Eating disorders, how they work, and how to beat them.

[A-S warrior]

*discalimer, these are the views and opinions of A-S warrior and are not intended as replacement for professional support*

 

hello everyone, now speaking as a guy that has had varied eating disorders and overcome them, i think the time was right to weigh in on my take on eating disorders and how i tackled the problem from the root. i will be adding alot of science to this later so if you dont want a biology lesson then dont read lol.

 

brief story

i was quite over weight in my younger years and ate everything in sight without consideration of how much fat i was gaining, it all of a sudden hit home how fat i was and i started to get desperate to lose weight, so to do this what did i do? i just diddnt eat. so after months on a severe calorie defist i certainly did lose weight yes, but i noticed i had this shackle tied to me, and that shackle was food. i was so perticualr about what foods i put in my mouth, i wouldnt eat anything that wasnt 'good for you' yes you could say thats a good thing right? well not to the point your practically pulling your hair out over it and getting wound up. so as time went on i chose to start bodybuilding, this opened up a new can of worms beacuse i belived what the magazines said, eat every 3 hours or you,ll burn muscle, eat 6 meals a day etc etc. and this caused a whole array of problems, beacuse not only was it now i had to eat nothing but clean food, i had to eat constantly to keep my muscle (this is so not true but more on that later) so eating became a job, it became an obsession, and i couldnt live life to the full beacuse i was in the kitchen all the time. i felt like a prisoner in my own body. eating clean, eating every 3 hours, etc. so i had gone from one extreme to the other, not eating at all, and then eating like clockwork.

 

 

how eating disorders play there dirty trick

an eating disorder is like being shackled in chains and hand cuffs, the eating disorder can get quite nasty and aggressive with you, it

actully is like having a voice in your head calling you fat, pathetic, a waste of space, and you,ll never amount to anything. its like being in an abusive relationship. an eating disorder will make you belive that when you,ve eaten a doughnut or a cake, that you have all of a sudden turned fat. i actully used to get the sensation of fat building up around my waist, i could actully feel it growing almost. (again my sciency bit later will clean this up!) your eating disorder will have you writing things down that you ate, weighing yourself all the time, tracking your calories exessivley and never allowing for a treat. it is like prison and your scared that any food you put in your mouth that isnt in your approved list will turn you fat.

 

pepole with any kind of eating disorder will do things like:

• excuse themselves from the table alot, to avoid eating
  
• talk about weight loss and being healthy all the time
  
• sneak food to the dog so they dont have to eat it
  
• will store food in there bedrooms (the food that was served up for dinner a week ago will still be there)
  
• will come up with some magical medical condition witch means they cant eat a particular food
  
• will do things like pick around things that you serve up or order from a resurant, i.e if you are at mcdonalds and they order the chicken mc nuggets and there picking off all the batter and not putting the chicken in there mouth until every single scrap of batter is taken off. (i did this all the time)
  
• start talking in the third person and saying things like my friend is doing this..... and he hates the way he looks... hes so unhappy with himself......
  
• will always say 'im not hungry' everytime food is offered
  
• will track every single calorie to the point, and can get quite panicy if they go over.
  
• measure every grain of food to the ounce
  

of course there are more, but if this sounds like you so far and your noticing a pattern then keep reading.

 

 

 

building a good realtionship with food

the best way to go about this is eduction! if your tired of being tied down to your eating disorder, they consider enrolling on a nutrition course, or a human physiology course. science is your friend as science holds the truth,do some online searching also, and join a fittness forum. you will get support from other members, and its on the forums that my eating disorder finally died. so i strongly reccomend that. i am now about to get a bit proffesor on you, and lay down some facts:

 

the glycemic index is a absolute load of rubbish, you dont even have to be aware of the glycemic index,s existance. why? well lets say you have a hi gi carb, white rice. your not just going to eat white rice are you? your going to have proteins and fats with it to form a meal. this strait away renders the glycemic index useless as this lowers the glycemic vaule of the white rice. the second thing to think about is the last meal you ate (even if it was before bed last night) is still being digested, which lowers the glycemic index of the rice even further. so erase the glycemic index from your mind because you dont have to worry about it.

