Try this simple step for one week to bring balance to your body…

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Structured Eating for One Week– A Step Towards ED Recovery-what to eat, when to eat, how to eat

By Richard Kerr-

www.bulimiahelp.org

We can talk about recovery all day, but unless we take real action towards it nothing is going to change.

Your body has forgotten what normal hunger feels like or how to feel satisfied with a normal portion of food. In a way you have forgotten how to respond normally to food and because of this we are prone to massive body binge urges.

It’s your job to retrain your body to respond to, process and be satisfied with normal portions of food. This simple step is all about the importance of rebalancing your body by establishing a pattern of regular eating.  

Right now the idea of eating regularly probably sounds both scary and impossible, but don’t worry, we’re going to start off very slowly, building up our confidence around food gradually. 

So read over this information a couple of times, let it all sink in and then see if you can challenge yourself to try out this step for one week to begin with…

Do you find yourself restricting your food intake on a regular basis? If so then you’re certainly not alone. 

A lot of bulimics tend to have a chaotic, disordered eating schedule like this.

They skip meals, they fast for hours, the end of every meal or snack becomes the beginning of an undetermined period of deprivation.

Physiologically, this encourages a powerful urge to overeat at every opportunity possible.

We need to retrain our mind and body to expect food often and regularly. To do this we need to feed ourselves at least every three hours.

By doing this you are telling your body:
“You don’t have to force me to binge on large amounts of food now, because I will provide you with more food later”.

 

It will take time for your body to TRUST that it can have more food later. But if you continue to eat something at least every three hours your body will become biologically reconditioned to know that it will always have access to food.

 

If you are worried that eating often will lead to weight gain:

Keep in mind that eating regularly is one of the BEST things you can do to maintain a healthy weight, as it provides a massive boost to your metabolism.

Studies show that people who skip meals during the day and then eat lots in the evening, tend to be more overweight than those who eat regularly throughout the day.

Eating regularly also helps to stabilize your blood sugar levels which will automatically suppress your appetite.

And best of all, by eating every three hours you can expect a MASSIVE reduction in your body binge urges.

Binging and purging on food plays havoc with your blood sugar levels.

A study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders found that purging tends to lead to sub-normal levels of blood sugar in the body.

When blood sugar levels are low, your body will crave carbohydrate foods. This can lead to a binge/ purge cycle fueled by highs and lows of blood sugar.

A powerful way counter-balance this is to start eating food regularly.

The basic format of eating at least every 3 hours

The basic format for this is to eat three meals and three snacks every day, ensuring you eat at least every three hours within your day.It can help to set your times prior to starting.
An example of this would be:

Breakfast time: 8:00am
A snack for morning tea time: 10:30am
Lunch time: 1:00pm
A snack in the afternoon time: 3:30pm
Dinner time: 6:00pm
A snack after dinner time: 8:30pm

Please note that the meals do not need to be exactly 3 hours apart. We just need to ensure that there is NO MORE THAN 3 hours between meals

I would suggest you start this immediately…
Whatever time of day it is, it doesn’t matter – from this moment onwards; you will eat something at least every three hours.

 “How rigid should I be with the preset times?”

It is important to stick to your scheduled times, but it is OK to be a little flexible.
Some people prefer to eat exactly at their preset time, while others prefer a little flexibility and perhaps eat half an hour either side of their preset times.
Why not try out both options and find what works best for you.

 “But, what will I eat?”

At this stage don’t feel pressured to eat something that will cause anxiety or something you know you will have trouble keeping down.
Don’t worry about eating normally.
Don’t worry if your food choices look crazy.
In time, it will all be okay, but for now, stay safe and stick to foods you feel comfortable with. If you know certain foods can trigger a binge then avoid them for now.
Many people are used to skipping meals, so eating at least every 3 hours might seem like a big enough challenge at first, without also worrying about what to eat.

 “What if I am not hungry?”

It doesn’t matter.
Even if you do not feel hungry, when it is time to eat then you should eat.
At this stage you simply cannot trust your hunger signals. Bulimia has made your internal food regulatory system unreliable. Eating in a mechanical way like this is important until you are able to trust your own hunger and satiety cues.

 “What if I don’t feel satisfied after eating?”

In the beginning, expect to have some difficultly feeling satisfied after eating. This is because it takes time for your body to experience and understand feelings of satiety again. Realise that this is very normal and continue with your meal plan as is.

 What if I am hungry between meals?

