What do normal people eat? - disordered eating.

[cheeseisthebest]

I have totally disordered eating. I've tried so many different ways of dieting but I'm a binge and comfort eater and I feel like I have a million different rules surrounding food in my head. So much so I don't know what I should be eating, which sounds ridiculous but I'm completely lost.
I will abstain from carbs then go and eat 3 slices of cake to cheer myself up after a stressful day even though just one slice makes me feel sick. My husband doesn't eat meat or dairy and is currently on a special diet including protein shakes. I feel totally fed up trying to think what to cook for me and kids, they are much less fussy than they were so I really should cook decent food for them.
I am meeting with a therapist about my food issues but until I've made some progress with them I still need to know what to eat! Can't starve!

A mixture of everything. Toast and eggs or porridge with banana for breakfast. Soup or a sandwich for lunch with some fruit like apples or a satsuma and then dinner. Maybe pasta and meatballs or curry with rice. I eat a fair bit of veg, I love it, so it isn't punishment food. I have a biscuit if I want one. And if I am really hungry between meals I will eat something, toast or a cake. I am a healthy weight, I used to be fat, but lost approximately 3 stones a few years ago. If my jeans get tight I stop the biscuits until things are looser

Thank you how did you lose weight? I could do with lose 1 and half stone but I need to do it slowly and healthily. I always feel like I need to plan my weeks meals to keep me on track but it never happens.

I've always been a healthy weight. I honestly allow myself to eat anything and eat treats every day. However I would say I'm generally quite healthy as that's what I enjoy. So porridge or toast for breakfast, sandwich/hearty salad/beans on toast etc for lunch and then something like pasta bolognaise/curry and rice etc for dinner, always pudding or hot chocolate but then nothing else in the evening and I don't drink alcohol. Not really snacks but lots of coffee.

I don't think MN is the best place to ask. There's a LOT of disordered eating on here.

How old are your DC? What are you currently feeding them?

I have salmon for tea but don't know what to have with it. I feel like carbs are forbidden because i was pre diabetic. Im starving but just overwhelmed!!

One slice toast, cheese and hummus or marmite

Sushi or soup or a baked potato with cheese/beetroot/coleslaw

Dhal/rice or veg chilli/rice or veg lasagne

One galaxy ripple, one gin and lemonade, one bag of crisps

I eat pretty much ^^ this every day

(I'm a size 12, one stone overweight - look and feel totally normal, I weigh just under 11 stone)

And I don't diet or try to lose weight. I don't restrict in any way. I'm happy being one stone overweight

Because I used to be almost 6 stone overweight

I had a desk job and noticed that my weight was creeping up so I decided to have a look at what I was eating, there were always cakes and biscuits in the office so I started to bring a packed lunch and one of the microwave porridge sachets in and only ate that during the day. I wasn't doing any exercise either so I made sure I went for a short walk every day. Then I lost my job (got sacked when covid came along) and I changed to a more active job. By then I had got used to my diet and the weight slowly slowly came off so I kept on. Now I am still doing a fairly active job and I eat a lot of fruit and veg and I don't feel deprived because this is my every day life, not a never ending diet. I also have a big dinner or drink alcohol and eat sweets occasionally if I feel like it. But I don't feel like it all the time.

My husband doesn't eat meat or dairy and is currently on a special diet including protein shakes.
I hope he cooks for himself!

Breakfast really is an important meal. I know it's a cliche but if you eat a proper breakfast, the rest of the day is so much easier.

Porridge, Muesli, Wholemeal Toast, Banana and bran flakes.

Lunch should be light, soup or sandwich.

Evening meal should be nutritious but not heavy.

It's important to look at what to avoid too.
Avoid sugary fizzy drinks 100% just don't let them through your door. Avoid buying fast food like McDonald's or fish n chips, Domino's pizza, that sort of thing. Don't even contemplate it.

I keep it simple:
breakfast - porridge with honey
lunch - scrambled eggs with cheddar or feta on top with sides like toast, tomatoes, smoked salmon, chorizo, olives, gherkins (not all at once)
dinner - protein (fish/sausages/steak etc), carb (chips/mash etc) and two vegetables (usually carrots and broccoli).

Carbs are not evil, they fill you up and give you energy. A mixture of different things will stop you getting bored and no foods are inherently evil in moderation.
Be good to yourself, don't punish yourself by forbidding yourself certain foods.

Try getting someone to set your macros on my fitness pal.......that will break down your carbs, fats and protein. You need carbs for energy but good carbs. Sweet potato's etc

With salmon I would have sweet potato and veg/salad. Or quinoa and veg. Or cous cous. Or even a few small new potatoes.