 

fat is bad? no fat is not bad at all, in fact fat is vitally important! "but A-S isnt saturated fat bad?" well......

 

heres why saturated fat is awsome:

 

 

1) Improved cardiovascular risk factors

 

Saturated fat plays a key role in cardiovascular health. The addition of saturated fat to the diet reduces the levels of a substance called lipoprotein (a) that correlates strongly with risk for heart disease. Research has shown that when women diet, those eating the greatest percentage of the total fat in their diets as saturated fat, lose the most weight.

 

2) Stronger bones

 

Saturated fat is required for calcium to be effectively incorporated into bone. According to some of the foremost research experts in dietary fats and human health, there’s a case to be made for having as much as 50 percent of the fats in your diet as saturated fats for this reason.

 

3) Improved liver health

 

Saturated fat has been shown to protect the liver from alcohol and medications, including acetaminophen and other drugs commonly used for pain and arthritis.

 

4) Healthy lungs

 

For proper function, the airspaces of the lungs have to be coated with a thin layer of lung surfactant. The fat content of lung surfactant is 100 percent saturated fatty acids. Replacement of these critical fats by other types of fat makes faulty surfactant and potentially causes breathing difficulties.

 

5) Healthy brain

 

Your brain is mainly made of fat and cholesterol. The lion’s share of the fatty acids in the brain are actually saturated. A diet that skimps on healthy saturated fats robs your brain of the raw materials it needs to function optimally.

 

6) Proper nerve signaling

 

Certain saturated fats, particularly those found in butter, lard, coconut oil, and palm oil, function directly as signaling messengers that influence metabolism, including such critical jobs as the appropriate release of insulin.

 

7) Strong immune system

 

Saturated fats found in butter and coconut oil (myristic acid and lauric acid) play key roles in immune health. Loss of sufficient saturated fatty acids in white blood cells hampers their ability to recognize and destroy foreign invaders, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

 

i think as far as that goes, id say checkmate eating disorder!

 

 

 

should i eat treat foods? yes! again rembering the logic with my glycemic index example and if your eating within your calories then your absoultley fine!

 

 

 

measuring calorie intake (with a healthy mind)

i reccomend counting calories for the week and not for the day, counting calories for the week allows more freedom in a sence beacuse, if you have a day where you over do it, you can adjust your calories for the other days acordingly to fit in with your end of week total. rember to always allow foods that you like to your weekly calorie count. and dont worry if it really goes bad, no one ever got fat in a bad week. at least ive never heard of it.

 

 

 

how i eat now, and how my diet has evolved.

i am now a huge advocate for intermittent fasting, i eat in an 8 hour feeding window and fast for 16 to 18 hours a day, why? beacuse its liberating for one! i was eating every 3 hours and panicing about missing a meal, "but A-S wont you burn muscle? your a bodybuilder right? i am a bodybuilder but im also a keen scientist. ive done alot of reascerch and now know 100% for a fact that it takes at least 72 hours for the body to burn muscle, and even then its very minimal. i listen to my body, and not my brain, and i now know when im truley hungry. if i get to that level early i will break my fast and not worry beacuse my body wants me to eat now. but i sometimes do a 24 hour fast and i feel great after. its so refreshing and liberating, but i only reccomend it for someone that has a basic knowledge of bio mechanics, done there reaserch and has a sound mindest. i fast mainly to detox and let my digestive system rest so my body can go about its other dutys undisturbed. i eat anywere between 3500 and 4000 caloires a day to fuel my workouts and build muscle. i also do eat the odd treat and eat it guilt free beacuse im very in tune with my body, and understand nutrtional science. and as i said earlier science is your cure if you have an eating disorder.

 

 

 

eating should be fun

its very important to still eat foods that you enjoy as i said, but its even more fun when you create foods in the kitchen that are healthy and taste good. watch jamie olivers programs, most of his meals (including the deserts) are exellent. get cookery books and watch cookery channels to get insperation to fully enhance your eating lifestyle.

 

you shouldnt even be thinking about food until your stomach tells you to start thinking about it, food does not, and should not rule you!

