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.

A busy couple of days + food diary

The last two days I have been very busy, trying to juggle uni, work and also looking after myself. Something I have learnt is that my health is ALWAYS what I need to put first. Afterall, if I dont do this then I am not able to do well in any other aspects of my life anyway. I have had quite a bad cold the last few days too so tgis has made looking after nyself even more important. As I know that I dont only have to provide myself with enough energy so that I can get through each day as well as allow my body to fight my cold.

I had to work for 4.5 hours yesterday and 5 hours today at mcdonalds  so that has made it hard for me to get any studying done but luckily I had a really productive day at uni on Tuesday so I got heaps done then! I also have a full day to spend at uni too so that I can get through this weeks lecture and tutorial recordings. If need be I can also spend some time this weekend getting on top of everything before the new week begins. I cant believe we are almost in week 5! I am still really enjoying uni though and love the sunjects I am doing too.

Due to being unwell, I have not been working out at the gym as I usually do. I just dont have that type of energy and dont want to push my body to hard, when it is already fighting to make me well again. Also, because my chest is very congested, breathing is not the easiest and I have also been coughing a lot too. Yesterday I did get up early to go to a yoga class at the gym though which I really enjoyed. Today, I also missed the gym and just went for a nice walk instead. It did me so much much good to get out in the fresh air and I found that it was just what I needed.

Despite having a cold, I am still feeling so good using my herbalife products and eating more nutritiously. I feel as though they are really helping me to fight my cold too. I have been drinking my herbalife original lemon tea which has been soothing my throat and making my head feel clearer. I have also tried two new flavours of nutritional shake too, Berry and Cookies and Cream. And they are all just as delicious as the french vanilla flavour! I have also started drinking mango flavoured 'Aloe' which I am enjoying too. It is supposed to support digestion and I find it really helps with my energy levels too.

Finally, I thought I would share with you all what I ate today. I planned to do a photo food diary however I only managed to take a photo of my morning shake and then forgot to do any others. So I will just write it out for you all.

Breakfast: 1 Banana Berry Herbalife shake made with 2 scoops of Berry nutritional powder, 1 banana, 4 strawberries and 1 cup of light soy milk

Morning tea: 2 portions of honey Oats prepared with half soy milk and half water, 1 scoop of protein powder and a dash of cinnamon

Lunch: A grilled chicken salad made with chicken , cherry tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, boiled egg and 4 crispbread biscuits topped with 2 slices of cheese

Afternoon tea: 1 nice and natural nut trail bar and 1 apple

Tea: Beef ragu pappardelle with vegetables (sweet potato, carrot, peas and broccoli)

Dessert: 1 small almond and chocolate protein bar and 1 pot of blueberry yoghurt

My new lifestyle

Prior to starting herbalife, I thought I ate relatively healthily. I tried to eat lots of fruit and vegetables and I avoided eating excessive amounts of typically unhealthy foods. After starting to transform my diet, I can see that my old diet was far from healthy and that it lacked protein as well as many essential nutrients.

I was eating as many as 4-5 serves of fruit a day which I tgought was a really healthy thing to be doing. According to the Australian guide to healthy eating however, this meant I was well abd truly exceeding the reccommended intake of 2 serves. I was also eating processed snack foods that contained lots of refined sugar.

Almost all of my diet contained carbohydrates, not because I was scared of foods containing the other macronutrients but because I enjoyed those foods. Only eats carbs however left me feeling tired all the time and I never seemed to feel full, even straight after eating a meal.

Now, I have been eating much more protein instead of only carbs and am freeling so much better for it. I am now eating more lean meat, eggs, protein bars, soy milk and yoghurt and have been adding protein powder to my morning oats too. I have also been trying to increase my intake of healthy fats too, although I know I need to keep increasing my fat intake as it is still quite low.

I have started eating more serves of wholegrains instead of as much sugary fruit and this, along with eating so much more protein which has helped me to feel fuller and more energized for longer. Also, eating more protein will hopefully allow me to get stronger and build muscle as I exercise. Hopefully this will help me to be the healthiest and best me that I can possibly be.

I am still loving my herbalife products and have just signed up to be a member. The thing to remember about Herbalife and healthy eating  is that it doesnt have to just be a phase, for me I want it to be a lifestyle that I follow indefinitely. I am so excited for what the future holds and for the first time, full recovery feels totally possible for me.

