Is there a such thing as gaining unhealthily? Ice cream love

Aquaburry
Aquaburry Posts: 45
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Ok, so when I was initially gaining weight, I ate 3200 calories a day, 2,200 came from healthy foods, and 1,000 from frozen yogurt and sugary, calorie dense sweets like carrot cakes or banana cream pie (I know not healthy, but not the WORST. There was some caramel and candy too, don't worry!). I gained 10 lbs this way and was sooooo thrilled to tell my dietician/RN. When I did, she was like; "AHH UNHEALTHY BINGE EATING YOU MUST CONTROL" and blah blah blah this was in another post but I digress.

What I want to narrow it down to is: she was talking about me having depleted nutrient stores and said by eating a dessert every day I was basically wasting calories and should have been eating apples or peanut butter or a NUTRIENT DENSE calorie food.

But here is where I think our miscommunication came in:

I DID eat nutrient foods in HIGH VOLUMES....for instance, 2 whole wheat bagels, a huge omelet, yogurt, granola, apples, bananas, oranges, tons of melon and wheat breads, cheeses, jerky, veggies doused in oil, etc.

But I did have my snacks, too: chips, popcorn (hey it is a grain!) candy bars, chicken fingers every other day (not the worst choice), sweet potato fries, etc...

So I think she was thinking because I was, honestly, eating a pint of ice cream a day, that I was not eating OTHER foods as well. So she told me I missed my shot at having a solid foundation of healthy foods in my body for recovery. But here is the catch...I recovered FINE, in my opinion. The desserts gave me strength, made me happy, overcome my OCD over sugar fear, allowed me to celebrate my AWESOME birthday with ice cream and cake and the works, and helped me reach calorie marks. I don't think I could have eaten 3200 cals in chicken breast and kale. But anyways! Is there really any way to gain unhealthily? I STILL built muscle, even being basically bedridden per my nutritionist's request.

Thats just how anorexic bodies recover. But I am starting to wonder, if I STILL ate SOME healthy foods with nutrients, do you think I was able to recover some nutrient stores? Or does the body take those wonderful frozen yogurt calories and convert what it can into the nutrient stores, too? I had A LOT of fun trying desserts again and DO NOT want to hear any discouragement for my gaining. I was 84 lbs and wasting away. Now at 96 I am feeling better. Would you rather I just ate broccoli and nuts and gained half the weight and lost my precious time, still holding onto those sugar fears?

I guess the bottom line is: will it take me LONGER to get really healthy because of my ice cream covered past? Or will my body still be able to utilize those nutrients and restore a healthy way? I do NOT binge any more because I am more stabilized, and have returned to a diet (albeit high cal) with whole grains, lean meats, peanut butter, etc...Would I have restored 'better' if I ate strictly health foods? Would I already have my period back? If it is related to body fat, why wouldn't ice cream help...

Would more health foods make me menstruate sooner? Did I *kitten* up my chance at having a 'solid foundation' from which to gain?

Replies

  • losingforgood120
    losingforgood120 Posts: 94
    Have you considered getting a second opinion or just switching to a new dietician? I know I've been upset before by something a health professional said to me and switching really helped me emotionally.

    I'm not an expert in ED recovery but I can't imagine you messed up your "foundation" or anything. Best wishes. :flowerforyou:
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Have you considered getting a second opinion or just switching to a new dietician? I know I've been upset before by something a health professional said to me and switching really helped me emotionally.

    I'm not an expert in ED recovery but I can't imagine you messed up your "foundation" or anything. Best wishes. :flowerforyou:

    Agreed.

    If you are getting the bulk of you're minimal macro requirements from a wide variety of foods and filling in the calorie gap with ice cream- you're fine.

    Every single person trying to cram 4000+ calories down their piehole resorts to some sort of extremely high calorie food at some point. It's just to hard for extended time periods to eat buckets of broccoli and a whole chicken every day. it's just not fun.
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
    LIke JoRocka said, it would seem that as long as you get the majority of your calories from nutrient rich foods and then, after you've made sure you've gotten your nutrient requirements, fill in the calorie gap with ice cream, you should be in the clear. I have not had an ED, but I am someone whose BMR and activity level sometimes combine to give me a "maintenance" goal of 3500-4000 calories in a day. Back in the last place I lived, I kept microwaveable hamburgers in the freezer just to fill the gap.

