Gaining weight is something I know I need to do and something I do want to do even though it scares the absolute hell out of me. I reached my lowest weight after I was discharged from hospital and since then I have managed to gain 6 kilos on my own. This has been an extremely slow process for me (it has actually taken me almost a year to gain 6 kg) and I still need to gain another 6 kilos before I am considered to have a healthy bmi. I find that while I can gain weight eating a particular amount for a short period of time, my metabolism soon 'catches up' so I need to continuously Increase my Intake to keep gaining weight.
I know that as an Inpatient I would have been forced to gain weight much faster but at the time this slow weight gain is all I could cope with. Sometimes I think that I would rather become an inpatient somewhere so that food could be taken out of my control. As I do not have private health cover I can't afford to go to a clinic and since technically besides my weight I am quite healthy Ie. My heart rate and blood pressure are both good, I can't be admitted to a hospital. While I check In to my local GP from time to time I haven't really had any professional care or support through my journey with anorexia. Everything I have been able to achieve I have done completely on my own which I am proud of.
I live on my own and have a gorgeous 18 month old kelpie dog with lots of energy so I see walking her as unavoidable exercise. I work two part time jobs which aren't overly physically demanding. I work at a bank where I sit all day and and also in a grocery store where I stand. I do count calories as I feel I eat a lot more when I am aiming to reach a certain calorie goal for the day but I don't plan to share exact calorie numbers here as I know it can be triggering. I am going to post a typical days intake for me and I would love any insight or any advice about what you think. I have just recently increased to this amount (in the last week) and I hope I am gaining weight. If I don't gain weight in the next week or two I will need to increase again.
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with thickly spread peanut butter or cashew butter
And 1 portion of oats prepared with milk and topped with 1/2 banana or 1 small apple
Morning tea: 1 muffin ( or 1 'up and go' meal replacement drink)
And a piece of fruit
Lunch: 1 sandwich (butter+ cheese or cold meat and relish or Belgium and sauce or ham and cheese)
And 1 large serving of fruit (1 cup of grapes or 3 peaches or a large banana
And a dairy dessert (full fat Greek yoghurt or vanilla creamed rice or snak pack custard)
Afternoon tea: 1 large chocolate bar (50g)
And 1 Piece of fruit
Tea: pasta and vegetables or casserole and mashed potato or fish, chips and salad or rice and vegetables or chicken and cheesy vegetables or pizza or caesar salad etc.
Dessert: 1 bowl of icecream with chocolate topping or 1 hot chocolate with two sweet biscuits
As you can see I try to get a balanced diet with lots of fruit and veggies but also yummy foods that I love but went years without eating. Everyone around me comments on how much I eat but I try not to let this bother me. I have had people say things like "if I ate what you ate i would be the size of a house" and "how the hell are you so thin if you eat this much" but i just remind myself that it is exactly what my body needs.
Do you have any tips for sticking to your meal plan?
ReplyDeleteI tend to follow mine up until about lunchtime and then I freak out :( How much did you gain following this plan?
In order to fight my anorexia, I found I could never give in and eat less than my meal plan specified. I know its hard but you just need to tell yourself that eating any less than your meal plan simply isn't an option. If your anorexia thinks there is any room for compromise, sticking to your plan becomes impossible. After a while of doing this, your anorexia will eventually stop tryingto convince you to eat less, because it knows there is no point. Trust me..... Sticking to your meal plan 100% is essential for you to make a full recovery.
DeleteSo this wasn't my final meal plan and after a whilenI stopped gaining weight eating this amount. My final meal plan was similar however I had larger snacks. So for morning tea I would have a piece of cake or muffin AND an Up and go drink AND a piece of fruit and for afternoon tea I would have fruit and a chocolate bar as well as yoghurt or something like that. My desserts Also increased in size anfa added an extra hit chocolate in before bed. Eating this amount I gained around 500-700 grams per week which I thought was a good amount as my mind adjusted relatively well as mY body got bigger. If I gained at faster I don't think I would have coped mentally. I hope I have been some help, goodluck. Believe in yourself and you can recover, I promise! <3