Feeling Fantastic and loving 'Herbalife'

Since starting Herbalifes wellness program, I have been overwhelmed by just how fantastic and positive I am feeling. Even though I am about 5 times busier now then I was before, I feel less tired and more full of energy then I used to. Since starting Herbalife, each day I find myself bounding out of bed at 6am ready to start my day. I am not missing my old eating routine one little bit as the foods I eat now are just as yummy, the only difference is that they are less processed and more nutritious.

The most wonderful thing about Herbalife for me by far is the fact that it is helping me to change my mindset in regards to food. For so long I have wanted nothing more then to change my realtionship with food so that I no longer feel the need to count calories and so that I start seeing food for all that it really is, which  is fuel for my body. Although I know that changing my old unhealthy mindset will take time as it is so well engrained into me, however I can feel it slowly changing and that gives me so much hope for the future.

I just feel so bubbly and happy right now and I think it is because I have such a wonderfully balanced life at the moment, which is something I have always really struggled to achieve in the past. I am studying at uni and meeting new friends as well as socialising with old ones, I am regularly going to the gym, I am spending heaps of time with my wonderful boyfriend, I am working a few shifts a week at mcdonalds (I'm glad im not working too much though as I dont think I would have enough time) and I am taking the time to cook and enjoy lovely nutricious foods to keep me fueled so that I can achieve all of this.

Would I reccommend something like Herbalife for everyone in recovery from an eating disorder?... Definetely not! I think it is the kind of thing that definetely has the potential to help in the very last stages of recovery however going on a program like this could do much more damage then harm if someone was to go onto it too early or before they were ready for it. So my advice would be to work away at recovery yourself (or with your treatment team) until you are weight restored and relatively healthy and then if you wanted to try something like Herbalife to help you make that final step to having a totally healthy relationship with food, then go for it. Maybe you will find it as helpful as I am! :)

Getting home from the gym today

Yesterdays lunch: wholemeal noodles with vegetables and 1 tin of tuna on crispbread

Todays lunch: Chicken and sweet potato curry with rice and mixed vegetables and a mug of herbalife peach tea

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

Are you getting enough protein

Protein is something that I know my diet has lacked for sometime now. I have not been intentionally avoiding protein however most of the foods I eat do seem to be carbohydrate based and I feel that this may be responsible for my recent lack of energy. Now that I have started Herbalife and also started working out at the gym, I have decided I really should make more of an effort to add more high protein foods to my daily intake. 

Not only do I add protein powder to my morning nutritional shake and oats but I also have started snacking on things like natural yoghurt, boiled eggs and protein bars. I am also trying to have atleast one serve of lean protein a day with either lunch or tea as I have neglected to do this for sometime now.

You may find the following article from Ausyralian Woman's Health interesting, I know I did :) 

The Paleo Diet. Protein powder. Gourmet burgers. In case you haven't noticed, our culture has become obsessed with consuming protein—which means few of us are skimping on the stuff. "These days, most of the hot fad diets are very pro-protein." says DR Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., author of The Flexitarian Diet.

But despite our preoccupation with protein, some of us are still slipping through the cracks—namely vegetarians or people who tend to under-eat, says Blatner. Problem is, it can be tricky to identify what's considered "not enough" since the recommended intake of protein is a broad range, rather than one hard number.

Afraid you're short-changing your system? Forget crunching numbers—just look for these signs that your body is begging for protein:

You Crave Sweets

One of the first signs you're low on protein: You start craving sweets and feel like you're never quite full, says Blatner. You'd think a protein shortage would trigger an urge for steak and eggs, right? But one of protein's most critical functions is keeping your blood sugar steady—which means if you're lacking, your glucose levels will be all over the place, encouraging you to reach for a quick fix like lollies. "If all you ate in the morning was a handful of cereal, you're going to get energy right away, then your energy is going to wane," she says. "That up-and-down is where cravings come in."

Your Brain Feels Foggy

Balanced blood sugar is essential for staying focused. So when you're protein-deprived and your glucose levels are fluctuating constantly, Blatner says you may feel a little foggy—like you can't quite get with the program at work, for example. Why? Because you don't have a steady stream of carbs to fuel your brain. Protein at meals helps time-release the carbs for steady energy rather than up and down spikes. If you're relying only on "fleeting foods," such as crackers or bread, you'll only experience short bursts of mental energy, followed by the fog. 