 

 

this post is lonnnnnnng so i,ll leave it there for now, i,ll add more to it tomorow, and hopefully you enjoyed it as must as i enjoyed typing it. thanks for reading!

 

A-S warrior (ben)

Edited July 25, 2012 by A-S warrior

[robert7111a]

Just digesting your excellent post Warrior but I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you regarding the Glycemic Index.

 

This is of particular relevance to any members who might be diabetic or prediabetic. As you know, eating food high in GI causes an immediate spike in blood sugar causing the release of insulin, but we all know that in Type II diabetes, the body is resistant to this insulin meaning that the blood sugar remains dangerously high for a defined period of time.

 

But yes, people need to combine low GI foods with high GI foods in the same meal but I would suspect that the cohort of diabetics would be watching their GI intake anyway.

[LancsLad]

Thanks A-S Warrior for kicking things off hopefully people coming on board and telling their stories will hopefully help someone, if it does then it is all worth it.

 

I will start my story off hopefully somewhere near the end;

 

It was a hot day earlier this year, the bit when we had a summer in two weeks sometime around Easter. I had been riding my bike for about three hours and I had finished the first large water bottle of energy drink, I swopped it with a new full one into the easiest to get to bottle cage on my bike. About 10 minutes later I started to think about which way to take home, to carry on along the lanes straight back home about 15km or to swing left and do a 40km circuit over the hills, my legs were still feeling fine and I had another 3 or 4 km before the junction to decide left or right. I tried to take a drink but I couldn't the rule in my head said "this is a one bottle ride you know that". I left it for a couple of minutes and tried again but I couldn't touch the bottle. The day was sunny and the views would be great and I so much wanted to climb in the hills to but I needed to drink, it was hot, I tried again but again I couldn't get my hand to touch the bottle there was a force field around it. The junction came and I swung left and started to climb, I thought what are you going to do now, I will get up this first hill and then I will have a drink. But the voice in my head said no and I still couldn't break the force field. I was now angry and so I climbed harder and harder up towards the main fell. I wasn't enjoying this one bit, I was starting to feel light headed I had stopped sweating and was starting to get cold. The answer was there but the rule said don't take it.

 

I was now faced with the prospect of getting out of this place, the exit route being narrow twisting lanes the kind with double arrows on them on the ordinance survey map. I knew I had to keep things in control, but it was hard my brain wasn't with me I only had my instincts left, I turned to my voice and said get me out of here and I started to look at the computer on my handle bars 45km, 50km, 55, 60 something I was pushing it. I called out there is a big pot hole on the next bend please be careful, but the voice called back "you love the control, this is living on the edge this is". We got to the bottom and I had to be honest the control element was good it was something I enjoyed I had been here many times before. I started to agree it might not be a bad thing. The voice threw in the punch line think of all those calories you saved by not drinking. I asked are we going home now I was feeling ill. "No let's throw in a couple of extra hills you know you can get up to 70km on the second one on that long downhill straight". I was weary so I agreed to the plan, because plans was what we did best.

 

At some point I got back home I didn't know how my voice got me back, I put my bike away and lifted the full bottle of energy drink out of the bottle cage, there was no force field at all, I put it in the fridge for the following day, that was the rule, I removed an unopened energy bar from my jersey pocket and put it back in the box and swapped it for a can of coke, that was the rule as well and I removed my computer and took it upstairs to download the data. I threw the empty can in the bin, but I wasn't interested any more, I didn't want to know how fast we had been, what our average speed was, what the calorie deficiency was for the ride, it didn't matter anymore. I knew the rules I knew that dinner wasn't going to be enough, I knew I wasn't really losing weight anymore, all I wanted to do and all I could do was sit, to sit and cry, it had all got too much.

 

At that point it dawned on me things had gone too far. I understood self harm was back in a big way in my life, possibly bigger than it had ever been. I had a choice to make I knew that to do something about it or to carry on as I was doing. It took me about a month before I plucked up the courage to see my GP. In that time I had the perfect cover up. On the outside I was lean, tanned everything you would expect a pretty serious cyclist to look like. But on the inside well that was something a lot different.

