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

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.

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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

Snack ideas: Part 1

I'm sure a lot of people with eating disorders are with me when I say this one: it's so hard to physically eat that much food! (Never mind what your head is telling you as well!) When you're on a meal plan and have to eat 5 or 6 times a day (that's 3 meals with 2/3 snacks), you constantly feel full and bloated and it's horrible!

It's also really hard to cope in your head, and personally I find that healthy eating makes me feel that tiny bit better and that tiny bit less guilty.

So today I thought I'd post some snack ideas that are healthy and aren't too filling, but are (hopefully) nutritional and also big enough to count as part of your meal plan :)

1) Yogurt w/ crushed pecan nuts (or other nuts of your choice)

This is simple and easy to do- you don't really have to faff around. Just grab a yogurt of your choice (try really hard to eat full fat yogurt, even if your head is telling you not to, it really is better for you) and crush some pecan nuts into it and mix it in. Keep doing that until it's very lumpy and you have at least 1 to 2 tbsp of nuts in there. Then enjoy! You can do this with plain vanilla yogurt, or you can even use fruit yogurt- mine is an apricot petit filious big pot!

Try to have at least 125ml of yogurt- but have as much as you can manage <3
This also tastes really good with chopped up banana, strawberries and/or blueberries, so get creative and have a try! (You might need to use a bowl if you're adding more though ;)

2) Peanut butter banana bites

This is another quick and easy thing to do, yet it's so delicious and looks great! Just chop up a banana, and put a fairly generous dollop of peanut butter (or Nutella /other spread of your choice!) on top of one slice of banana, then put another slice of banana on top and hey presto!- you've got yourself a yummy and nutritious snack!
You could also finish off the snack by adding blueberries or slices of strawberries around the edge, which works great if you have to have a little bit of a bigger snack (depending on your meal plan, or how much you want to challenge yourself!)

3) Yogurt, passion fruit and almonds medley

All you need for this delicious snack is a passion fruit, 15g flaked almonds and 125ml of yogurt of your choice! (or however much yogurt your dietitian/key-worker recommends)  Just put your yogurt in a bowl, scoop out your passion fruit and add it on top of your yogurt, then sprinkle the almonds on top, and you're done! Now mix it all together for a yummy and nutritional snack!

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Sorry, I seem to have gone on quite a fruit, nut and yogurt theme here! ;)
I hope this blog post is helpful and gives you a few ideas for snacks- I know I often get stuck for ideas but get bored of eating the same things over and over!

I am hoping to continue this as a series of snack idea posts, so please send in your snack ideas and photos! You can do so by uploading a photo on your Instagram, and tagging #recoverysnackideas or you can also email the photo to me! Contact details below :)

Email: myjourneywithrecovery@gmail.com
Instagram: #recoverysnackideas

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Thank you very much to @missssrachel (on IG) for the peanut butter banana bites snack idea and photo, and also thank you very much to @healthy_recovery (on IG) for the yogurt, passion fruit and almonds medley snack idea and photo! All credit goes to you two, thank you so much for allowing me to use them!

Hannah xox