Your Hair is Falling Out 

Protein is the building block of all of your cells—your hair follicles included. "If your hair follicles are strong, they keep your hair on your head, despite the tugging we do all day and the wind going through your hair," says Blatner. But if you're chronically skimping on the scalp-stabilising nutrient, you may notice that your strands start thinning (although, keep in mind, this can also be a sign of other conditions, like thyroid trouble).

You Feel Weak

We all know that protein is essential for building muscle. And if you don't get enough of it, your muscles may start to shrink over time, says Blatner. As a result, you may feel weak and unable to do the exercises you once excelled at.

You Get Sick Constantly

Your biceps aren't the only thing that protein reinforces. "Protein is needed to build all the compounds in our immune systems," says Blatner. So if you seem to catch colds or infections more often than everyone else—and you're otherwise in good health—a protein deficiency may be to blame. Another sign: You constantly get hangnails. "Our skin is a huge immune organ because it protects us from the environment," says Blatner. If your skin isn't strong due to a shortage of protein, you may start to notice cracks and tears (like hang nails), potentially exposing you to pathogens and leading to infections.

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 eat now that I am weight restored

Now that I am weight restored (and hVe been for about 6 months ) I eat quite differently to how I once did. Although the example I am going to give is a typical days intake for me, this does vary sometimes quite a lot. Despite the fact that I sometimes eat more or less depending on what im doing or how im feeling, my weight has remained constant over the last 6 months. I have also felt happy, energetic and healthy which are all good indications to me that my body and mind are getting the energy and nutrients from food they need.

Breakfast: 4 weet bix biscuits with 150g of regular yoghurt or 2 portions of flavoured oats prepared with light milk.

Morning tea: 1 nut bar and 1 apple or 2 slices of toast topped with 1 mashed banana

Lunch: 1 ham and cheese sandwhich, 1 full fat yoghurt and 1 peach or a Noodle cup, banana and tub of custard

Afternoon tea: tub of fruit and muesli bar or a mini packet of choc chip cookie bites and an apple

Tea: 1 serve of pasta and heaps of vegetables or meat, potato and vegetables

Dessert: bowl of icecream or 2 small treat chocolates and a banana

It is probably important to note that this is the amount of food I have an appetite for when I am busy and active. I generally dont eat quite this much on lazy days, not intentionally but because I simply dont have an appetite for this much food. Other days I end up eating just three bigger meals as that fits in better with my plans for the day or because that is what my boyfriend or friends have.

Some recent dinners

Battered fish, mashed pumpkin and potato, carrots, peas, broccoli and cauliflower

Tomato pasta served on a bed of baby butterleaf lettuce 

Chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce, mashed veggies and boiled carrot, peas, cauliflower and broccoli 

Beef caneolli in tomato sauce, 1 Slice of fresh buttered bread, lettuce, red beet, cherry tomatoes and cheese

Beef bolognaise with carrot, cauliflower and broccoli 

Typical day Food diary

Cashew spread on wholemeal toast and cinnamon and brown sugar oats

an orange, a kiwi fruit and chocolate nut bar

Tomato and onion flavoured tuna spread on 6 premium biscuits (crackers), an apple and a creamy strawberry 

Grapes and a cadbury biscuit chocolate

Spaghetti bolognaise and salted vegetables

Banana custard

Flexibility with food

It is only since I have made so much recovery progress that I have become more flexible in terms of my meal times and eating. Even though this may seem like a very small thing, I believe it is very important as life should not revolve around eating 6 meals at the exact same time every single day or eating a certain number of calories.

Dont get me wrong, I dont think following a strict meal plan with specific meal times in the early stages of recovery is a bad thing. In fact, I found that doing this was incredibely helpful amd helped me to get stronger and fight my anorexia. Now however I really enjoy having more flexibility when it comes to meal times. 

Once I would have never done anything if it would interfere with my eating or meal times which led to me missing out on many opportunities. Tonight when my cousin came and asked what I was up to when I finished work, I told her that I was going to go home, have tea and then take Tess for a walk. She asked if I instead wanted to take Tess for a walk first, with her as she was walking her dog.

My first thought was that I couldn't because I had to go home and have tea but then I realised that I wasn't even hungry yet and that I would much rather go for a walk with company. So I decided to walk Tess first,with my cousin and her dog which just meant having tea and the also dessert an hour or so later.