 

I have yet to receive any professional help, I don't fit the typical profile. The problem is I look too fit and healthy. People don't really understand I can go for days even weeks being calorie deficient. In other words I burn more calories than I eat most days this deficiency can be as great as 4,000 calories. I can do more damage in one day than the average anorexic might do in three or four very easily.

 

I am not too sure when my eating disorder started to appear, it emerged from a rigid and disciplined training regime. All I know is that at one point everything was fine and healthy both physically but little by little the rules started to change and something else started to control my life. It made compelling arguments to me backed them up with data and showed me the results to prove it.

 

For me it is all about levels of control in my life. My autistic side plays a significant part in this and its black and white thinking is dangerous, but that is part of me. By recognising that all of this is part of me, the voice in my head is part of me I have begun to make significant inroads. I can go into that if people want me to. At this point in the post I felt the most important bit to share was the point at which things started to turn around for me the point of understanding that things had gone too far. Some might say my GP has done nothing, that might be true but he did sit there and listen for a second whilst I told him;

 

"I have an eating disorder and I want to beat this thing"

 

In some ways that's all he had to do, because I believe its downhill from here, there will be bumps and difficult bends along the way, but once you are really honest with yourself and importantly really commit to making changes in how you think and go about your life, you do have a chance a very good chance to beat these things.

[A-S warrior]

Just digesting your excellent post Warrior but I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you regarding the Glycemic Index.

 

This is of particular relevance to any members who might be diabetic or prediabetic. As you know, eating food high in GI causes an immediate spike in blood sugar causing the release of insulin, but we all know that in Type II diabetes, the body is resistant to this insulin meaning that the blood sugar remains dangerously high for a defined period of time.

 

But yes, people need to combine low GI foods with high GI foods in the same meal but I would suspect that the cohort of diabetics would be watching their GI intake anyway.

 

 

thats fair enough, dibetics should be carefull i agree. the post was aimed at pepole that need to be liberated from something that holds little relivance if there not diabetic. most diebetics as you say are very aware of the GI index (at least on a simplistic level)

[A-S warrior]

@lancslad, great post and i can fully relate. i was at a point were even chewing gum would have added uneccersary calories, hopefully more pepole will share there storys with us, id love to be able to help them in some way.

[robert7111a]

thats fair enough, dibetics should be carefull i agree. the post was aimed at pepole that need to be liberated from something that holds little relivance if there not diabetic. most diebetics as you say are very aware of the GI index (at least on a simplistic level)

 

There are too many obese people (esp children) in this country alone and more needs to be done to help liberate them from their daily diet of McDonalds, candy bars, sodas and other junk. The problem is that all this stuff is cheap compared to real food and for those on benefits, junk food is usually their only option. The Government are doing nothing to help and nor are the Olympian athletes who endorse companies such as soft drinks firms as they make a fat profit (but wouldn't dream of touching the stuff themselves!).

[A-S warrior]

the thing i find funny is they sponsor these athletic events by 'burger king' 'skittles' 'cocacola' and thats what these kids think the athaletes eat!

[robert7111a]

These kids should be better educated

 

Hey, I've just had 2 squares of this 99% choco stuff. First impressions: tasted like dead firewood. Second impression: very smooth and liqueur like. Certainly an acquired taste - though I was used to 70 - 80% Green & Blacks

[A-S warrior]

all of a sudden you,ll fall in love with it, it sounds like my kinda thing to be honest.

[robert7111a]

Go and order some...arrived within 2 days

[darkshine]

I was always a picky eater as a kid, I didn't like evening meals in particular, my parents didn't pander to this.

 

It started as a issue if foods touched each other, if they tasted or looked odd in some way, if they weren't cooked right...

 

Then I started having my own plate, glass and cutlery - this was at a pretty young age...

 

The sick phobia ties in to this young age too, and I'd worry that certain foods would make me throw up, or what they would look like if I threw them up, or if they at all resembled any kind of sick...

 

It all spiralled when I went to secondary school and became obsessed thinking I was overweight, I began eating loads of junk food and then starving myself, I hid food from my plate, learnt how to make it look smaller, shoved it in my pockets, would rush out to clean the plates, I'd say I'd eat in my room and then I'd flush it down the toilet.

