What do I do in Ireland!!!??? HELP :S

Hi.. long story short, I'm recovering from anorexia, have been since Febuary but not doing very well :S, I acctully lost some weight, and still struggle with the idea of gaining weight.. so maybe you'd say Im more still stuggleing through it then recovering :(   
Anyways, I'm going to Ireland with my Aunt in 4 days(I'll be there for 8 days, and stay on my cousin's farm, but tour around too)! Which I am super exited about but more nervous than exited acctully, BECAUSE of food! Isn't that Stupid!!!!!   
I cannot stop counting calories, and it like controlls my every thought, and in Ireland I really just want to forget about all my food issues and enjoy myself, but how can I when I won't be able to relax!? and it doesn;t help that I need to have 2 Carnation Instant Breakfast a day(my nutritionest says) But at home I always have skim milk, but there Im gonna have to have milk straight from a freakin' cow! Which is cool I know.. but that's WHOLE milk.. and whole milk is probably my biggest fear food! :[
And they're probably gonna make me eat all this junky food too, and when somebody offers me something, it's really hard for me to say no! So I'm gonna have to eat a whole bunch of junk food, and fatty stuff, and I'm SOOO scared! I just want to relax and enjoy myself!!!
Anybody have any advise for me on how to deal with the food on my plate or the voice in my head!?

PLEASE HELP! Al advise appreciated! .

Hey, I went to Greece while I was in recovery, and basically just 'sucked it up' and ate the food. Well, I fell in love with it and since I couldn't count calories- I stopped. And even when I was continuing to gain I just sort of judged and haven't counted since. 

Think about this: You are in Ireland! You are in a new, exciting place and there is probably so much awesome stuff to try/great experiences and your ED doesn't want you to have fun, doesn't want you to enjoy yourself. But you do, and this is a chance to tell your ED to go, well, f*** itself (to put it nicely :)!). At first it will be scary as hell, but focus on intuitive eating- if you want that ---- (insert delicious food here) then have it! Enjoy yourself. Think more about all the cool stuff you get to do instead of eating non-safe foods. I promise that once you start enjoying yourself your ED will take a backseat :)

While I cant tell you how to deal with the voices in your head, I can tell you that Skim milk is very readily available here in Ireland and even on farms, very very few actually still drink milk straight from a cow unpasteurised and the food we eat is pretty non junky generally, a lot less so than in the US, if you feel like you're imposing on your hosts by buying your own milk and foods etc. Why not try diluting the milk with water? Try and enjoy your visit here, we're getting great weather at the moment, so the food cooked for you will be even less stodgy and heavy as us Irish cant handle big potato centered meals in the warm humid weather!Hope this alleviates your stress a little!

is this a bloody joke.

im irish. we DO NOT live in the stone age.... we are normal people with normal food products. your post makes you look ignorant and stupid

Blame the US media outlets Fidget, I don't think you should be so harsh on her.

Thank you so much Toridl and Carolally, I'll try my very hardest to ignor the voices, although it will be hard! :S I'm just really nervous about upsetting my aunts and cousin. And I have no idea what the food will be like, not just the fact that it's in Ireland, but my family, says Canadian food is different from Irish, so I guess Im just nervous when I don't know what to expect.

And Fidget84, I really am sooo sorry to offend you, or anybody else! :( I'm only 14 and have no idea what the rest of the world is really like I guess, Ive never been outside of Canada or the US..  I guess I maybe prejudged, and I really am sorry.. :(

Hello!Im irish too-trust me-were not all big giant leprechauns!theres plenty of food here you can eat!.Thinking about the great time in ireland you WILL have probabaly wont make you any less anxious about coming over. But its your ED thats scared of the change. 

The food here is the same as the food you will get at home. Foods the same really everywhere, its the change your probabaly worried about. Your ED is making up loadsa stories and ideas about how you will have to eat lots of junk etc..-.thats all bull***, its trying to your trip. Why let it?Its only lying to you anyway.

If someone offers you something, ask yourself-Do I want it?Not does ED want it, do YOU want it, and go from there. Look at this trip as a positive experience. Facing up to eating while on holidays will only make you stronger to do it again AND eating with people might help you to see how others are around food and eating. It COULD all be very beneficial to your recovery-if you let it.

But like I said, the food is the same as everywhere else, its just that silly voice in your head telling you otherwise. Once you come home you will be wondering what you made all the fuss about in the first place!.