While eating is always incredibly important for those who are recovering from or who have recovered from anorexia, life shouldn't revolve around food. As the saying goes, you should eat so that you can live, not live so you can eat. My life really has revolved around food, weight and calories for the past 3 years and I am so glad that I am no longer living like this.

Tea: chicken carbonara pasta with LOTS of veggies

Dessert: banana and chocolate pop tart (I had never tried the chocolate flavoured pop tarts before and I thought they were amazing. I love how they were sticky and moist inside like a brownie)

My maintenance intake

Cashew spread on toast and vanilla oats

An orange and a Pop Tart

A vegemite and cheese sandwich, grapes and a raspberry and white chocolate yoghurt

An apple and a rocky road snickers chocolate bar

A vegetable lasagna and salted vegetables (caulliflower, carrot, peas and corn)

A mini hot apple pie with a scoop of vanilla icecream

Why I am scared of under-eating

I really enjoyed watching Amy dance tonight although I was also kind of happy when it had all finished so that I could come home to my dog and my nice and warm fire. I had absolutely no appetite what so ever when I got home and the last thing I felt like doing was eating tea but I knew that I should eat anyway so I did.

I don't know when it will be 'safe' for me to start listening to my hunger cues and not eating the exact same amount all the time, no matter how hungry I am feeling, Afterall, if a 'normal' person is not feeling as hungry on any particular occasion, they may not eat as much and that is completely normal and nothing at all to worry about. But I really dont feel ready to do this yet.

I suppose the thing I am fightened of is under eating, as I know that when I under eat, I am making an opportunity for my anorexia to sneak back in again. After all it is only when I undereat that I stop thinking as rationally and I become more vulunerable to my anorexic thoughts. So perhaps I just need to keep forcing myself to eat the same amount of food until I truly feel as though I am completely recovered.

I do believe that making a full recovery is possible but at the same time, I cant really imagine never having any anorexic thoughts at all. I know that even after I am recovered I may still feel self conscious and bad about myself sometimes as that is just a normal part of being a women but how will I know if it is my anorexia making me feel that way or if it is just normal inscurities that all people experience?

I suppose the most important thing to keep doing, both before and after I make a full recovery is to never act upon any thoughts I have that sound anything at all like anorexic thoughts. And I know that I shouldn't panic if  ever do get the occasional anorexic-like thought as it really can't hurt me as long as I don't act upon it and I just ignore it. I still do believe that if I ignore all my anorexic thoughts for long enough, then eventually my anorexia will get sick of being ignored and leave me alone.

Cheesy spaghetti with mixed vegetables

Normal eating after weight restoration

Something that I eventually actually enjoyed about gaining weight was being able to eat so many delicious and yummy foods. An important point to make however is that there is nothing wrong with eating those types of 'yummy' foods even after you are weight restored. As long as they are eaten in moderation and along with other more nutritious foods, they will not hurt you or instantly make you gain more weight. I thought I would show you everything that I ate today to demenstrate the fact that a weight maintenence diet can contain all types of foods. Somedays I eat hardly any 'treat' foods like chocolate, cake or icecream and others days, like today I have all three. It just depends entirely on what I feel like eating. To me, this is what it means to have a healthy relationshipnwith food. I feel as though if I want to make a full recovery, I can not be frightened of eating certain foods.

Breakfast: toast with cashew spread and vanilla oats

Morning tea: an orange and 3 lamington Fingers

Lunch: 1 salad sandwich, 1 apple and 1 full fat yoghurt
Afternoon tea: 1 picnic bar and 1 kiwi fruit

Tea: pasta bolognaise with grated carrot, diced capsicum and diced tomato

Dessert: 1 banana and 1 chocolate coated caramel icecream

Yummy Salad dinner

Tonight for tea I made myself a salad for the first time in ages. I never feel like eating salad in winter or when the weather is cold but today I was in the mood for salad so I bought some lettuce, tomatoes and capsicum which I added to some ingredients I already had at home. My salad also consisted of 1 diced chicken breast schnitzel, a small tin of beans, a large boiled egg, carrot, red beet and I also added dressing too. It was super delicious but next time I dont think I would add the dressing as there was already enough flavour without it. 

What did you have for tea tonight? I hope it was something substantial and delicious :)