 

I started cycling, wanted to do something and other sports weren't my thing, I could cycle on my own and that suited me most of the time.

 

I started going through phases of refusing to eat food people had touched, learnt how to cook (I really use that word very loosely) and would go out and buy food to eat.

 

Then I got a bit older and starved myself for 4-6 weeks, got very ill, and realised that I had to do something about it, so I started a self made program of increasing my food intake, all the while hating every minute of it....

 

Since then the problem has been ongoing, I have times when it's near impossible to eat, and I have times where it's easier, and everything in between.

 

I often struggle to recognise the feeling of hunger until it is so extreme that I feel very sick.

 

When I'm home alone, it gets to dinner time (at some point in the afternoon) and I might notice I am hungry, and I walk to the fridge or the cupboard and I stand there, and I stand there, and it's like a battle of wills to open the door, and I stare at this food that I'm supposed to enjoy and I don't, I have to stand there and make a decision on what is the least bad? What is the easiest to eat? What do I have the highest chance of being able to eat? And sometimes I can't face it, I just can't do it and I have to walk away and try again later.

 

My diet isn't as restricted as it used to be but there are so many rules to it and I cannot break them....

 

I can rotate evening meals, but it's essentially a rotation that keeps the same thing as far away from itself as possible... There's maybe 10 proper meals, and half a dozen less proper ones (at a guess - I would have to work it out) - Then there's maybe another 10 meals that cannot come onto the rotation with anything less than a 3 month gap - some things are even once a year things.

 

It all has to be cooked, made, prepared according to an extremely rigid set of rules that I cannot break - if I break them I cannot eat the food - and I mean I physically cannot - this isn't just some stupid rule on my head, it's life and death - I would rather starve than break these rules, because if I break them I can't swallow the food, and then I can't face spitting it out and seeing it either and that just goes badly...

 

I have sensory issues relating to texture too

 

Everything has to be a set brand, make, size - if they change it for some reason it usually goes off menu - also I can't hack alternatives either - they do not taste the same - they do not!!

 

It also all has to be position on the plate in an exact and precise way - if this is not conformed to I cannot cope with it, and have been known to completely freak out over this.

 

Certain foods cannot ever be named - ever - if they are named prior to beginning to cook, that goes off the list and something else has to be found to eat.

 

I do not like a broad range of food - I don't like many foods that have things mixed in them - and the whole topic of what foods I can and cannot eat would take up a hell of a lot of space here - I'd calculate it as less than 2% of what is sold in a typical supermarket (ignoring the non food aisles and booze). And in truth, because of my rules, it is probably less than that at any given time....

 

I'm not worried about my weight - I am slightly overweight but I don't care about that - I'm not overly concerned with how I look either (I'm not hung up on it in a weight or size related way).

 

I don't go out of control with exercise (agoraphobia has prevented that anyway) but even when that was less of an issue, I never exercised to excess.

 

But because I have spent such a large percent of the past decade doing nothing activity wise - and cuz I've taken meds that increase weight too - I don't fit into the profile of someone with an eating disorder - so this has been a battle that has been mainly me on my own for a long time, a decade and a half.... and it was only during the time that I wrote my "struggling to eat" post that the realisation of how I'm struggling truly dawned on me and I couldn't deny that this is a problem any more.

 

I have spoken to several people in the Mh service - mainly psychiatrists, but also a psychologist and a GP - and they haven't been able to offer any help other than seeing a nutritionalist.

 

As such, I have done the only thing I can do - I battle every single day - and when it gets nearly impossible, and I can't stand things in my mouth and I can't chew, and my throat closes and I start gagging and retching if I try to force food down - I just battle on - and I cope the best way I can - by pushing the reality out of my mind and pretending it all isn't an issue - until it becomes too big an issue again and then I panic in case I get the sickness thing again and then lose more food types off my list because I can't eat a food again for a long while if I've thrown it up...

 

I'm still not clearing a thousand calories a day, and haven't been for quite a long while now... years... the only breaks from that are when I can eat junk food, biscuits, cakes, crisps, take-away's, and then maybe it gets above 1000 - but that isn't often... I try to keep stuff like that at a minimum.

