What I eat in a day

I thought it would be a good idea to share with you all what I eat on a typical day now that I am recovered. I don't eat exactly the same amount of calories every day but I know about what I eat and I never eat any less then 2200 calories. I eat relatively healithily, not because I am scared of typically unhealthy foods, but because I enjoy healthy foods as well as nourishing my body. I find I feel much more energetic and happy when I eat nutrient rich foods so thats why I chose to eat them most of the time. I thought I would share with you what I haveveaten over the last 3 days, so that you can get a good idea of what I usually eat :)

Tuesday

Meal 1: 1 large bowl of raspberry oats (equivalent to 2 typical portions) made with half a cup of soy milk, 1 cup if water and 1 scoop of protein powder

Meal 2: 1 vanilla and banana shake made with 1 banana, 250mL soy milk, 2 scoops of herbalife vanilla sport f1 shake mix and 8 ice cubes

Meal 3: 3 rice cakes topped with tomato and cheese, 3 rice cakes topped with egg (1 boiled egg mixed with mayo), 1 apple, 1 strawberry Chobani greek yoghurt

Meal 4: 1 herbalife protein bar and 1 banana

Meal 5: went out for dinner and ordered chicken schnitzel with gravy and vegetables

Meal 6: 1 yoplait forme yoghurt and 1 peach

Wednesday

Meal 1: 1 large bowl of oats (equivalent to 2 typical portions) made with half a cup of soy milk, 1 cup if water and 1 scoop of protein powder with 1 diced pear

Meal 2: 1 herbalife chocolate shake made with 1 scoop of dutch chocolate f1, 1 scoop if creamy vanilla sport f1 and 300mL almond milk

Meal 3: vegetable lasagna and salad (lettuce leaf mix, diced beetroot, cherry tomatoes, fetta cheese, olive oil)

Meal 4: 1 tub of chobani plain greek yoghurt mixed with 1 scoop of herbalife chocolate rebuild and blueberries (picture below)

Meal 5: 3 scrambled eggs cooked with 1 diced tomato and 60g of feta cheese with vegetables (baby broccoli, beans, pumpkin and carrot)

Meal 6: herbalife protein bar, watermelon and salt and vinegar rice wheels

Thursday

Meal 1: 1 chocolate and banana shake made with 1 banana, 250mL soy milk, 2 scoops of herbalife f1 dutch chocolate shake mix and 8 ice cubes

Meal 2: 1 large bowl of oats (equivalent to 2 typical portions) made with half a cup of soy milk, 1 cup if milk and 1 scoop of protein powder

Meal 3: 3 rice cakes topped with tomato and cheese, 3 rice cakes topped with egg (1 boiled egg mixed with mayo), 1 yoplait forme berry yoghurt, watermelon and 2 pieces of herbalife chocolate

Meal 4: 1 small packet of salted popcorn, 1 protein  bar and grapes

Meal 5: honey soy chicken stirfry with hokkien noodles and vegetables (broccoli, carrot, beans)

Meal 6: Herbalife mug cake made with 2 scoops of chocolate f1 mix, 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 egg and 1/4 cup of milk microwaved and topped with greek yoghurt

Throughout the day I also snack on little things spontaeously like herbalife chocolate, grapes, rice cakes etc as I am walking through the kitchen (i.e. I have eaten 14 pieces of herbalife chocolate (which is actually higher calorie then normal chocolate) over the last 4 days. I drink atleast 2.5 litres of water per day which I add herbalife products to like Aloe, herbal tea, active fibre complex, hydrate or drive. I also take quite a few supplements as part of my nutrition program (i.e. 3 multivitamins, 3 cell-U-loss, 2 joint support, 1 chitosan fibre, 1 probiotic, 2 NRG's).

I currently have the best relationship with food I have ever had and I couldnt be happier. I no longer take anti anxiety medication and just feel so wonderful everyday, knowing that I am fueling my body with delicious and nutricious foods. In order to recover, you need to have a good relationship with food and you must be able to trust your body to tell you what it needs. Food is not something you should ever be scaredbof, it is simple fuel for your body and something that should be enjoyed. If you have any questions about my intake, feel free to leave a comment below.

