Bulimia Help

Chocolate covered elephant? Where? I want it!
Thanks for the reminder. I've tried to shift my focus from a low-calorie diet to a well-rounded diet. Things like mypyramid.gov guidelines have really reminded me that there are NO bad foods. We need a little bit of everything in our bodies!

And for the UK-ers, eatwell.gov.uk

I used to avoid carbs like the plague. Now I consider carbs to be fantastic allies against bulimia. Why? Cause they make me feel full for a long time, they help me be regular 'ahem', they give me energy, they put me in a good mood, I can go to italian restaurants with my friend, eat rice with my chinese bf, be enjoyable on spaghetti night, etc. etc.

Ah! i'm glad people aren't vilifying me for defending the carbs. Now if i can just persuade you all that fats are brilliant as well...

I was on a low carb diet at first and it was depressing. That made my b/p cycle worse. So I agree. I am still a little afraid of them, but I do eat them... not enough, but I'm getting there.

I'm with you completely with the carbs and fats thing, but not so much with disbelieving in trigger foods. For me personally, there are certain foods at this stage of the game that I KNOW will trigger a binge urge.

I agree with catnap. I definitely have trigger foods. Yesterday we had some in the house and I made my boyfriend take them to work. I think a good thing to do is to build up to eating 'bad foods' in a structured way. (I know there's no such thing as a bad food-but...)
so like I"m okay (most of the time) with eating such foods, but generally when i'm out of the house, for example, when having tea in a cafe with my boyfriend.

it's also to do with the quantity- so many things come in such big packages now. I"ve found buying individual sized portions helps me. even though it's more expensive. there's an end to the packet... or when i'm cooking pasta, etc, i usually weigh it out so i don't make far too much.

what do any of you think about this? is this a habit i should try and get rid of too, or is it quite normal?

And definitely full fat options are more satisfying and keep you fuller for longer. according to 'fast food nation'= the film, any fat that is removed from food is just pumped back into other foods.

I always get confused with carbs, i know that my brain needs them, because they great for providinng glycogen t fuel the brain propperly. And i want to be focsed and with it, especially with my studies. However whenever i eat them, even in small quantities, my body bloats up, like water! all over, wobbly and grose....Its really hard to cope with. So i have this fear of them. Even though i know the reaction is induced by my bulimia and would probably not happen after a while of including carbs...its dificult to relax with them.

Did you knw that our diet needs to be 2/thirds complex carbs (brown pasta, brown break, potato) and 1/third simple carbohydrate (sugars) most people have it the other way round....also white pasta and white bread are misleading....your body can't utilise as many carbs from them as you'd think. Muselie has god essential carbs.

Anyway. Carbs are essentail.....i just struggle at the moment to feel ok about eating them so understansd the fear, but punkrocklibrarian is so right.

big hugs and love people xxxxx

Ah yes the carb. Carb face... I heard it on an american tv thing and in a magazine. Carb face, how horrible, yet slightly funny does that sound. They say they can tell if someone ate pasta the night before because of there CARB FACE, crazyness.
The carb does make you bloat but its better for you than it is bad. I have a purge face quite often so carb face doesnt really bother me to much. Nor does the whole bloat from pasta because im always bloated when im binging and purging. I still do have a fear of them though, iv made that get wrose over my recovery.....who knows? Maybe the carb face got a little to much....no that would be silly.
I think its because everywhere, for a long time, all around you people have cursed the carb, so it must be bad. I know refuse to believe its the devils food and it will make us gain, gain, gain.
Iv eaten pasta and bread today(i dont go near bread usually) score on my bloat baby, love it, it wont last forever.

P.S This is a forced positive carb attitude im trying.
I think its working......
tomorrow is always different though.

I've been confused because of bulimia in the past.

I'm no where near the end of the road of recovery but I have mastered integrating my trigger foods in my diet and no longer actually trigger on them.

In regards to carbs. That 'bloatiness' that everybody refers to after eating carbs is the feeling of satiety. Becuase carbs are more dense, they make us feel heavier.
before you think OMG DEVIL FOOD I DONT WANT TO BE HEAVY. Think about this: if you feel heavier, fuller, you wont be hungry as soon as you would if you hadnt eaten the carbs.

Eat complex carbs that take a while for your body to digest and it will control your appetite and minimize your cravings.

I guess you wont believe me until you do it. Also, don't forget that the "OMG I FEEL FULL AND GROSS" voice is the voice of bulimia, the irrational disorder.

Once you stop restricting, the voice will go quiet and rationality will kick in.

of course carbs are good for your body. we just don´t remember this in our personal rules on eating. thanks for this post. I´ll remeber this when going out to eat. Usually friends like to go to italian places and I freak out.
I guess a serving of pasta can do more good than bad. purging does hurt my body. I need to remeber this. making a mental note of this information. ...
thanks

i just had almost a WHOLE pizza. yum. and it was out for dinner and i didn't feel guilty, although i do have a bit of a tummy ache now. and the reason i don't feel guilt is probably coz i did a mega long run today. but still... i enjoyed having dinner out with james. so it's all good.

I am rather frightened of carbohydrate I am afraid to say. I am fully aware of their importance in providing a energy and contributing towards a healthy diet but unfortunately it makes very little difference to me! I do my best to start my day off with porridge (a good, low GI source of carbohydrate), although I tend to miss them out at lunch which perhaps isn't so good. I then try to have a slice or two of bread or jacket potato with dinner. I know I should be eating more, but for the moment am comfortable where I am. I'll challenge myself one day! :-)

today i hate carbs :(

I started to include more carbs....but I think you really have to do what's comfortable for you as well. I don't cut out all carbs, but I don't feel comfortable eating a lot. I did a big running event a while back and everyone was "carb-loading" (basically just eat carbs for a few days before the event...). It really knocked me around psychologically & in terms of confidence in what I was eating. So I'd say include more gradually =)