rice + lots of cubed turkey breast + broccoli/carrots/cucumber, 1 1/2 c soy milk, 1 c juice, pear + 1 tbsp almond butter
S: ("extra") 2 ww fig newtons + 1 tbsp almond butter
S: 2 ensure
D: ww flax wrap with last 2/3 c ground soy + 1/6 avocado + sliced tomatos/spinach, carrots + broccoli, 1 1/2 c soy milk, 1 c juice
S: serving honey mutligrain pretzel twists with.. 1 tbsp almond butter + 1 tbsp peanut butter (finally bought some. yay!) + spur of the moment 1 tbsp nutella, 1 c vanilla bean fro yo, 7 dried apricots, 1 1/2 c soy milk, 1 c juice
Keep it up everyone!