Today's visual food diary

BREAKFAST: Herbalife shake made with 3 scoops of vanilla nutritional mix, 1 scoop of personalized protein powder, 1 cup if almond milk, 1 banana, 7 strawberries, cinnamon and sweetner

MORNING TEA: 1 sachet of berry oats, 1diced apple and 150ml of almond milk, 1scoop of protein powder and cinnamon

LUNCH: Pasta salad (80g of pasta shells, 5 slices of diced ham, 1 boiled egg, capsicum, 2 tbs of  fat free mayo) served on a bed of baby spinach with a cup of hot peach herbalife tea

AFTERNOON TEA: 1 banana and 1 large protein bar





TEA: Vegetable Lasagna with lightly salted vegetables (carrot, broccoli, peas and sweet potato)

DESSERT: 1 red berry layered Danone Greek Ultimate Yoghurt with a large pear

Today's intake

Morning shake (6:00am)
2 scoops of french vanilla nutritional shake mix, 1 scoop of personalied protein powder, 250mL of almond milk, 1 banana, 3 strawberries

 

Morning snack: (9:00am)
Cup of herbalife peach tea and
1 portion of uncle toby's oats prepared with 150mL almond milk and mixed with 1 apple and cinnomon

Lunch (12:00)
Salt and pepper calamari with brown rice and quinoa and mixed vegetables

Afternoon tea (3:00pm)
1 tub of diced peaches, 1 protein bar and 1 boiled egg

Tea (6:00pm)
Beef and vegetable soup and 3 slices of buttered toast

Supper (8:00pm)
1 yoghurt and 2 kiwi fruits

Calorie intake calculators

A very important thing to know is that you CANT always listen to reccommended daily intakes. They are usually not accurate and often underestimate how much energy your body needs. For the point of this exercise I put my details into various calculators which all returned very different results.

 FYI 10272 kilojoules = 2455 calories

As you can see some of the calculators stated I only need to eat about 1900 to maintain my weight. However I have lost weight eating that amount in the past which means it is obviously not enough for me. In saying that, I usually dont eat as much as 2500 calories each day either which is what another calculator suggested.

The point I am trying to make is that everybody is different and no calculator can accurately tell you exactly how many calories you need each day. Also, your body will not use the exact same number of calories each day. Some days you will need more or less energy, which is when listening to your body really becomes important.

If a doctor or dietician tells you how much you should be eating then I highly reccommend that you follow there advice. Ideally you wont count calories at all but if like me you do, please dont listen to these types of online calculators as they really aren't accurate.

You may find that you need to experiment for a while to see how much food your body truly needs by looking at your patterns of weight loss/maintenence/gain and also your energy levels and hunger. :)

Making eating a priority

Something I have learnt through my own recovery is that in order to get better, you really do need to make food a top priority. 

For example while it may not be normal to set an alarm so you can get up early to eat breakfast, it may be essential to ensure you get enough energy in throughout the day. 

Even now that I am no longer trying to gain weight, I feel as though I dtill need to make a very special effort just to get enough food in each day so I dont lose any weight. For example because I cant make my breakfast early due to not wanting to disturb other people in the house who are sleeping, I make myself a pre breakfast snack (or atleast have a supplement drink) instead of morning tea and then I have breakfast at my old morning tea time.

Also, even though others may not eat if they dont feel hungry, we cant do that. I eat atleast a bare minimum number of calories over 6 meals no matter how hungry I may be. This is what I had to do while I was gaining weight and that is what I dtill do today to ensure I don't lose any weight.

The point I am trying to make is that in order to have a successful recovery, you will have to make eating a top priority. You cant just not eat because your busy or because your not hungry. Food is our medicine and in order to recover we need to have our medicine in the correct amount and also often enough. 

Eating more both in and after recovery

You may find, that in order to gain weight early on in your recovery, you dont have to eat that much food. As time passes however and as your metabolism gets faster, you will most likely have to keep increasing your intake in order to keep gaining weight.

As explained ithe science of eating disorders website;

'Weight restoration is a crucial component of anorexia nervosa treatment. It is a challenging process for a multitude of reasons. Adding to the complexity and the challenge is the fact that during weight restoration, individuals with anorexia nervosa tend to require increasingly more calories to maintain the same rate of weight gain.'

Even though continuously having to increase your intake can be really hard, I think that you shoud consider this as a good thing as it means your metabolism is repairing and functioning properly again. Even after you reach a healthy weight, you will most likely have to eat more then others around you in order to just maintain your weight.

This was also explained in the same article;

'After achieving a healthy weight, individuals recovering from anorexia nervosa still typically need to eat more calories to maintain their new healthy weight — more than healthy individuals of the same weight who do not have eating disorder histories'

This is why I have to take particular care to ensure I am always eating plenty now, even though I am only trying to maintain my weight. It also explains why I accidentely lost some weight a couple of months ago, even though I was eating the same amount as those around me. To be honest, I enjoy having a fast metabolism now and am glad that I am now able to eat so much, without gaining weight.

If you find you are able to keep gaining weight on a low intake of food in your recovery, I would reccommend increasing your calorie intake anyway. Otherwise there is a chance that your metabolism wont repair which will mean you will be stuck eating small amounts of food forever. And eating normal portions once you are weight restored may lead to weight gain.

