Food Groups: Starchy Foods

I thought I'd do a post educating both people with and without eating disorders, because I think that if people understood what a healthy balanced diet it, then there would be far less people suffering from eating disorders out there.A lot of people think "eating healthily" means eating fruits and vegetables etc., and cutting out fats, dairy and carbohydrates from our diet. But that couldn't be more wrong.

We need fats, fats and carbohydrates in order to live!

Our body cannot function properly without them, so why there is this whole image of certain food groups being 'bad' for you, I simply do not know.

So I thought I'd do a post on eating well. This is acording to a dietician too- I'm not just making things up!

I'm going to split this into 5 sperate posts, so here is part one...

1) Starchy Foods

(We don't call these carbohydrates, because other food contains carbohydrates as well. Starchy foods is more accurate.)

Why do we need starchy foods?

• Gives us slow releasing energy
• Keeps our blood sugar levels steady
  - This is VITAL for the whole body, especially the brain.
• Helps sleep
• Contains essential vitamins

How often should we eat them?

Shoud be a base for each of the 3 meals a day we eat.

Image via here.

Examples:

Bread, potato, rice, pasta, chips, couscous, gnocchi, oats, breakfast cereals...

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Look out for the rest of the food groups over the next few weeks!

Hope this is helpful,

Hannah xox

A great way to enjoy Weetabix!

Today I thought I'd share with you my ALL TIME FAVOURITE breakfast, and how to make it for yourself! I don't really like oats or porridge, and this is a great, healthy alternative!

Prep time:

5 minutes - it's quick, easy and delicious!

Ingredients:

Essentials:
2 x weetabix or oatabix biscuits
100ml milk of your choice

Possible toppings:
100ml yogurt - either plain yogurt or fruit, your choice!
5 large strawberries
1 chopped banana
Crushed nuts
Any type of berries
Pretty much any chopped fruits or nuts
Can add peanut butter, nutella or spread of some sort
Coca powder
Sugar or sweetener
Can even add chocolate chips

Method:

1. First of all get your two weetabix/oatabix and crush them up. You can do this using your hands and just crumbling them into a bowl
2. Add 100ml milk of your choice (this can be cows milk, soy milk, almond milk, goats milk - you get the picture), then using the back of a spoon, mix and stir the crumbled weetabix in with the milk. Press down with the back of your spoon on the weetabix to remove lumps. Leave this to soften while you prepare your toppings
3. Now for toppings there are a wide variety of choices; the list is almost endless! You can top your weetabix with fruit, spreads, coca powder, yogurt, anything! My favourite is adding yogurt and strawberries, so I'll tell you how to do that. it's pretty simple to make it up though- try out different combinations and see which you like!
4. Get 100ml of a yogurt of your choice (I like smooth strawberry or raspberry yogurts best), then scoop it out of the tub on top of your weetabix. Using the back of a spoon again, smooth the yogurt over the weetabix in a yogurt layer, before adding fruit. (you can stir in the yogurt if you prefer, I just like having the bottom layer of weetabix with a layer of yogurt on top)
5. Chop up whatever fruit you wish (personally I love strawberries - I usually have 5 large ones and chop them up first into quarters, then I half each of the quarters, so splitting the strawberry into 8).
6. Sprinkle your fruit on top of your weetabix (and yogurt) and you're done! Enjoy the yumminess to come!

Other ways to prepare/eat your delicious breakfast:

Another fun and equally delicious way of making your weetabix combo breakfast is by making "Overnight Weetabix".
This consists of doing exactly the same thing, the same recipe, but instead of doing it in the morning, you can do it the day/night/evening before. This is great if you get up quickly in the minute and want a quick easy breakfast with no faff!
You can make these in a jar like in my picture on the left, or you can just do it in a bowl like before.

NOTE: If you do decide to use a jar, do step 1 (preparing the weetabix) in another bowl first, because it is more difficult to get it all mixed properly in a jar.

Feeling cold?

Why not heat up your milk in the microwave before you stir it in so that it's hot?

Or mix do steps 1 and 2 and then heat your milk and weetabix?

Or you could even go full out and stick your toppings in it first then heat it up

- it's up to you!

Try it a few different ways and see which you prefer!

And that's all I have to say!

Hope this is helpful and anyone who tries this enjoys it as much as me!

If you do decide to try it and want to send in a picture (if I recieve pictures I will add a "contributor's page" or an "emailed in" page to display them on), I would love to see them!
Email: myjourneywithrecovery@gmail.com

Hannah xox

My Meal Plan

I've just been through a rough time and a relapse, but now I'm back and kicking butt with recovery!

I just got given my new meal plan, so I thought I'd share it with you guys- because I remember when I first started recovery and didn't have a meal plan I was completely at loss with what I should be eating and how much!

My meal plan I'm on at the moment is about 1800 to 2000 calories, but obviously this changes from person to person, and I know I'll be increasing next week! (If you want me to upload my weekly meal plans just say and I will!)

So don't for a minute look at this and think:

"She eats less than me and she's in recovery, so it's for me to eat less like her".

X --------------------------------------------- WRONG --------------------------------------------- X

No matter what stage you are at in recovery, we cannot compete with each other.

Anorexia and eating disorders are no game- they are dangerous, horrible illnesses. And we should not encourage each other! Stick to the guidance of the professionals when you can, but this plan is here for those who are either curious, or those who perhaps haven't got a meal plan but are eating around the same amount of calories and would like a plan.
Sorry, just had to say that bit and make it clear!


