Please help - what do normal people eat?!

[BreezyBear]

Hi everyone

I have anorexia and I've relapsed again! My brain is on strike and I just can't seem to work out what normal eating actually looks like. I've made some plans to get back to eating regularly, which I know I need to actually start doing. BUT thinking longer term, when I'm at a normal weight, can anyone help me by just saying what you eat in an average day??? I don't know what I'm aiming for or if and I guess I want reassurance that I won't end up eating "too much".

So.... to all the "normal" generally healthy people out there who feel they have a good relationship with food...... What is a typical day for you? I'm aiming to plan for 3 meals and 3 snacks but am struggling to work out some things e.g. Is breakfast just a bowl of cereal or do people also have fruit AND toast with that as well? How many extra items do you eat with a sandwich at lunch?! If you have 2/3 snacks a day, how substantial are they or would it just be normal to have a milky drink without anything else?!

Apologies for the neuroticism haha.

[PinkHeart5911]

To give you an idea I have 1 or similar of the following each meal time

Breakfast eggs ( scrambled, poached, fried) with wholemeal toast, porridge with berries, weetabix, peanut butter on toast, full fat Greek yoghurt & fruit, at weekends pancakes.

Lunch salad with cheese/salmon/chicken. Sandwich. Omelette with mushrooms/cheese. Soup. Beans on toast. Avocado on toast.

Dinner anything really curry, Spag Bol, veg chilli with rice or broccoli rice, salmon with sweet potato and broccoli. risotto. Stir fry with lots of veg and chicken if I fancy. Chicken with asparagus and tarragon.

Snacks veg sticks (peppers, cucumber, carrot) with hummus. Popcorn. Any fruit I fancy. Home made flapjack. Chunk of cheese. Milky coffee

A milky drink ( I.e Latte) is fine as a snack, a latte for example made with whole milk has a fair amount of calories and does help fill me up.


And today I've had

Breakfast porridge ( made with whole milk) with blueberries & seeds

Mid morning Apple and carrot sticks with my babies

Lunch mushroom omelette, a couple of spoons of full fat Greek yogurt after.

Now I've got a milky coffee and 2 biscuits.

Dinner tonight is chick n and veg stir fry with noodles.
Dessert a couple of squares of dark chocolate and a black coffee

[Solasum]

Breakfast:
One sachet of oatsosimple porridge make with 180ml whole milk
A banana
A satsuma

Lunch:
Small Ikea Tupperware of last night's dinner, apple, green tea

Snack:
1 x Chocolate digestive

Dinner:
Two thick slices of home cooked Ham with lots of peas and 2 tbsp mashed potato and parsley sauce.

Blueberries and an apple.

I am trying to massively cut down on snacks as I always want sweet stuff.

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

Fellow AN sufferer here. I won't post my current meal plan as it won't be helpful but I may be able to share some dietary advice given to me. Are you under a dietician or ED therapist?

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

Although I understand why you are asking what others eat I'm not sure that it will really be much help. Mainly because everyone's calorific requirements are just so different. What a 6ft 13 st, 20 year women who works lifting and shifting requires will be vastly different to what a sedentary 50 yr old, 5ft, 8st women requires.
I guess the risk is you become wrapped up in what is 'normal' at the cost of what is necessary to you.
if you are doing gradual weight gain my the time you approach target you should have gained pretty good insight into your body's needs, but it is in some ways trial and error. Adding things in and taking them out until you find what works for you.

[BreezyBear]

Thanks everyone!

Atleastitsnotmonday - thank you. No I'm not, just under my gp and have a counsellor as well. I'll go through this with her too. I have been under ed services before though and did all the treatment etc so I do know what kind of plan to follow for weight restoration. I'm just doubting myself I guess?? And you're totally right I know everyone is different and there isn't really a normal. For me to be well I know I need to eat regularly and not start skipping anything again to maintain recovery. I just get paranoid that I'm weird because even when I'm maintaining at the low end of normal I feel like I eat an unreasonable amount! I suppose I asked this for a reality check as well as reassurance that it's ok. But even needing to ask is totally disordered isn't it! I wish I was "normal" but actually I think AN is something I'll need to keep my eye for life, even when I'm physically well. Hope you're doing ok yourself, thank you for your advice.