 

And I don't often discuss all this because it sounds like I am being awkward when people suggest foods to eat and stuff - I can't eat things that are disgusting - I just can't, so many foods creep me out...

 

I've actually tried a hell of a lot of food - despite my issues - the problem is that I don't like any of them...

 

 

And you know what? I haven't got a clue what to do about any of this...

Edited July 30, 2012 by darkshine

[robert7111a]

Sometimes Darkshine I do wonder how you stay alive... :lol:

 

Good how you can be so honest about this.

 

At minimum, you could survive easily off the following (that is if you like any of them):

 

liver

 

oil-based sardines

 

eggs

 

whole milk

 

fruits of the season

 

garlic

 

tomatoes

 

cheese

 

natural yoghurt

 

red wine

 

99% cocoa

 

water

 

You already know that snacks such as biscuits/junk food etc are bad and just empty calories which the body doesn't need. I was initially surprised when you said you were slightly overweight - I had visions of you being thin and weighing probably no more than about 7 - 8 stone. At least you keep these to a minium

[darkshine]

Ok, I keep saying that I can only eat certain things and people have made suggestions both here (thanks Robert) and in the past - I figure it's easier if I say what I can eat, how, and when...

 

FRUIT

 

Golden Delicious Apples

Red or Green Grapes

Bananas

Strawberries

Honeydew Watermelon

Pineapple

Raspberries

 

At the moment it's bananas - although I could eat an apple - wouldn't want one again for a while if I did... I don't want the other fruits at all right now, they have no appeal whatsoever.

 

All fruit has to be perfect, bruise and blemish free, and it can't be softer then I think it should be.

 

SALAD

 

I don't like really salad stuff...

 

I can eat a leaf of iceburg lettuce with a salad of sandwich

Cucumber is "ok"

Tomatoes make me feel ill if I eat too many, so either a max of 2 of the tiny kind - or a couple of slices or a wedge of a normal kind.

Onion (red or "white") - I don't eat this very often - it gets used for flavour in hot food (although if you can find it you will win a prize as I cut it so small) I can sometimes lob some in a roll - but not often at all... I can eat a bit with a salad or hotdog but I could live without it.

Spring onions - not keen at all but I can eat a bit off the end if it's covered in salad cream

Pickled onions... not that keen either - can eat 3 tiny ones with a salad once in a blue moon

 

Salad is like fruit - has to be perfect, and cannot be soft. I try to incorporate it as often as I can.

 

VEG

 

I can eat veg of some variety 2-3 times a week...

 

Carrots (as long as they aren't cooked too long, and aren't cut too thick)

Peas - the frozen variety or a can of the marrowfat ones (not very often)

Broccoli - not really keen on this but can eat a small amount once or twice a month

Cauliflower - it's better than broccoli but it seems weird to have it without broccoli so once or twice a month and has to be only just cooked.

Sweetcorn - canned (has to be the salad crisp kind) or frozen (half cob ones) I don't use sweetcorn too often - it's ok - not great though

Cabbage - er... not great stuff... savoy or white is ok maybe 3 times a year

Green beans of some kind - again, not something I really like but can fit it into the menu a few times a year max

Potatoes - have to be King Edwards unless they are in a casserole,stew or hotpot - and then I struggle to find acceptable ones...

Brussels sprouts - xmas only - and they cannot be soggy!!!

 

Most veg is not cooked too long and verging on crispy (but not quite) apart from potatoes

 

MEAT

 

Chicken

 

Every so often I get forced to admit defeat and do a curry or sweet & sour - I hate rice for a start so avoid these like the plague - not that keen on curry or sweet & sour sauce either - both of these words are deal breakers, say them and it don't get cooked.

 

I don't mind chicken breast but it has to be a set part of the breast and that's it - about 1/4 of one.

Drumsticks - there's 2 sections of a drumstick I can eat - less than 1/2

Thighs - no!!!

Wings - they are ok - have to pick around them a lot

 

If there's anything at all wrong with the appearance I can't eat it. It has to be fresh.