A typical days intake

I thought I would share with you all a typical days intake for me now that I am weight restored. So this is what I ate yesterday as well as what I ate today. I try my hardest to get a good balanced intake with lots of healthy nutritious foods as well as enjoying some yummy treats too.

Please rememeber that if you are still trying to gain weight, you should be eating more then this amount. In fact, you may need to eat more then this just to maintain your weight. Everyone is different and just because this amount of food fuels my body efficiently does not mean it will necessarily fuel yours.

Yesterday's food diary
Breakfast: 2 sachets of uncle toby's flavoured oats prepared with 50% milk and 50% water

Morning tea: 1 packet of mini oreo cookies and a kiwi fruit

Lunch: 3 round crumpets with cream cheese, a kiwi fruit and jelly with custard

Afternoon tea: an apple, 2 sweet 'tic toc' biscuits and 1 chocolate biscuit

Tea: Crumbed chicken pieces and mashed potato with gravy and lots of extra mixed vegetables (carrot, caulliflower and broccoli)

Dessert: an Apple and a tub of warm vanilla rice pudding

Today's food diary
Breakfast: 4 wheetbix biscuits topped with 1/2 Cup of vanilla custard

Morning tea: 1 apple and 3 sweet 'tic toc' biscuits

Lunch: 2 pieces of wholemeal pita bread topped with cream cheese and diced ham, 1 strawberry Fruche yoghurt and 1 kiwi fruit

Afternoon tea: 3 cruskit biscuits with vegemite and cheese and a small kinder chocolate bar

Tea: 250g of Special fried rice with heaps of vegetables (carrots, caulliflower and broccoli) and soy sauce

Dessert: 1 banana and a tub of chocolate flavoured custard

What I ate yesterday

Please remember that as I am weight restored, I no longer need to eat as much as you may still need to eat. Pleease do dont confuse the amount I eat with how much you should be eating if you need to gain weight, as it really is not enough for that :)

cheerios with milk, toast with cashew spread

Diced fresh Pineapple and and a Vanilla Up and Go

two slices of buttered fruit loaf, kiwi fruit, peach and vanilla creamed rice

Apple and crispy M&M's

Apricot chicken with Rice and vegetables

Raspberry Ripple icecream

Eating true recovery amounts

An important thing to remember whilst in recovery is that just eating 'normal amount' in not enough. When you need to gain weight and are trying to recover, you really do need to eat more then everyone else around you. While I know that recovery amounts of food are different for everyone, I thought I would remind you all what my intake looked like when I was in recovery and eating as much as 3200 calories per day. Looking back, I am so glad that I was strong enough to eat that amount as it has meant that my metabolism has repaired well and I have been able to reach a healthier weight and mindset relatively quickly.

Example one

Peanut butter on toast with creamy vanilla oats (prepared with milk) and topped with 1 sliced banana

1 banana Up and Go, 1 mandarin and 1 thick slice of jam sponge roll

2 crumpets with butter and vegemite, 1 banana and 1 chocolate snak Pack

1 bowl of grapes with vanilla yoghurt and 1 cookies and cream Kit Kat

Roasted duck breast and mashed potato and pumpkin with gravy and vegetables (carrot, peas and broccolli)

Hot Butterscotch Pudding with vanilla icecream

1 milky 'frothy classic' hot chocolate

Example 2

Morning Tea: 1 mandarin + 1 caramel Up and Go + 1 jam filled lamington

Lunch: 1 sandwhich made with two slices of wholemeal bread, butter, Belgium and tomato relish + 1 large apple + 1 full fat raspberry and white chocolate greek yoghurt

Afternoon Tea: fruit salad made with diced pineapple, cantelope and watermelon + 1 packet of rice crackers + 1 mint Aero chocolate bar

Tea: Chicken carbonara pasta + vegetables (corn on the cob, broccoli, brussel sprouts and baby peas

Dessert: 1 Nannas hot mini apple pie with a large scoop of vanilla icecream

Supper: 1 Hot chocolate made with 1 sachet of Jarrah frothy hot chocolate, boiling water and cold milk

Example 3

Apricot, almond and vanilla oats prepared with 3/4 cup of milk and topped with 1 small sliced banana and 2 slices of wholemeal toast with Maple nut spread

1 small serve of grapes, 1 caramel Up and Go and 3 macadamia and white chocolate chip cookies

1 cheese an delish sandwich, 1 large apple and 1 vanilla snak Pack custard tub 

1 tub of apple puree with creamy vanilla yoghurt and 1 violet crumble chocolate bar 

Chicken flavoured rice with extra boccoli, carrot and peas

1 large bowl of vanilla icecream topped with 1 crushed flake chocolate bar

1 frothy hot chocolate made with cold milk and boiling water