i want to get healthy again

reach4red

im 19 and recovering from an ED (bulimia and anorexia)
im really terrified about gaining weight and eating normally again, but i know i need to. i have already put on over 3kg since i started recovery a month or so ago, and im scared i could relapse. but i want to get healthy so i can finish my studies and get a job. the first thing i need to do is get a grip on my eating again and to get over 1000cal without binging or purging.
i would love any tips, advice, motivation or support.

BeantownSooner

Congrats on your progress. I just posted this recommendation on another thread and thought it might be relevant for you as well. If you can stay to the top of this list you should be able to eat all day, feel tremendous and not ever have to feel guilty.

Conceptually eat whole foods as much as humanly possible. What's meant by that is foods that have the lowest possible number of ingredients. An orange has 1 ingredient, chicken has one ingredient, a box of fettuccine Alfredo pasta has many ingredients which are processed. The makers of P90X and other intense workout programs have a food substitution plan called Michi's Ladder. It's not a diet plan but rather a way to learn how to eat food that's very good for you. If you eat from the top two layers of the ladder you'll have near perfect nutrition. Up to you how to put them together for your meals but extremely flexible.

My suggestion would be to use a tool like that and perhaps focus on only eating foods on the 1st 3 layers of the ladder. Immediately eliminate foods in layers 4 and 5 at the start. Don't feel guilty if you fall off the ladder either it's ok. You're human but just don't make a habit. If you want a slice of pizza eat a slice of pizza but account for it as part of your weekly goal. Also don't be afraid of good fats such as olive oil, canola oil, sesame oil and coconut oil. Adds great flavors to your meals. Good fats are good for you and they do not make you fat! Too many calories do! smile

http://www.teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/michis-ladder

reach4red

Thank you.
I already do a similar thing with the way I eat, but its cool to know that it has a name. I have always avoided processed food and high calorie meals (unless I'm on my binge/purge cycle, but that's another story lol)

graelwyn

My advice would be to focus on how you would wish to eat for the rest of your life, and on eating foods for health. To take your focus away from low calorie and losing weight, and simply onto the nutritional benefits and health of the food you eat. Maybe start cooking healthy meals for yourself, and direct your interest into another aspect, other than weight. I would also not forbid yourself from having less healthy foods, but instead allow a few treats a week, but only get an individual portion, maybe while out or somesuch, so that you wont be tempted to binge. The binge/purge cycle, in my experience, comes from restricting too much, or from having undealt with emotions and using food to deal with the emotions so you dont have to fully feel them. That is the case for me, personally anyway.

I used to have severe anorexia, that came and went over the years in milder form, and which progressed to bulimia, which I am dealing with currently. I have managed to stop myself purging, and sat with the feeling after a binge, and the physical feeling of it, has certainly made me less tempted to do it again, that is for sure. It is hard, I know the obsession with the scale and the fear of gaining weight well, but I also know that it is so very easy to totally lose your life to an ED and still be losing your life to it decades later, having missed endless opportunities to experience wonderful things in life. I would start focussing on what underlies your ED, the obsession with weight and eating, otherwise you are only dealing with the surface issues. Without dealing with the initial cause, it will keep reoccurring.

tashaa1992

Thank you.
I already do a similar thing with the way I eat, but its cool to know that it has a name. I have always avoided processed food and high calorie meals (unless I'm on my binge/purge cycle, but that's another story lol)

Hi, well done for making the decision to recover, it is the best choice though I know sometimes it's hard to believe that. I'm in recovery for purging type anorexia, and even though I have come such a long way in just a few months, I know I have a long road ahead of me.

As far as eating goes, I know I don't binge but because I purge, eating small meals helps me alot. So I think maybe you could benefit from eating small but regular meals. For example every 2-3 hours, try to shift the focus from counting calories and fat to focusing on nourishing your body. That being said, I think from what you have said, "I have always avoided processed food and high calorie meals (unless I'm on my binge/purge cycle)", I think maybe incorporating foods you enjoy into your daily life is key to beating the binges. Your brain will know you are able to eat the things you like everyday, therefore this should help the binges to start decreasing.
Whenever you want to binge or purge, write a list about why you wanted to recover, I do this when I want to purge and feel like I can't eat or drink and it helps massively.

Put all your energy into you, focus on making yourself and your health better because no one can do this but you. Feel free to add me, but take care xxx