Mini Challenges :)

I thought it would be cool to start a thread of personal mini challenges, a list of things that we want to accomplish in ONE WEEK. Don't write down anything impossible, but try to push yourself a little past your comfort zone at the same time. Goals can be anything from trying a new food to upping your amount of calories to putting yourself in a new situation to gaining a certain amount of weight. That way we can encourage each other, share ideas, and celebrate with each other when we succeed. If you don't meet your goals this week, you can always try again next week. Any takers? I'll start:

Before next Friday I want to...
1) Take healthy, balanced, high calorie lunches to school everyday and eat in front of my friends.
2) Go to an end-of-summer party despite having to eat in front of others.
3) Try a new smoothie shop that just opened up in town.
4) Try the macaroni and cheese I bought with pasta (a food i usually avoid) and cheese, which I have yet to eat since my ED. (Nobody makes a big deal out of this since I didn't really like cheese before, but I can tell that my aversion to it is more than just a preference. Therefore I have to be the one to push myself to eat it.)

Yea keeping myself on track with these challenges is great

I need to

Gain two punds this week by:

-Eating 3 FULL meals a day and 3 proper snacks

Write down three fears of food and tackle them

Keep my social life active

"Let go " of my obsessive need to organise (but not slack off my college  work)

Starts now!!

Hey Bsh....thanks for sharing about good old Aunty Flo...i thought it was just me and that i was using her as an excuse.  I just got her again even though im still only 93 pounds.  Amazing heh?  And ive just got to share this with all you gals (sorry guys...) i was told by this Chinese Medicine Dr. that eatiing goji berries can help restore your menstrual cycle. I didnt believe him but i gave it a try..after eating them every day for 2 weeks i got my period...at 5 feet 5.5 and 93 pounds!!!  Go figure.  So it's worth a try for anyone else wanting their period back!

Original Post by vicgirl:

Hey Bsh....thanks for sharing about good old Aunty Flo...i thought it was just me and that i was using her as an excuse.  I just got her again even though im still only 93 pounds.  Amazing heh?  And ive just got to share this with all you gals (sorry guys...) i was told by this Chinese Medicine Dr. that eatiing goji berries can help restore your menstrual cycle. I didnt believe him but i gave it a try..after eating them every day for 2 weeks i got my period...at 5 feet 5.5 and 93 pounds!!!  Go figure.  So it's worth a try for anyone else wanting their period back!

 im getting some of them where can you get them from from ? do you just eat them like fruit ?

HI Helen,

You can get them at most health food shops...but they are expensive.  Here in Canada you can also get them in some supermarkets...the more high end ones.  And they sell them in bulk so i just buy a bit at a time. They come dried and taste like a cross between a dried cranberry and raisins.   I just eat as is...some people here soak them and throw them in their smoothies. 

thanks vicgirl i shall give them a whirl h x

I like this thread :)

Here are mine for this week:

• buy a muffin at one of the many coffee shops on campus and eat it in class, not at home in the privacy of my room
• eat a minimum of 2500 calories a day, and more if I happen to excercise
• drink hot chocolate/some other form of warm, caloric goodness during the day, not at night right before bed...maybe even buy this hot chocolate from one of said coffeeshops, not just make it myself at home
• go to my grandparents for dinner tonight and eat what I want, not what I think I should want.  And eat dessert.

I thought this thread needed a bump!

Goals for week of 10/26:

• Redistribute calories so I am eating more balanced over the course of the day instead of waiting until the second half of the day
• Increase daily calories
• Continue my 10-day binge-free streak!

increase calories

up my fat intake

cut dont on fizzy por and splenda

Stop worrying myself into a stupor each time something passes my lips and goes down into my stomach.

Calorie count more religiously - but obviously with a view to GAINING instead of losing.

Eat more full fat cheese to increase my calcium, protein, ..... and calories of course!

Try and relax at mealtimes - I usually sit down, look at my plate and say "Do I really want this?"  I was told off rather abruptly by my youngest son when I said this last night!

Original Post by flightotc:

I like this thread :)

Here are mine for this week:

 

• buy a muffin at one of the many coffee shops on campus and eat it in class, not at home in the privacy of my room
• eat a minimum of 2500 calories a day, and more if I happen to excercise
• drink hot chocolate/some other form of warm, caloric goodness during the day, not at night right before bed...maybe even buy this hot chocolate from one of said coffeeshops, not just make it myself at home
• go to my grandparents for dinner tonight and eat what I want, not what I think I should want.  And eat dessert.