 

KFC is ok - but the same rules apply as to what parts I can eat

 

Turkey

 

Xmas only

 

Beef

 

Not keen on beef....

 

Can eat steak a few times a year - almost burnt

Steak mince in spaghetti bolognese or shepherds pie (not very often, I'm really not a fan of these)

If we have burgers I get veggie ones that pretend they are beef - they are ok once in a while and have to be almost burnt

I can eat real burgers for a BBQ - burnt

Can eat a quarterpounder 4 times a year from McDonalds - but that is mainly a reminder of why I don't eat there...

With burgers I can only ever eat the edge - the middle freaks me out.

2 types of pie with beef in are ok - but they have to be set brands - and I only eat the crust or base, and not much of the filling

Corned beef - I sometimes lob this in a stew - or a sandwich - I don't do this often - maybe 4 times a year each as a max

 

Pork

 

Bacon is ok but I can't stand it grilled - and it's more like jerky than bacon once I've killed it

Sausages are something I can cope with but I only eat the ends - and they have to be almost burnt (bit of a theme here lol)

Chops are a deal breaker word - if anyone says "pork" or "chops" then I can't even cook it let alone eat it. Same for belly pork - I do not like these very much and so I limit this right down through a year - its a topic of debate in the household - and mine has to be almost burnt - unless I cook the chops in a light gravy...

 

FISH

 

Not something I really like.

 

I can eat cod in 4 things (fishfingers, in batter from a chippy, in parsley sauce, fishcake) and I really can live without this and use fish as a desperation food to stop everyone moaning at me as this is another area of debate - plus a fishfinger sandwich is a cop out food that means I don't have to really cook. Fishfingers and fishcakes hav[e to be almost burnt too...

 

I can eat tuna in a sandwich, or mixed with "mayo" with a salad - but not too often

 

And prawns are sort of ok in a prawn cocktail thing - but it's a case of I am able to swallow some - rather than remotely liking them

 

DAIRY

 

There's 2 brands of cheese I can eat - it's ok on a cracker, or on toast, it's ok in a sandwich or roll at times, or on a pizza, or on a burger - that's it though...

3 types of yoghurt (particular flavours - and I don't like eating them regularly - I only like one at a time then have a massive break from the things)

Semi skimmed milk (in milkshakes and coffee only)

Double cream (it's ok with strawberries - I don't have this very often at all) and it's ok floating on a black (real) coffee - twice a year.

 

BREAD

 

Bread is a really difficult area of food - I can eat one brand for sandwiches (white or malted) and another for toast.

Rolls are even harder because if they are too heavy, or the wrong consistency I can eat them - this is a real hassle as most of them are really doughy and heavy and I wouldn't even buy them, let alone eat them... It doesn't matter whether they are fresh or packaged brand names.

 

CEREAL

 

I don't like cereal - I haven't eaten any for many many months now... when I try to include this back in my diet I can eat rice crispies or sugar puffs and that's it - I've tried every other type (because my housemates change what they have a lot) and I don't like any of them.

 

OTHER

 

Sticking with meals as an area to define this - and ignoring junk food - there's a few that I didn't know where they fit exactly so I've put them here...

 

Baked beans - they are ok - a total hassle - and has to be the cheap brand from a set supermarket - they really are a hassle because I have to figure out how to segregate them.

 

Eggs - another dealbreaker word - they do not feature too often - a couple of times a month at most - and then I barely eat any... if it's fried - less than 1/6, boiled - a teaspoon, poached - 3/4, omlette - plain and the outside edge only, scrambled - someone else has to cook it, it has to be killed so it's dry, and I don't eat much - this happens about once a year...

 

Sandwich fillings.... (other than cheese) I don't mind 3 types of paste - but I really have to bury my thoughts on the manufacturing and content of these things.

 

I occasionally try ham or chicken but I'm not keen on that - and right now it's a complete no - I have eaten 2 halves of sandwiches in the past month - and the edge of 3 rolls.

 

Brussels Pate is ok a few times a year but I have issues with that too...

 

I will eat egg or chicken if I am out and have to buy a sandwich and even then it will only be because there is nothing else at all that I can eat and I will have to be so hungry I could die.