    And, like losingforgood said, you may want to get another PROFESSIONAL opinion (those of us here can only provide limited information based on our own experiences). If you keep hearing the same thing, then pay attention to what the pros say. But I will say that, when I was going through chemotherapy and having trouble eating enough beause I was simply not feeling hungry, the doctors were happy with any calorie I could get into my body, even if it was often Cheerios and Jelly Belly jelly beans.
  • Hell_Flower
    Hell_Flower Posts: 348 Member
    Tell her to get to flip. The main thing you need right now is a good insulation of body fat, which is lacking (but kudos for gaining those 12lbs girl! Total respect). Everything else will follow. Your body needs a decent body fat percentage in order to absorb nutrients anyway. Eating nutrient dense food along with the high fat food is exactly the right way.

    Honestly. Women like her are part of the reason that anorexics become orthorexics.

    (Sorry, I'm not a doctor or nutritionist but having seen around 5 or 6 for the exact reason that you have, I feel that she needs to pipe down.)
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
    Frankly i think the big rush to bury yourself in fat by eating ice-cream is a mistake. I'd stick with the advice given by your dietician.

    The thing is if you get a taste for eating all this junk food, you will find it hard to stop. IT can be addictive eating so much sugar. Speaking as a recovering sugar addict.

    I think you'll find there's more fat in nuts than in ice-cream. I don't know if different eating would have got your period back sooner but i think your dietician is probably right and it would be better if you could try to go along with her advice and not fight with her about everything.

    Clearly she doesn't spell everything out to the nth degree because she expects you to apply some common sense.

    you must have been quit malnourished and your body still has a lot of healing to do so you need all the vitamins, minerals and micronutrients you can get. There are more of these in the foods she's recommending than in most desserts.

    Also when you settle into a normal eating routine, keep your diet as varied as possible but from mostly "healthy nutritious" sources like vegetables and all the other non sweet things.

    Anyway i wish you a full recovery. But work with the professionals not against. them.
  • Aquaburry
    Aquaburry Posts: 45
    Frankly i think the big rush to bury yourself in fat by eating ice-cream is a mistake. I'd stick with the advice given by your dietician.

    The thing is if you get a taste for eating all this junk food, you will find it hard to stop. IT can be addictive eating so much sugar. Speaking as a recovering sugar addict.

    ....

    I am not a sugar addict...I am a recovering anorexic...you're a bit orthorexic, no?

    And who says I am trying to 'bury myself in fat?' Do you really think someone who spent 2 years in chronic fear of gaining .5 lbs would TRY to 'BURY' themselves in fat? Omg...
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I'm just trying to wrap my head around the image of "burying yourself in fat"

    I have this weird image of an inflatable pool with oreos and ice cream blended together.
  • FoogooFish
    FoogooFish Posts: 54 Member
    OP, you may want to review your recent post. It seems very similar in nature, and some of the insight offered on it may help you. =)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1398237-getting-periods-back-to-be-weight-restored-what-about-guys
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Frankly i think the big rush to bury yourself in fat by eating ice-cream is a mistake. I'd stick with the advice given by your dietician.

    The thing is if you get a taste for eating all this junk food, you will find it hard to stop. IT can be addictive eating so much sugar. Speaking as a recovering sugar addict.

    I think you'll find there's more fat in nuts than in ice-cream. I don't know if different eating would have got your period back sooner but i think your dietician is probably right and it would be better if you could try to go along with her advice and not fight with her about everything.

    Clearly she doesn't spell everything out to the nth degree because she expects you to apply some common sense.

    you must have been quit malnourished and your body still has a lot of healing to do so you need all the vitamins, minerals and micronutrients you can get. There are more of these in the foods she's recommending than in most desserts.