 

K...had my friend pick out the muffin for me so I couldn't subconsciously choose the lowest cal one.  Raisin Oatmeal nut...and it was AMAZING.

Mostly kept up with my calories, although I'm thinking I should have eaten even more on the days I worked out..

Still stuck to night time hot chocolate...I'll go make myself a mug right now to make up for it :)

And yes, I did eat the home made lasagna...for three days in a row.  And I couldn't decide between the cheesecake and the carrott cake, so I had both...The lasagna was difficult the first time, though, I kind of almost cried  but I got better with practice.

This week?

• Up my calories further, even though it's Halloween weekend and I'll be tempted to compensate
• Stop weighing myself daily

Original Post by waycat:

Calorie count more religiously - but obviously with a view to GAINING instead of losing.

This is a toughie for me... I don't want to count because I feel like it encourages me to obsess over having the "right" macronutrient ratios and to be sure I'm eating the "right" foods so I can tell myself "Yeah I'm gaining, but at least I'm doing it the RIGHT way" (even though there isn't a "right way" in recovery) and wanting to avoid "bad" foods because of how guilty I'd feel about writing them down and really owning that I ate them and that it was OK that I did so.

But on the other hand, I know I will tend to under-eat if I don't count so... I don't know.

chemgirl: I wouldn't worry to much over the macronutrient ratios. Really, they don't make much of a difference at all. In fact, if you actually trust your body enough, it will regulate the ratios on its own! :)

Flight - awesome job on the lasagna. Italian food is still really hard for me!

Goobyb - thanks for the support. I've definitely made progress in recovery as far as ratios go, mostly I think b/c I realized there's no way I can eat enough protein as a portion of my calories to keep it at the x-to-y range with which I'm comfortable.

Haha thanks, chemgirl.  Italian has always been my favourite, but so scary..pasta, pizza, cheese, cream...seems to be every fear food rolled into one.  

One of these days we'll be able to eat it without it being an accomplishment, because it won't be hard anymore.

this is an awesome thread!!!!

1) have a starbucks drink other than coffee w/ some steamed soy milk

2) eat a big lunch

3) not preplan dinner, and have more starches at night

4) eat something really indulgent!

i guess thats al ot, so i guess i'd like  to do all that within two weeks? having to eat 2000-2500 calories a day is kind of exciting considering all the food i havent been enjoying, but it's terrifying because i'm used to eating the same safe foods (yogurt, cottage cheese, oatmeal, spinach, cucumbers, turkey, frozen yogurt, sweet potatoes etc)...i've been eating 1700-1900 ish lately (up from under 100 to-->1000-->1100-->1200-->1300--& gt;1400-->1500)-1600, 1650, etc),, so i'd really like to start eating 2000/daily at LEAST. i drool over so many foods and havent eaten them in FOREVER...i'm terrified but reallye xcited!!!!!

I have trouble too breaking out of my comfort-zone foods. Since I've started gaining again I've been just eating MORE of the same foods instead of stretching my variety... although one thing I have conquered that I'm really proud of is dried fruit and nut eating as well as Larabar eating b/c they are so low mass for high calories. Now trail mix is my favorite thing to nosh on... which probably means it's time to expand my realm of food choices again.

Original Post by chemgirl:

I have trouble too breaking out of my comfort-zone foods. Since I've started gaining again I've been just eating MORE of the same foods instead of stretching my variety... although one thing I have conquered that I'm really proud of is dried fruit and nut eating as well as Larabar eating b/c they are so low mass for high calories. Now trail mix is my favorite thing to nosh on... which probably means it's time to expand my realm of food choices again.

 well done, i have a habit of doing that to , but it gets s boring ive noticed when i do change something although nervous i feel so much better

i have trouble with spreading my calories out throughout the day. today i am making myself eat half of my 2500 calories BEFORE work at 3. also, today is my first day of work and ill be eating dinner in public which i havent done in a while. 

CARPE DIEM! 

Original Post by fruit_lvr:

i have trouble with spreading my calories out throughout the day. today i am making myself eat half of my 2500 calories BEFORE work at 3. also, today is my first day of work and ill be eating dinner in public which i havent done in a while. 

CARPE DIEM! 

 i too am having problems with distributing my calories throughout the day and end up eating half my calories at night. i get SO full afterwards!

so ive challenged myself to eat higher-calorie breakfasts and lunches this week..hopefully it'll go well