So where are you visiitng?were having fab weather at the moment! And BTB -our milk is yummy and you have gotta try some cadburys chocolate if you can manage it-WAY better than the american stuff (no offence!)

p.s-the food here is pretty plain! sandwiches, cereal, meat, vegetables, kinda boring really!not nearly as fancy as Canada!

Thank you so much Drivenlass.. That really halped me to relax a bit about the trip, for the first time in days! :)

Marissa dont worry about your trip to Ireland. I know whenever I go to travel to other places I worry about the foods and differences, but your coming over to Ireland and really you`ll find that the food isnt much different to what you probably get over there.

As for the milk situation, Im pretty sure they wont make you drink milk straight from a cow, you can buy skimmed milk in the supermarkets!

So bottom line is, I wouldnt worry its Ireland your coming to not where we eat pretty normal everyday types of food :-)

i'm irish. living in ireland. and we're (well before the recession ;) ) one of the wealthiest countries in the world......so i am insulted as to what your preconceptions are. u think colin farrell and bono grew up drinking from the cows udders?!..christ. we are not different to the states, england, paris etc.

only YOU can eat, no one can eat for you. no one can make you recover. so ask yourself everyday, every minute...do i want to recover and get my life back, and be happy...or do i want to merely exist, ruled by an ED which WILL kill me...

good luck.

I just wanted to tell everyone, the reason I think/thought I would be drinking straight from a cow is because that is what my Aunt TOLD me.. I think now she was probably joking. And I really am truely sorry to anybody who I affended. :(

ha ha.. let us know how you get on marissa.... you'll be fine. dont worry im not offended really... more amused.

this is a great opportunity to really try to get a break from your ed. the food choices here are great, but as someone said you might find it easier as there arent so many thousands of food choices.

i remember when i went to france and they had many brands of so so so much and i found the decisions very difficult to make when i was there (i was struggling with ed at the time). we have loads of food but not the gazillions of choices of the US.

you'll be ok. i think we have carnation instant too. and powdered milk and lots of good nutritious food.

Okay, thanks a million everybody.. I'll let you know how it goes!:)

You know...you're going on vacation, so if ED starts bugging you--well, tell it to bugger off.  Don't let yourself think about the calories--don't count them at all!  Just think of the food itself as an adventure.  You won't have too many opportunities to eat Irish food straight from the source, so enjoy every bit of it.  Full Irish breakfast?  Sounds delicious!  Cheese plate?  Incredible!  Soda bread, stews, and potatoes?  Couldn't be better!  Enjoy it all and really experience it--and when ED starts freaking out, remind yourself that it may be a long time before you have an opportunity like this again and grab another slice of cheddar.

i hope you really DO get to drink whole milk straight from the cow.  I grew up on it! and i'm from the U.S.  Does your aunt have a farm or something?  my uncle did so we would just fill up jugs of it! 

I think you'll be ok.  Not being able to count the calories in everything used to scare me to death.  One of the things you have to eventually realize (and i mean emotionally, not just understand it) is that your body isn't going to gain 10 lbs overnight or just because you ate a few cookies one day or even a couple of days!

Don't psych yourself out about the food.  Just try to keep your mind focused on all the fun things your doing in a new country! 

Your Aunt was taking the pi**!! Did she tell you we all use the toilet at the end of the garden too? Which is a seat with a hole in it and a bucket underneath??

We eat normal foods. Fresh meat and veg is the same worldwide. Processed and packaged foods will differ- but that only natural! We have some delicious 'traditional' foods like irish stew (beef/lamb with potatoes, onions, carrots etc- nothing deadly there) and soda/potato bread- which , like any breads will cause you to gain weight if you gorge on them!

I can only echo what everyone else said- have no preconceptions of what the food is like here and you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you gain a few lbs while here- so what? You're on holiday, a once in a lifetime opportunity, and when you return home- to 'normal' eating, the weight will come off again- just like it does for 'normal' people!

Why on earth did you think we exist on fatty junky food?!?

Just to let everyone know; I just got off the phone with my Aunt from Ireland, and she told me she was in fact kidding about drinking milk straight from the cow! Sheesh! all that over nothing!?

LOL, everytime I read a comment about it I laugh!  That really was ridiculous! :)

Why does it matter that you're going to Ireland?

I'm from Ireland and I can tell you that the food here is just the same as anywhere else just better quality and more expensive.

i don't think its so much that is IRELAND than it is an unfamiliar country with unfamiliar food. It just happens to be the unfamiliar country that she is visiting.