What i eat in a day : in recovery

A typical food diary of what I eat in a day while in eating disorder recovery and how I manage on a student budget.

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Trigger warning: This post contains the discussion of sensitive topics involving eating disorders and anxiety.

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Eating disorder recovery looks very different to everyone, it is such a personal and potentially private part of the recovery process that is hardly touched upon with peers as it is important to be completely tailored to you. This being said, I always find it helpful to see how other people like me are coping. For me, I have been out of therapy for around 5 months now, so I am at the stage where I have started to vary my diet to get a little more adventurous with texture (this is something I struggle the most with) as I now know what I am comfortable with.

For those of you in a similar situation to mine, I hope you find a sense of comfort in parts of my daily diet that may seem familiar.

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Breakfast

Scrambled EgG And Baked Beans

For breakfast I like to eat something substantial that is going to keep me full until lunchtime. This is important to me as prior to recovery I would often substitute meals with snacks, which is a habit I wanted to shake. To make my scrambled egg I whisk 2 eggs in a mug with a splash of almond milk, salt and pepper. I add this to a pan with some butter and cook well, as texture is something I am fussy with, I prefer to overcook my eggs as I find them easier to stomach. I serve these with a third of a tin of Heinz baked beans and a buttered and toasted bagel. I usually pair my breakfast with a mug of hot water. Avoiding caffeine is something that is important in my diet, especially in the morning so I have found hot water is a perfect alternative for tea.

Lunch

desktop picnic

As I am usually out and about either at university or work, I've tried to get into the habit of cold lunches. A standard lunch for me would be a toasted pitta bread with mayonnaise, lettuce, sweetcorn and cheese. I serve this with cucumber sticks, mini cheddars and an apple with almond butter. Lunch used to be a meal that was the easiest for me to skip, I never felt the need for it but, since being getting my eating back on track I have found that cold foods make lunchtime far more manageable.

Afternoon Snack

Chocolate Fix

Around 4pm I usually find that my blood sugars drop, and I need an energy boost. Being someone with a massive sweet tooth I usually crave chocolate around now. My go-to is usually a Twix or anything with peanut butter.

Dinner

Pasta and Veggies

One of my go-to and cheap dinners when I'm on my university budget is pasta (predictable student, I know!) I usually combine half a cup of whole-wheat pasta with whatever vegetables I have in that week. This week it was a mixture of broccoli, green beans, peas and sweetcorn. I top this with a handful of grated cheddar cheese as I often find sauces hard to stomach. This may sound plain and boring to a lot of people but trust me it tastes nicer than it sounds.

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My Tips For Managing a recovery diet

It's important to not give yourself rules in terms of what you're putting into your body when it comes to taking control of your eating. One thing I don't like to do is restrict myself, I am a strong believer in if your body craves something, you should listen. So, although I like to follow a mostly vegetarian diet, I do allow myself meat if it is what I feel I need. I like to give myself guidelines of things I find helpful in enabling my progression however, I do not strictly stick to these if I feel like my body needs a change.

These are listed below:

• Avoid meat or meat like chewy textures. This is simply because I feel better in myself when I'm not putting meat into my body.

• Start and end the day with soft textured foods. Have harder more solid foods during the day. I find alternating textures makes me want to eat the next meal in the day.

• Allow unhealthier foods towards the end of the day rather than the beginning.

• No liquid supplements. For example, smoothies, shakes and coffees. This avoids the risk of becoming reliant on them and substituting meals for them. This also goes with avoiding caffeine where possible.

• Limit leftovers. When I am cooking meals like curry and pasta dishes, obviously its easier to cook in batches however, I try to avoid making too much and keeping leftovers. This encourages me to cook the next day allowing my relationship with food to progress.

• Go to the Gym. If you're like me and you struggle with not getting hungry throughout the day, I have found that doing a small and simple workout in the gym builds up my appetite and makes me hungrier than I usually would be. The gym has also minimised my food guilt and I no longer feel guilty for feeling my body what it craves.

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If you are living with an eating disorder, there are many services available to help. Please don't suffer alone.

https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk

https://www.mind.org.uk