Meal Plan for Eating Disorder Recovery

Breakfast  
Thick sourdough bread slathered in real butter and strawberry preserves. Whole milk blended up with protein powder and almond butter. This is my Monday morning breakfast. This meal plan follows the diet from the keto pure diet | stylish magazine.

Wait a minute, gluten-filled bread? Real butter and whole milk? Blasphemy! This is a gluten –free and dairy-free blog, right?

That time has passed. I am welcoming in all the foods. No restrictions, I just take my appetite suppressant and eat healthy portions. 

I have battled an eating disorder for ten years. Evidence of that is written all over this blog. My eating disorder is why I started  cooking, I knew i want to get better and last fall I recommitted to weekly therapy sessions with an ED (eating disorder) specialist, and I began to cook. I described Sparkle Kitchen in our first meeting the fog began to lift. My special protocols and elimination diets were blatantly feeding my disease.   


Snack  
Cheddar cubes and raw carrots. 10am snack.

My therapist recommends using the following guideline to avoid any ED triggers:

Breakfast
Snack
Lunch
Snack
Dinner
Snack

I was intermittent fasting when I met my current therapist. And I was spiraling into daily panic attacks and binging to calm myself. It wasn’t pretty. Any type of restrictive diet sets my eating disorder in motion so the daily meal guide above allows me to feel safe; safety in knowing that another meal is in sight and I don’t have to compensate for eating more or less.


Lunch
Salmon sushi with a mixed greens salad.

Sometimes food isn’t the solution.  I believed eating the most nourishing foods would cure my ailments. All the pain and discomfort of a leaky gut would resolve itself if I just followed the right diet.

Diet can help if you know what your body needs. But I didn’t know, I was merely guessing.  

I enlisted the help of a nutritional biochemist to run a full panel of testing. The results were more or less expected. Minor case of leaky gut, no gluten sensitivity, a bit of candida overgrowth, very low zinc levels and my thyroid T3 and T4 hormones were in the functionally low range.

Three years of sardines, organ meats, coconut oil, seaweed and bone broth and I still had these issues.

The nutritional biochemist suggested a series of supplements over a three-month period. No custom diet. I eat anything and everything.

My therapist explained how denying certain foods can put your body in shock when it does encounter a “forbidden” treat. Whether this is founded in science I’m uncertain, but I can definitely attest to the placebo effect. Sugar is/was my trigger food and every time I indulged I would feel awful, full blown sugar hangover. Ninety percent of that is/was guilt. Guilt of putting a “no” food into my body and the possibility of it impacting my weight.


Snack
Plain yogurt and banana. Or chocolate chips stirred into crunchy peanut butter.


Dinner
Sautéed bok choy, chicken burger.

I spent a week in the hospital in college. The result was misdiagnosed Crohn’s disease.

I’d suffered from severe abdominal pain since both my parents remarried at age ten. At the time, no one thought to correlate the two and I traveled from doctor to doctor for years with no accurate diagnosis.

Stress wreaks havoc on our bodies, taking shape in a myriad of ailments. Mine rooted in my bowels.  I didn’t have the necessary tools to process my stress as a child so my body responded the only way it knew how, stomach pain. While I suppressed the emotional pains of my life, my abdomen did the screaming instead.


Snack
Glass of milk and a bit of dark chocolate.

Improv comedy has the “Yes, and…” rule of thumb that I’ve incorporated into my eating philosophy.  I say “yes” to all the foods. And add a scoop of ice cream to my slice of pie.

Wellness Beets Episode #43: Alex’s Goodbye and What We’re Up To Next

Come Chat with Us on Social Media. We love hearing from you!

Brittany’s Facebook               Alex’s Facebook

Brittany’s YouTube              Alex’s YouTube

Brittany’s Pinterest               Alex’s  Pinterest

Brittany’s Instagram               Alex’s Instagram


NEWS & UPDATES
We talk about some really big news: Alex is leaving the show! We talk about how we came to this decision, what type of thinking went into it, and how sad we are to have this go down! But we also talk about the future of the podcast and how Brittany plans to take it to a whole new level.

Alex explains why she had to make the difficult decision and that sparks a conversation on the Art of Saying “No.” Brittany and Alex both share advice on what helps them and how saying no is a way to say yes to your best self.

RESOURCE:
This is Your Brain on Nature

 

ALEX’S NEXT STEPS
Alex is taking the time to focus on the future of the Healthy Hormones Group Program, as well as a whole-food, natural detoxification support Detox program along with Megan of GingerNewtrition.  In the fall, she’s also going to be premiering a gut health and support coaching membership site…so stayed tuned for that!

To learn more about the Winter Detox starting February 18th, check out this page.

 

BRITTANY’S NEXT STEPS
Brittany is launching the amazing RADIATE Mastermind program! It is a support system for women to feel happier, more fulfilled, at peace, and in charge of their life.
Learn more here:

RADIATE Mastermind: The mastermind for women seeking momentum and joy!

She also discusses her brand new cookbook coming out in March (and talks about some extra special sardine recipes in it!).  

 

Send your questions to [email protected]

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If so, please leave a review for us in iTunes and subscribe to get the latest episodes!

We are super grateful for you helping us get the word out!

Wellness Beets Episode #40: Trigger Foods, Eating Disorders, and Inaccurate Nutrition Labels

Come Chat with Us on Social Media. We love hearing from you!

Brittany’s Facebook               Alex’s Facebook

Brittany’s YouTube              Alex’s YouTube

Brittany’s Pinterest               Alex’s  Pinterest

Brittany’s Instagram               Alex’s Instagram

 

NEWS & UPDATES 
Brittany talks about her adventures in Local Eats Project. Join the challenge with your own meals and use #localeatsproject. (And since it’s still the holidays, don’t forget about her Dairy-Free Eggnog video).  Alex chats about her and Megan’s (of GingerNewtrition) new Detox Skin Care Guide coming out January…keep an eye out on Instagram for free content all about that!

 

TRIGGER FOODS AND EATING DISORDERS
We revisit our previous discussion of the 21 Day Sugar Detox and how we do with food challenges.  We end up talking about food deprivation, having treats during the holidays, and how trigger foods can set us off.  We also talk about Brittany’s history of having an eating disorder and how that has changed her approach to food in general.

Resources:
The Nutrient Boot Camp
The Wahl’s Protocol

 

INNACCURATE NUTRITION LABELS
We talk about errors that can often occur when it comes to protein and fiber in packaged foods. Brittany reveals how these values are measured in the food and why problems arise with these testing measures.  She also talks about this interesting rat study: Food Texture Differences affect Energy Metabolism in Rats.  We also mention the importance of going back to the ingredient label.

 

We love questions! Send us yours at [email protected]

Did you enjoy this podcast?

If so, please leave a review for us in iTunes and subscribe to get the latest episodes!

We are super grateful for you helping us get the word out!