any type of food to gain weight?

I was just wondering, does it matter what type of foods we eat while gaining weight? e.g. Potato chips vs Yogurt & Granola as a snack or  McDonalds vs Homemade burger as dinner.

I know that a lot of people would say that the second option is healthier etc etc, but I've heard countless times that in recovery for ED patients, a calorie is a calorie and all fats are essential for our bodies. So does it really matter what type of foods we eat during recovery? I would much rather go for the healthier food options because I've always been scared of unhealthy food options, but now that I'm staying with people who really don't care about what they eat, I realise that I have to clear this out before I cause a scene in public =)

Thanks for any help.

heya,

a cal is a cal in terms of weight gain cause calories are units of energy so no matter where theyre sourced from , oversoncuming cals an not burnin them off=weight gain. in recovery most wud prefer to eat healthy foods which is fine because if u gain weight on eating lots of nuts u also get loads of nutrients and ur hair an nails wud benefit from then but say if u were to constantly jus eat choc u cud get breakouts etc...so technically yes a calorie is a calorie but foods with the same calories have different nurtients an vitamins an healthy energy dense foods are alot better for the body than loads of junk food. i also think tho in recovery its imposrtant if u like something thats not classified as healthy like cookies or somethin to include it in ur menu for the day even jus once a week so u eliminate that fear around so called unhealthy foods for the future. part of recovery is normalising eating an normal ppl without eds arent scared of treating themselvs to somthin less than healthy every now an again. hope i helped :)

I'll quote this passage from "In Defence of Food" by Michael Pollan.

(Paul Rozin is a University of Pennsylvania psychologist.) A few years ago, Rozin presented a group of Americans with the following scenario. "Assume you are alone on a desert island for one year and you can have water and one other food.  Pick the food that you think would be best for your health"  The choices were corn, alfalfa sprouts, hot dogs, spinach, peaches, bananas and milk chocolate. The most popular choice was bananas (42%), follwed by spinach (27%), corn (12%), alfalfa sprouts (7%) peaches (5%), hot dogs (4%) and milk chocolate (3%).  Only 7% of the participants chose one of the two foods that would in fact best support survival:  hot dogs and milk chocolate  

I think that makes the point how so easy it is to get brainwashed into categorising certain things as 'healthy' or 'unhealthy'.  So don't cause a scene.  Enjoy some variety.  It's all good for gaining weight.

that's awesome, gi-jane.  vitamins and minerals are essential and important.  but EDs are born from an obsession w/perfection and denying yourself certain items/combinations/caloric totals/flavors/etc.  so designing a food plan that's not too crazy, but still pushes you to try new things, is a good idea.  burgers are okay, cookies are good, nuts are awesome--but make an effort to also getting your fiber and nutrients, you know? 

if you're underweight, the #1 priority is to gain weight.  and when you're at a healthy weight, the #1 priority is to maintain your weight.  and then try to be balanced and healthy.  best of luck!

haha well hot dogs woulda been mine... either all beef nathan hot dogs or angus beef ball parks...

hehe and im havin nathans grilled dogs for dinner!!!!!!!!!!!

My ex used to take this chocolate powder stuff to gain weight.  It was made by met-rix I believe.  I guess it's supposed to be good for you, he was really intense  with workouts and gaining weight at the same time.  I don't know if that helps you out or not, maybe you can go to the vitamin stores like GNC and browse for stuff similar to that.

in ed recovery, its best to face your fear foods. if youve deprived yourself of mcdonalds for some time, grab a damn burger. malnutrition is an extreme situation, so dont be afraid to step outside of typical nutritional guidelines.

its wonderful to gain on foods you love, but in reality, you cant access these foods all the time. plus, with all of the bloating and fullness associated with refeeding, its easier to have a milkshake for calcium as opposed to three yogurts.

one thing thats a must while gaining is breaking the rigidity of a "perfect" diet. dont obsess over what goes in, just try and incorporate your pre-ed eating habits back into your meals. treats are great, and so are veggies! get the best of both worlds if youd like. heres some of my favorit gain combos that incorporate "challenge" foods...

snacks:

1 hershey's special dark chocolate bar, 1 plum

2 kashi cookies, 14 carrot sticks

1/2 cup full fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup fiberone, 1 tbs. honey,1/2 cup pineapple

