Anorexia recovery and junk food

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FinallyFlying
FinallyFlying Posts: 71 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I've been on the road of recovery for anorexia since April. I've been struggling and have had a BMI of 16.1. I realized recently that recovering on 1200 calories wasn't enough and bumped it up to 1400 and now eat from 2000-2200 calories a day. I eat lots of veggies and fruit throughout my recovery, but lately since I haven't been weighing and measuring food so rigidly I've really been eating a lot of junk. I've had ice cream, tons of candy corn, pumpkin pie, and takeout Chinese. Finally today I felt so huge and guilty that I want to cut out junk from my diet and go back to eating mostly veggies, fruit, whole grains and protein. But, tomorrow my friends and I are going to a two day concert. One that includes Oreos and Doritos for the ride up and French fries, fried Oreos that will most certainly be there. Plus breakfast at the hotel. I planned in packing a healthy lunch and indulging in the treats over two days, but I ate so badly the past week I'm afraid I'm gaining to fast and need to focus on nutrition? Should I just pack a bunch of healthy snacks instead of eating there? And for breakfast just eating eggs and fruit maybe. Please help. I feel very lost.

Replies

  • zericaaaaa
    zericaaaaa Posts: 313 Member
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    hi! congrats on taking a huge and scary step towards recovery. I've had issues with binging and restriction in the past. I would definitely suggest bringing your own snacks to eat on the way up. pretzels, wheat thins, fiber one snacks, maybe a little lunch box or cooler full of fruits. and as far as the hotel goes, eggs and fruit sound like a great breakfast! don't beat yourself up if you do end up indulging a little bit. enjoy yourself at the concert :)
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    I would say pack food you will be happy to have, but at the same time keep in mind when you are recovering from Anorexia "junk foods" are perfectly good choices because your biggest need is to get more food.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    My suggestion would be to try and find a balance, as that seems to be something that those of us with EDs or an ED history struggle most with. Take some healthy foods, but also allow yourself to indulge in the not so healthy, well, not so nutrient dense foods. That way, you can ensure you are getting plenty of nutrients but also that you are allowing yourself to enjoy some treats and have some of the foods your friends will be having. Choose the foods you feel you will most enjoy when it comes to the treats. But also, do not worry too much about it as you still have weight to gain and additional calories are helpful for that, whatever the source, at this point.
  • kellehbeans
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
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    Thank you for the advice everyone! But, I'd like to note I'm not really concerned about nutrition because I do include lots of lean meats, veggies, fruits and whole grains. I'm just wondering if since I've been eating a lot of junk food with these things if it I should cut back for the weekend.

    You're recovering from anorexia! Do not worry about having to cut back for now. Just go out and enjoy yourself. Good luck. :flowerforyou:
  • reachingforarainbow
    reachingforarainbow Posts: 224 Member
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    This is the perfect time to NOT cutback.
    Eating is not just about nutrition. There is a social aspect to some of this stuff. Your with your friends, try to enjoy yourself. That might be partially why alarm bells are going off in your head (as I know it certainly happens to me), sometimes eating these kind of things that you feel are indulgent around others makes people with eating disorders feel anxious (even the ones in recovery).

    Your friends aren't judging and you shouldn't either. Try and remember to listen to your hunger, and stay hydrated, and enjoy your trip.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    Thank you for the advice everyone! But, I'd like to note I'm not really concerned about nutrition because I do include lots of lean meats, veggies, fruits and whole grains. I'm just wondering if since I've been eating a lot of junk food with these things if it I should cut back for the weekend.

    You're recovering from anorexia! Do not worry about having to cut back for now. Just go out and enjoy yourself. Good luck. :flowerforyou:

    Yep, this. All you should be worried about right now is eating foods you like and enjoying all the things you missed out on when you were sick.

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