    Also when you settle into a normal eating routine, keep your diet as varied as possible but from mostly "healthy nutritious" sources like vegetables and all the other non sweet things.

    Anyway i wish you a full recovery. But work with the professionals not against. them.

    Kind of boggling over the idea that someone recovering from an ED would be expected to automatically apply common sense to their diet. I mean, not eating in a common sense manner, and taking that behavior to the extreme is kind of the hallmark of an ED, yes? I would think that this is exactly the time for explicit dietary instructions.
  • losingforgood120
    losingforgood120 Posts: 94
    Hey, this is from MFP Eating Disorder Resources: http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1575987-eating-disorder-resources
    What Healthy Eating Looks Like
    Eating a variety of foods
    Enjoying food without guilt or anxiety
    Eating when physically hungry
    Eating until satisfied, but not overly full
    Enjoying treats and comfort foods on occasion

    (I'd just add that sometimes anorexia makes you not feel hunger even though you need to eat)

    So the food you described looks about right. :)

    I read through your other post and you stated you have decided to switch to a new dietician- excellent.

    It seems like you are posting on here because you are feeling anxious and are seeking reassurance. You have some negative thoughts popping up from what this dietician said to you. So here's some reassurance: you are ok! You did a great job gaining weight and you didn't mess up anything.

    So... hearing reassurance from people on forums may help you calm down for a bit but don't be surprised if these negative thoughts keep coming back to nag at you. These are things to go over with your therapist. He/she can help you learn how to knock down these doubts/ negative thoughts yourself! In your OP it seems like you were trying to do just that- explaining to yourself your choices and why they are ok.

    One way to combat these self-defeating thoughts (feeling like you failed, etc.) is to tell yourself a true positive thought that "knocks down" the negative one. Like: I ate plenty of nutritious food and met my calorie goals! I gained weight like my doctor recommended! As I get healthier my body will continue to heal! I'm worth it! Etc. This is a technique that could help: write down your negative thought, then write down your true positive thought that contradicts it. Then cross out/ erase the negative thought. :) I hope things go well with the new therapist!
  • Aquaburry
    Aquaburry Posts: 45
    Hey, this is from MFP Eating Disorder Resources: http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1575987-eating-disorder-resources
    What Healthy Eating Looks Like
    Eating a variety of foods
    Enjoying food without guilt or anxiety
    Eating when physically hungry
    Eating until satisfied, but not overly full
    Enjoying treats and comfort foods on occasion



    (I'd just add that sometimes anorexia makes you not feel hunger even though you need to eat)

    So the food you described looks about right. :)

    I read through your other post and you stated you have decided to switch to a new dietician- excellent.

    It seems like you are posting on here because you are feeling anxious and are seeking reassurance. You have some negative thoughts popping up from what this dietician said to you. So here's some reassurance: you are ok! You did a great job gaining weight and you didn't mess up anything.

    So... hearing reassurance from people on forums may help you calm down for a bit but don't be surprised if these negative thoughts keep coming back to nag at you. These are things to go over with your therapist. He/she can help you learn how to knock down these doubts/ negative thoughts yourself! In your OP it seems like you were trying to do just that- explaining to yourself your choices and why they are ok.

    One way to combat these self-defeating thoughts (feeling like you failed, etc.) is to tell yourself a true positive thought that "knocks down" the negative one. Like: I ate plenty of nutritious food and met my calorie goals! I gained weight like my doctor recommended! As I get healthier my body will continue to heal! I'm worth it! Etc. This is a technique that could help: write down your negative thought, then write down your true positive thought that contradicts it. Then cross out/ erase the negative thought. :) I hope things go well with the new therapist!

    This is hands down the best post I have seen in a while. thank you SOOOO much. I am literally doing just that--seeking reassurance between dietician/therapy visits. I am sure once I get on track with the new nutritionist and therapist these ED thoughts will subside, but until then I see it as a plus to filter through the dumb answers and take knowledge from the good ones on MFP. Thank you for everything. I agree with what you said, too...I think most of the food I ate was good, so I improved.

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