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

when I was in an ed unit I did weight gain up to the point I considered was as far as I could go ( not wr but I'd gained a lot from where I had been). Then I went onto a maintanance plan. It really wasn't very different to the weight gain plan at all. It was still 3 meals, 3 snacks but on WR I had had milk to drink with snacks and I dropped that and I was having 2 puddings a day but dropped to 1.

[PumpkinSpiceEverything]

OP, I hope your recovery continues to improve and as a recovered ED sufferer I can say that it IS possible to develop a healthy relationship with food in time.

I eat whenever I'm hungry (which is quite often now that I'm pregnant) but maintain a healthy body by following these rules:

• Only eat food that can go bad (quickly)
• Only eat food that lived a good life (organic, local, free range, minimally processed)
• Eat mostly plants (and I don't mean salads! I follow a mostly vegan lifestyle and get protein and other nutrients from legumes, whole grains and other healthy sources).

Strive to make your body HEALTHIER! The better you feel, the easier you will find developing a healthy relationship with food. Get excited about good quality food, enjoy the farmers market, and love life!

[Tigerpaws57]

Hi OP. Sorry to hear you are struggling. Would really advise you to look for advice on the appropriate diet/amounts etc from a dietician or relevant health professional rather than asking random people on the internet (many of whom will have their own issues or misinformed opinions on what constitutes a healthy diet). Best of luck with your recovery. Its not easy but you will get there!

[MorrisZapp]

Generally, if you ask mn what do they eat in a day you'll get the same stuff celebs claim to eat in the back pages of magazines ie steamed fish with vegetables, blueberries for a snack.

Nowt wrong with that, but it's very unrepresentative of what the nation actually eats.

[Screamifuwant2gofaster]

For breakfast I usually have:
2 pieces of toast with butter
Or
Two scrambled eggs
Or
Sausage butty
Or
Greek yogurt with granola and seeds and honey

For lunch I have:
Sandwich or leftovers from night before (e.g. pasta/ rice). I'd have either soup or crisps/fruit with sandwich usually.

Dinner I have a proper meal:
Lasagne/ chilli/ sausage and mash.
Occasionally I have pudding.

I snack on fruit/ nuts and cheese.

[Fandabidozy]

Well done for recognising your ED and working towards recovery, I hope it all goes well.

I'm somewhat opposite and am an overeater which resulted in me being classed as morbidly obese but I'm slowly working to fix it and am building a healthier attitude to food in the long run.

Now a days a typical day would be:
Breakfast: Yogurt or porridge topped with fruit and honey
AM snack: Fruit or Boiled egg
Lunch: Soup or Protein based salad
PM Snack: Handful of nuts or Cereal bar
Dinner: Varies, usually pasta/rice/potato based with meat and veg e.g. tonight is boiled rice with Chicken, mushroom and onion Chinese curry (made with Mayflower curry powder)
Evening: Usually a packet of crisps, something sweet or an ice lolly.

[Pollaidh]

For breakfast: small 30g bowl of museli, semi-skimmed milk, cup of tea.
10 am snack: apple, or slice of toast with butter and marmite.
Lunch during week: cheese sandwich, or pitta and hummus, + small piece of chocolate, or leftovers from previous night e.g. small helping vegetable curry
mid-afternoon snack: chocolate oat biscuit (low sugar), or cracker with cheese
Supper: Vegetable curry/salad nicoise/pasta with vegetables and haloumi sauce
Snack before bed: apple, cocoa (no sugar), or cracker/a few unsalted nuts.