 

The Go Ahead bar things - summer fruits only - they are ok cuz I can take half an hour to eat a pack and they don't go soft

 

I can eat a small amount of garlic bread with a pizza - but I'm not that keen on it - and pizza's have to be 2 set types - I don't really like them.... but I can eat some.

 

Frozen oven chips - one make - one type.

 

Frozen stuff.... I can force down a third of a lasagne but I have to remove all the white sauce and that's a major hassle.

 

There's some frozen chicken I don't mind very very rarely.

 

Potato waffles are ok a couple of times a year.

 

If all else fails I can eat 2 types of TV dinner (no more than half a dozen times a year)

 

Occasionally I try something new - I tend not to buy those things again - or I force myself because my housemates are dying of boredom.

 

I do of course make things out of other things to form meals - but I figured it would be easier to split things into groups for clarity while mentioning aspects of some meals....

 

 

 

 

This doesn't look too bad when I list what I can eat over the course of time - and there's things I will have missed (junk food as an area for a start) - I make an effort to add healthier elements despite not linking most of them.

 

The problem's are outlined in my previous post... it's the battles that wear me down... and the fact I am not eating a balanced diet - I try to - but I don't always succeed.

 

It's the sensory stuff that dictates.

 

It's taste that prevents me from saying "yeah I eat bread, but it can only be one brand of loaf" and this is something that limits every single food I have listed - it all has to be a certain brand, type, etc.

 

And it's the battle of trying to just find something from this - anything - that I can actually chew, swallow and then repeat that action enough times to get something inside me.

[A-S warrior]

@darkshine

 

ok do you have a blender? if so, blend up,

 

fine oatmeal, pasterised egg whites, light olive oil (light olive oil is tasteless) and some nesquick powder or crusha. this should taste like a milkshake (at least it does for me) crush ice into it as well if you want. this is simular to what i drink when im in a mass phase and want extra calories without having to eat a whole dinosaur. you should be able to get 1000 calories out of this if you get the ratios right. (side note, the eggs have to be pasterised or you,ll get ill)

 

bread is nasty and your not missing anything by not eating it.

 

chicken is good, eat as much of that as you can stomach, eat it with the skin for extra calories.

 

dont worry about vegatables, they have been given an unworthy good press and its undeserved. you struggle to eat as it is, all veg is going to do is fill you up, with bascically 0 calories, and the fact is, theres nothing magic at all about veggies, i use them as a garnish and nothing more. the whole 5 a day thing is a huge myth.

 

"oven chips, one make, one type" bulk buy on those and shovel in as many as you can, these are easy calories and have no fiber, so your going to be able to eat more.

 

salad, same as veggies, no good to you at all. unless you dress it heavily in oil.

 

dont force feed yourself, once you,ve had enough walk away. and dont fall into the trap of beliving that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it really isnt. really lol it really isnt. in fact, if you eat breakfast, energy is being used for digestion, and is being taken away from the brain and other body parts, so your going to be slow and lethargic, eat at times when your not doing much, i train in the gym fasted, and i had a 220kg bar on my back this afternoon. i have no idea why pepole have this impression that breakfast is the most important meal of the day lol.

 

"what they would look like if I threw them up" - erm the exact same? lol. vomit is nothing more than pre digested food, nothing more, nothing less. if your diet is up to scratch, you,ll actully be less likely to get stomach virus,s and flus. i went nearly 10 years without throwing up, and when i did it was just a bodily function. my body was protecting me from a virus. its the bodys last resort to clear the virus, and that is it. (mind you, ive always been good at throwing up, its never bothered me) the body does things for a reason, and the body is a wonderful thing, and so is vomit lol. (watch 2 girls one cup )

 

 

try a shot of alchool before trying to eat a big meal, this will spark your appitite. also try and eat some 90% dark chocolate as well as this boosts ones appitite also.

 

 

failing all of that, get a flat mate to put food on a spoon and pretend its a plane, here comes the plane flying into your mouth eeeeeeeeeeooooooiiiii

 

or a train, whatevers your preference.

Edited August 6, 2012 by A-S warrior