If you find yourself hungry between meals then the first thing to address is whether you are eating enough food. Most people find the urge to eat between meals reduces dramatically once they increase their portion sizes and begin eating foods from all of the major food groups.
Another thing to bear in mind, is that in the early stages of recovery it’s normal to feel false hunger or emotional hunger, which makes you want to graze in-between meals. But this kind of grazing will only help to keep your bulimia alive, so do aim to stick to those set meal and snack times as much as you can.
Of course if you feel you can’t quite make it 3 hours between meals and snacks that’s okay too. Try reducing the gap slightly and see if it helps.

 “Should I ever listen to my own hunger cues at this stage?”

It can be very hard to know when to start trusting your body to tell you when it is hungry again. Generally at the start of recovery you need to focus on eating at least every 3 hours regardless of how hungry you feel. Don’t worry too much about relying on those natural hunger cues just yet; you can learn to be more intuitive as time goes on. Remember it can take 3-6 months and sometimes longer for your natural hunger cues to really start working again. Until then it is important to start giving your body the nutrition it needs.

 “I can’t eat that amount of food, what should I do?”

You decide the portion size.
For now stick to the portion size that you feel comfortable with in order to reduce your anxiety and the temptation to purge. You must take your time as your body learns to digest food again.
The goal at this stage is to start getting used to feelings of food in your stomach. If you are struggling to keep the food down, make the portions smaller. In time, when your body adjusts to regular food, you can increase the amount.

 “I find 3 large meals a day too difficult. I’m not used to having that much food in my stomach.”

That’s no problem, a lot of people find eating 3 large meals too difficult at first, so instead of 3 main meals and 3 snacks have 6 small meals.
Many find this approach a lot easier and it’s just as effective. So if you feel you’d be more comfortable eating 6 smaller meals then please do so.

 “Why am I MORE hungry after eating?”

Unfortunately at this stage in recovery your hunger might not make logical sense. Sometimes eating a meal can make you MORE hungry than before.
Accept that this is another part of your recovery and in time your body will adjust and respond normally to food.

 “What if I binge?”

Firstly don’t panic; you haven’t blown it!
At this early stage in recovery you are not expected to just stop bingeing.
If you do binge, continue your meal plan for the rest of the day.
Yes I know this is challenging but the BEST WAY to prevent further loss of control is to continue to eat at least every 3 hours.
Remember if you decide to restrict and skip a meal you will only encourage more binge eating.
It can help to break the day up into 6 portions to represent each meal. If you do binge on one of these portions don’t look at it as if the day has been ruined. It hasn’t, you still have 5 more opportunities to continue to eat every 3 hours.

 “What if I miss a meal?”

Many people become extremely anxious if they miss a meal but missing one meal isn’t going to be an issue. There are plenty of reasons why you might miss a meal. A late bus, an office meeting, or you simply forgot. If it’s now dinner time and you haven’t eaten since lunch, eat your dinner and be wary that you may need to increase your portion size to make up for the missed food.
This will be very challenging at first, but it WILL get easier.
Please try hard not to miss any meals (although, don’t beat yourself up if you do).

“I found that, after adopting structured eating, I tend to get very anxious when I have to miss a snack or meal. The solution for me was to make sure I always have a small snack at hand e.g. an apple. This definitely takes away some of the stress and not to mention it calms binge urges dramatically!”

“When I first began structured eating in January, it was very tough and for the first 4-5 weeks of it, all I thought about was what am I going to have at my next meal? After about 5 weeks of structured eating, it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I just didn’t think about the next meal! Trust me on this; I’ve been bulimic for 16 years so I did not think this would happen. If you keep going strong though, and don’t give up, even if you have little slip ups, your body will adapt and given a few weeks, your brain will automatically stop thinking like this. I didn’t think it would happen either, but it did!”

 

Take it slow

  • Only eat what you feel comfortable with at this early stage, there is no need to put yourself under unneccesary presurre.

If you do not eat much then please don’t feel forced to eat more than you are used to. Your stomach might need a while to re-adjust and this can take time.

 Remember take baby steps and make small gradual changes.

 
 In Summary
  • Eat something at least every three hours during the day.
  • Choose foods that you are comfortable with and you enjoy.
  • Even if you are not hungry, when it is time to eat you should eat. Don’t worry about trusting your own hunger cues at this stage. Start with portion sizes you are comfortable with.
  • Understand that it takes time to re-balance your body.
  • If you have a slip up or relapse keep going!
  • This can seem like a massive challenge at first but you will adapt!

 
Source: www.bulimiahelp.org

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Islam and Eating Disorders founded in 2012 – run by Maha Khan, the blog creates awareness of Eating Disorders in the Muslim world, offers information and support for sufferers and their loved ones.

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