Just a few quick things you might want to know before reading my meal plan:

• The reason I drink goats milk is just because cows milk makes my eczema worse and I prefer the taste, I think it's sweeter and nicer than cows milk.
• Part of my meal plan is drinking a pint (500ml) of full fat milk a day, which is why I have so much milk on my meal plan! Calcium is important for bones ☺
• This meal plan is designed to make you gain 0.5kg a week, though that depends what weight to height you are, the rate of your metabolism, how much or little you've been eating etc.

***

MEAL PLAN: {1800-2000 kcal}

BREAKFAST

2 weetabix w/ 200ml goats milk
100ml yogurt (petit filous)
200ml apple juice

MORNING SNACK

Cereal bar
E.g. Nature Valley, eat natural etc.

LUNCH

Quiche / Pasta with sauce / Bagel with full fat tuna and mayonnaise filler
200ml apple juice
100ml yogurt (petit filous OR chocolate shape yogurt)

AFTERNOON SNACK

200ml goats milk
Piece of fruit

DINNER

Whatever mum cooks!
200ml apple juice
3 x days a week - FULL pudding, e.g. Ice cream or apple crumble etc
4 x days a week - 100ml yogurt (petit filous)

EVENING SNACK

200ml goats milk
2 biscuits

***

I personally find that writing my meal plan out on an A3 sheet of paper using felt tips and making it look pretty helps me, because I can stick it to my wall and it looks nice, and it reminds me of what I have to eat.

It also allows you to have that element of control- if you are forcing yourself to eat everything on your mealplan despite what your head may be saying, then that just proves how strong you are!

I hope that having a look at this meal plan has helped you or perhaps given you some ideas for formulating your own meal plan!

Hannah xox

Food Diary - Pros and Cons

I have been keeping a food diary since the very first day I got diagnosed with anorexia and embarked upon this difficult but worthwhile journey of recovery.
So from the 9th of May 2013 to this very day I have written down everything I have eaten, and sometimes jotting down how I'm feeling next  to it.

***

Where do I keep my food diary?
You can keep your food diary in a notebook, you can print off food diary sheets online, you can even get food diary smartphone apps- my personal favourite being RR, where you write down what you eat but also how you feel on scales of 1-5, which is quick but gives you a good idea of how you are doing when you look back at it. It can also draw graphs for you of your mood or how often you are binging etc. which can be very helpful to see how you are coming along.
I personally write it down in a notebook which is my food diary, but I have also used the RR app which I really recommend if you have a smartphone - it just depends if you prefer it being written down on paper or digitally!

***

Useful or not?
Now I'd definitely say it has been useful to refer to at times, but with keeping such a rigorous record of what I eat and when I eat it, I'd definitely say there are some negative points to bear in mind.

If you are recovering from an eating disorder- whether that be anorexia, binge eating, bulimia, EDNOS, orthadoxia, you name it!- deciding whether to keep a food diary or not can be difficult.
So I thought that I would do a post about the pros and cons to help you guys out.
I will not reach an overall conclusion as to whether it is a "good" or "bad" idea, I'll let you decide that for yourselves. It's important that you feel happy and comfortable with whatever you choose to do.

***

Side note - NOT a calorie counter
Also, can I just say right now that this food diary should NOT be a calorie counter! It is important to let go of your eating disorder and start eating for nutrition, calories do not matter in the slightest and should not be counted up in your diary if you can avoid it! - That's my advice anyway, obviously you can go against it if you wish.

***

Pros

• It allows you to keep track of your progress- how much you are eating and if you have a meal plan, whether you are managing to stick to it or not
• If you have a dietitian/ therapist/ counsellor/ keyworker, you can show it to them if you want to know if you are eating enough/ the right things/ sticking to your meal plan well enough etc.
• It can be useful to refer back to; for instance if you start losing weight you can look back on a period where you were gaining and see what you were eating then and how you could get back on the right track again
• By writing everything down you can get used to what you are eating and start accepting your new food plan more - but be warned, for some people writing it down may only make what you're eating seem more of a challenge.
• Many people who have eating disorders (myself included) like the feeling of control when they lose weight or don't eat etc., so by keeping a food diary you are still perfectly in control but in a new way which will lead to you getting rid of your eating disorder forever
• If you've eaten something that you found really hard like chocolate cake or something, when you write it down and write next to it how hard you found it, when you look back you will be able to see how brave you were for eating it and even if you don't feel it at the time, you will be proud of yourself

Cons

• Keeping a vigorous list of what you are eating can be another way of your eating disorder taking over - though you can always start off by writing it down and eventually stopping
• It is time consuming
• It may make you feel worse about what you are eating if you write it all down and it looks like such a large amount that you cannot cope with it
• It doesn't allow you to forget what you've eaten
• It may make it harder for you to move on from your eating disorder and leave it behind
• You may get anxious about somebody finding it
• It may frustrate you to see how long it takes for things to change and you to be able to eat more

***

It's up to you...

I've probably missed some points out by accident, but I think that is the majority of points I wanted to make. If anyone has any more suggestions leave them in the comments and I will add to the lists and give you credit of course (unless you ask to remain anonymous).

It is up to whoever is reading this to draw their own conclusion of whether they think it is right for them, and whether it will help them in their recovery. There is no right or wrong answer, everyone is different and it may help some people but not others.

Personally I agree with all the pros and cons and still haven't actually made up my mind wheter it is a good idea or not! - Having said that I still continue to do it anyway, ahah.

Hannah xox