I eat what I want (mainly, although i do sometimes deliberately not eat bread, even though i want it) and have never been overweight. However, if I've eaten a lot of crap one day, my body tends naturally to not want anything crap for a few days.

I'm using the Joe Wicks/Body Coach plan at the moment. It's working well for me as all the meals on the plan are tailored to my needs. I'm lucky and my 6 year old is pretty unfussy so happy to have the same. Have lost about 1 stone in a month on the meals. I don't follow it religiously, have my normal muesli/yogurt for breakfast and sometimes have a school dinner at work. I've also started morning workouts twice a week in addition to my weekly class and have cut back on booze a bit too. Tonight's dinner was charred corn salad with feta and avocado and was delicious!

You're the same weight as me! How tall are you?

Came on here to say exactly this. A huge amount of competitive undereating gets discussed on these threads. Please talk to your food therapist or a dietician about this.

A decent breakfast of two slices of toast, a bowl of cereal, or yogurt and fruit, then two well balanced meals with protein, carbs and a good veg portion. Don’t snack, or if you do have to then have a banana or an apple, or a very small handful of nuts.

Don’t keep shit food in the house. Biscuits, crisps and pastries should be an occasional treat and I find only having them outside the house helps me not to go mad.

Teens

Why can't you eat carbs? Honestly I think if you restrict food you will always have disordered eating. If I was having salmon I would have some rice/potatoes and lots of vegetables or salad.

I don't eat until at least 11. I did intermittent fasting and I loved it years ago which is why I don't miss eating breakfast plus breakfast food ie cereal, toast etc always makes me hungry so I'm best avoiding it. Other than that I eat kinda normal and allow treats but I sometimes have to rein myself in

To your original question OP I have no idea either. My kids are super fussy (sensory challenges) and DH eats mostly protein shakes (=disordered eating in my book) so I really struggle. I aim for not snacking and eating lots of veg and/or fruit at mealtimes. The only way I can avoid snacking is by filling up on protein and healthy fats at every meal. I try to get my kids to think about protein and unprocessed plant food (they are young teens) and then try not to worry. I discourage snacks for everyone in this house; if really hungry fruit / yoghurt/ peanut butter and toast. Good luck.

Sorry but I disagree with this advice. Every meal is as important as the next. There’s no food you should cut out 100% it’s silly for food to be ‘forbidden’ Just try to think of sensible portions and frequency. Eg McDs every day would be bad. McDs one a month is fine. Stay hydrated and eat when you feel hungry and stop when you feel full. Try to trust your body :)

I'm a healthy weight. I don't have any off limit foods but I am mindful of what I eat as it's easy to put on weight, but that's only one factor, I like to feel I'm giving my body good stuff. I probably eat a bit strangely for some people!

A typical day for me would be:
Breakfast
2 coffees with milk
2 glasses of water when I wake up
3 oat cakes with avocado, courgette, a tomato, small bit of cheese

Lunch
Butternut squash soup with two small slices sourdough with butter on - I'll usually add spinach to soup aswell as a linseed/pumpkin seed mix
Satsuma

Dinner
Chicken with panko breadcrumbs
Med tray bake with new potatoes, aubergine, cherry tomatoes, courgette, butter beans
Stewed apple with cinnamon and some cream on

2 cups of tea and about 9 glasses of water

One thing I think really helps is to aim for minimum 10 portions of fruit and veg a day (of those a min of 7 veg) and at least 2l of water. Nothing is off limits but really try and hit the veg target. It basically works on the theory that 10 portions of fruit and veg is high volume so to fit that lot in you physically won't have as much capacity for the less healthy stuff. Include carbs and fats but look up the recommended portion size and don't exceed it, with the carbs consider going slightly under and making up the difference with veg. You can buy low calorie oil sprays but they are really chemically, just decant your regular oil into a spray bottle and use that instead. You will dramatically reduce the amount used.

Another thing to consider is writing everything down as you eat it. It just makes you a it more accountable.

The other thing, only eat things from a plate, seated at a table. It really reduces mindless grazing and all those calories add up.

As a former anorexic was going to say the same.

I accept everyone's "normal" is different but I find any food/body topics seem to have a lot of disordered type eating or views on what an average person looks like.

The constant presence of "what have you eaten today?" threads makes me think there are a lot of ED sufferers here. (I don't allow myself to read them as I know I would start feeling guilty or comparing what I have eaten and I don't want to get into that habit again)