22 teddy grahams, 1 apple, 1 tbs. peanutbutter

1 jell-o pudding, 1 protein bar (snicker's marathon nutrition), 1 v-8 veggie juice can

'unhealthy' is 'bad' because it has more cals that it's worth, as in it has little nutrition. a gainers goal is to gain weight, which is gained by having more cals than you use if you ensure theres generally enough nutrition in your diet (as someone once said, healty doesn't havea decimal point) through your main meals, like me, your snacks could be whatever you fancy healthy or not, although for a maintainer havig only chocoate/lollie snacks isn't really a good idea, too many cals for them.

i agree with whats been said, dont deny yourself, but also ppl maintaining have snacks and treats-daily.  im not saying theyre eating an entire cake everyday, but they will have daily treats of a modest caloric amount.

Alright, thanks so much guys. That did clear up my obsessive ED mind xD I was just kinda freaking out because I'm staying with this family that practically lives off processed food and always goes out for meal times (rarely home-cooked food). It really worries me because I went to their kitchen for a snack and there was no fruit or nuts o.o Just biscuits, cookies, chips, chocolate etc.

We did go to the supermart yesterday and I stocked up on a lot though  But I guess I'm going to have to try to conquer my fears by eating the 'challenge' foods =/

Thanks to everyone! 

i struggle with this......to eat ne thing thats not a super food.......

i have just added scary food which for me are dairy and bread...... n 3 days now i feel so much better!

:)

But I'm still kinda unsure about something... I know that 'junk food' is higher in cals than the healthy foods and the nutritional value is significantly different, but what would the outcome be if there were two recovering patients:

Both of the patients are eating 2,500 calories per day but with different foods. Let's just say the 1st patient is eating 2,500 in 'unhealthy food' (coco pops for breakfast, KFC for lunch, Pizza Hut for dinner, chips/cookies for snack etc) and the 2nd patient is eating 2,500 in 'healthy' foods. (muesli for breakfast, homemade sandwich for lunch, homecooked food for dinner, nuts/yogurt for snack etc) So I guess the 2nd patient would be eating a bit more in quantity but both of them still total up to 2,500 cals.

Will there be a different outcome during and after recovery?

In your example, the people would gain weight at the same rate.  Energy is energy, no matter where from.  But the person eating the first menu might not feel as energetic as the second person because of the difference in nutrition.   Again, don't write off anything as 'junk food'.   Combining both diets.... homecooked food, a few slices of pizza, muesli, a cookie with a cup of tea in the afternoon.... you can enjoy the best of all worlds.

I agree with the majority view, here. You need a balance of both. I've seen it said on the site: "A calorie is a calorie, but nutrition is nutrition". You need the right amount of nutritious calories while still enjoying the less nutritious, or else it can lean too far one way or too far the other. I like to eat 90% cleanly and healthily while making my calorie targets but I know once in a while yes, I can eat chips or fried calamari if I really want it, yes, I can have some marshmallows if I want them, and so on.

What IS important is tackling fear foods. You don't have to eat them all the time but having them (particularly, if you can, early in recovery as to overcome them all the quicker) to beat them is pretty important in my eyes. I was helped with this early on while my (ex) boyfriend was still quite supportive of me and took me out places - going out to eat, as an aside, is also a very good thing to tackle early on. I know I'd tick everyone off when still in grip of my ED and fawning over the menu looking for the lightest salad like an idiot. Meals out are meant to be enjoyed, and so are slightly junkier foods. So is... all food, really. Everything in moderation!

Yeah, tackling fear foods is one of the hardest things. because I was thinking, since i'm staying with a family practically living in not-so-healthy foods, I should just give it a go and eat those things. But it wasn't as easy as I thought!

I realise I can actually consume the food, but the 'after' is the worse bit. Yesterday I felt incredibly terrible and guilty after eating a mint cookie, and also after eating 4 pieces of chocolate-covered blueberries. The kind of terrible that makes me walk faster, fidget alot, do chair crunches whenever I can x.x 

My psychologist once told me that I have to overcome this by being neutral to the feeling instead of trying to push it out, but I can't ignore it =/ the voice is too strong. 

lala - i'm the same as you when I go out with the family! They bring me out and I'm always the last one to order because everything seems so scary and unsafe. i try my best to enjoy meals, which I can, but its always the feelings that come after the meals...